MEAT THE TEAM

Ikea

There are now two Ikea stores in Abu Dhabi. The labyrinthian colossus of Yas Island (not the official name), and the more boutiquey city store at Al Wahda Mall. Both now serve the brand’s internet-breaking vegan Swedish meat(less) balls (Dhs15 for eight).

@ikeauae Pickl

One of our favourite homegrown burger joints, Pickl understands the assignment… not all of us are, ‘about the industry beef’. We tried, tested and adored their Impossible burger (available for delivery and dine-in) replacing their classic smashed beef patties with the meatdodging variety. Also avoiding carbs? You can even swap out those lush potato buns with a lettuce wrap. From Dhs40.

@eatpickl

PizzaExpress

PizzaExpress is doing creative things with vegan mozzarella, Impossible meatballs, ‘jackfruit pepperoni’ and options for crueltyfree dining across all the traditional core three courses. But we prefer our face-freefood in the medium of carbs and the mains do this best – meat-free pizza and pasta options include the American Jack vegan cheese and the spicy spaghetti piccante. BRB, just saving the planet one slice at a time.

@pizzaexpressuae

West to West Kitchen

As part of their commitment to providing tasty plant-based alternatives, this Caribbean-andWest-African restaurant added plant based Jamaican patties (Dhs30) to their meat-free menu. The pastries are packing all that same heat, just with zero meat. These brand new vegan bangers join a growing collection of veganfriendly dishes on the menu such as awojoh binch (a Sierra Leonean bean casserole), plantains, and vegetable groundnut stew.

@westtowestkitchen

Who let the dogs out?

You’d be barking to miss Paw Patrol

Words: Miles Buckeridge

The best summer blockbusters coming to screens in 2023

Blockbuster season is almost upon us — that time of year where plots and nuanced character arcs take a back seat to car chases, explosions, one-line catchphrases, kill counts and plans that are just so crazy, they might just work. And there’s a jumbo popcorn-bucket sized serving coming up this summer. These are just some of our faves...

Transformers: Rise of the Beasts

Expected: June 8

This movie was crafted to be a direct sequel to Bumblebee (and prequel to 2007’s Transformers). It’s based on the Beast Wars set of comics and animated TV shows, and charts the adventures of another set of giant alien machines, the Maximals. Rather than turning into modes of transport, these robots have the ability to eh-eh-eh into animals. It’s directed by Steven Caple Jr. (Creed II, so he’s used to picking up a film series halfway through) and we know that regardless of whatever we think (honestly, when is ‘make the robots animals’ ever the answer?), the kids will still ‘roll out’ to see it.

The Flash

Expected: June 15

Everything we know about The Flash (titular character played by Ezra Miller) screams fan service in the most authentic way possible. From this year’s Super Bowl trailer we got confirmation on the return of Ben Affleck as Batman, Michael Shannon will reprise his role as General Zod, and there was a revealing teaser for Sasha Calle’s hotly anticipated turn as Supergirl. And we should probably address the other bat in the room. Michael Keaton, back in The Dark Knight’s cowl. If you’re wondering why there are two Batmans in the same movie, buckle up. According to comic book lore, Flash can run fast enough to travel through time, allowing him to alter the past. Queueing up fun in the form of messing about with timelines and inter-dimensional dabbling. The big question isn’t whether it’ll be any good, all signs point to yes, it’s more about whether this film will provide the launch pad for studio head, James Gunn’s new DCU vision.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Expected: June 30

It’s hard to resist the subconscious urge of ageist prejudice after learning that at 80, Harrison Ford is reprising his iconic actionarcheologist role, Indiana Jones for one last crack of the whip. But it’s a baited boobytrap, and the giant tumbling boulder of shame will wipe you out if you don’t move out of its way. He might not be as spritely, but the trailer teases that same pedigree of swashbuckling, snake-phobic, artefact-chasing, map-hopping, humour-laced adventuring that’s often been imitated over the past four decades since the original film was released, but never replicated. And an inestimably large part of its charm over that tenure has been Ford’s glint-eyed screen charisma. This fifth chapter of the story sees the return of long-time pal and Fez enthusiast Sallah (John RhysDavies), Phoebe Waller-Bridge plays Indy’s Goddaughter Helena, and Mads Mikkelsen also appears (presumably as arch baddy).

The Meg 2: The Trench

Expected: August 9

The end of the first Meg movie very transparently teased the possibility of a sequel, and the name of this second film suggests that Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham) and his gang of amateur shark busters will be returning to the ingress point that spawned the last batch of aquatic leviathans. If you’re looking for spoilers, the movie is based on the Steve Alten book, The Trench (the follow up to Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror which the first film was based on), but if you’d prefer baited waters a little less chummy, we might suggest to you that the eponymous trench might be home to a lot more than sharks. *Queue ominous Jaws music*.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

Expected: July 13

If you’re an action movie fan, they don’t come much bigger, or as frequently as the films of the Mission Impossible franchise. And like the man who plays lead protagonist Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), they only seem to be getting better with age. The next two entries, Dead Reckoning, Parts One and Two, were shot back-to-back. Again, details are scant but we do know that the IMF Squad filmed in Abu Dhabi. So maybe there’s a great objet d’arts heist at Louvre Abu Dhabi, or a high-stakes car chase up the E11 in a pair of Nissan Patrols. We can only hope.

Gran Turismo

Expected: August 10

This isn’t a true movie adaptation of the popular Sony game. It couldn’t be. The game doesn’t have a plotline and whilst you may argue that might actually have improved the Assassin’s Creed movie, we wouldn’t dare comment. Instead, this film is based around the miraculous real life story of Jann Mardenborough (played by Archie Madekwe). Jann was an elite gamer, a Gran Turismo grandmaster who was recruited into a racing academy on a gut intuition that good gamers might make good drivers. It’s directed by Neill Blomkamp (District 9, Elysium) and the cast list includes David Harbour, Orlando Bloom, Djimon Hounsou, Josha Stradowski and Geri ‘Ginger Spice’ Horner. We’re expecting the plot curve to go a little up, a little down, up, down, left, right, square, X.

CULTURE // ATTRACTIONS

Words: Miles Buckeridge