Heritage without Borders, 3rd Joint GCC Archaeology Exhibition

Qatar Museums Authority presents
“Heritage without Borders: Third GCC Archaeology Exhibition”
at the Qatar Museums Authority
Building #10 in Katara Cultural Village
from May 2nd - June 30th 2011

Gallery Hours:
Sat to Sun 10am-1pm, 3pm-9pm
Friday 3pm-9pm

The exhibition will demonstrate historical, cultural and geographical unity of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. This unity is reflected in the history of the ancient Near East throughthe interaction withthe neighboring cultures, human movements and economic exchange.


In addition, the exhibition aims to recognize the common cultural traits between different parts of the region, and also examine its rich cultural diversity.Nearly 420 objects from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, Oman and Qatar will be displayed at the exhibition; some going back several millennia.  Four major historical periods will be highlighted:


1) Prehistoric Period: approximately 1 million years ago until 3rd millennium BC.
2) The Dawn of Civilizations (cultures) Period: 3rd millennium to 3rd century BC.
3) Pre-Islamic Periods: 3rd century BC to the 7th century AD.
4) Islamic Period:7th century till today.

Qatar Museums Authority hosts “Heritage without Borders: Third GCC Archaeology Exhibition”

There was quite a lot of stuff on display from all over the gulf.  After seeing the exhibition, we wandered around Katara to see what we might find next.

Khan Farouk Tarab Café at Katara Cultural Village

At Khan Farouk Tarab Café, it is possible to have pigeon made anyway you like, stuffed, grilled, or as soup.

Stuffed Pigeon with Rice or Grilled Pigeon?

We kept it simple and only got "Baked Pumpkin with Honey," which was a warm pumpkin dish with sweat vanilla pudding on top (16 QR), and a Karkadeh (hibiscus flower) juice (12 QR) and a pineapple juice (15 QR).  The pumpkin was really yummy.

The outside seating and views were also really nice.

posted menu outside

They had their menu posted outside the restaurant, very useful so we could check it out and decide what we wanted before entering!

Khan Farouk Tarab Café
Building #7, Katara Cultural Village
Doha, Qatar
Is a traditional Egyptian café serving food and shisha, with live music
Tel: +974 4408 0840
Opening Hours: 12:00 - 00:00

Street kittens

mother cat and kittens

dinner time

Some kittens having dinner on a street in my neighborhood. When I got too close, the mother cat was hissing at me!

Gulf Sea Popular Restaurant at Souq Waqif

hamour fish, shrimp, cuttlefish, and lobster and a fresh lemon mint juice

lobster and fries

Gulf Sea Popular Restaurant, a new restaurant, opened up at the souq recently that has a Qatari chef making some local specialties.  My favorite was the hamour fish.  The rolled egg things were also good and made a great appetizer.  I was also surprised by the grilled cuttlefish which was actually really good.  I had only had it raw before as sushi, a bit too chewy for me.

Gulf Sea Popular Restaurant
Souq Waqif
(across from Al Bandar Fish Market)
Doha, Qatar
P.O.Box: 12340
+974 4488-8610
Fax: +974 418-2234

La Gelateria Fina at Katara Cultural Village

The guy was very friendly and let us try all the flavors so we could make the important decision about which ones.  I finally decided on hazelnut and blackberry, and it was really good. 

Here they charge the gelato at 10 QR per scoop, unlike La Dolce Vita at the souq where they charge by the cup and they can fit 3 flavors into one 16 QR cup. 

La Gelateria Fina
Katara Cultural Village
Doha, Qatar
Is an ice cream shop serving delicious original Italian ice creams on a friendly environment right in front of the beach.
Tel: +974 4408 0777
Fax: +974 4408 0778
Opening Hours: 11:00 am – 12 pm
http://www.katara.net/

L’wzarr Seafood Market at Katara Cultural Village

At L’wzarr Seafood Market, you get to pick your fish and seafood that you'll be eating, similar to Al Maharah at Hotel Souq Waqif.

salad bar for 35 QR per plate

There is also a salad bar with a good selection of fresh vegetables and more.  You get to fill up one plate just one time for 35 QR per person.

decor of L’wzarr

There are also some bread and vegetables already at the table.  We kept it simple for the seafood with shrimp and hamour fish fillet.  The shrimp was 106 QR/kg and the hamour was 105 QR/kg.  For two, we had 23.74 QR worth of shrimp and 29.61 QR worth of hamour fish.  Both were really good, in particular the breaded shrimp.

After the dinner they brought us a cup and poured water in them to transform a tiny candy looking thing into a towel!  At first I thought this was a dessert.

A reservation is needed.

L’wzarr Seafood Market
Building #27, Katara Cultural Village
Doha, Qatar
Is a Delicious modern fish restaurant with a market style fish counter where you can choose your fresh fish and have it cooked your way.
+974 4408 0710/11
www.lwzaar.com
info@lqzaar.com
Opening Hours:
Sun – Wed 12:00 - 15:00, 19:00 - 23:00
Thurs - Sat 12:00 - 16:00, 19:00 - 00:00

Turkish Star Restaurant

Another local spot: Turkish Star Restaurant, which is known for fatayer pastries.

Turkish Star Restaurant
New Rayyan, Al Wajba Petrol Station
Doha, Qatar
44809966 / 55868973

fatayer

We got chicken, labna, cheese, and falafel fatayer and zatar bread. My favorite were the labna and cheese fatayer.

Fatayer is a meat pie pastry that can alternatively be stuffed with spinach (sabaneq), or cheese (jibnah). It is part of Middle Eastern cuisine and is eaten in Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan and other countries in the region.

Za'atar (زَعْتَر‎) a condiment made from dried herbs, including oregano, basil thyme, thyme, and savory, mixed together with sesame seeds, dried sumac, and often salt, as well as other spices. Used in Arab cuisine, both the herb and spice mixture are popular throughout the Middle East.

Turkish Star Restaurant menu

(Menu image from Sybil & Kristi's Qatari Adventures: Just Call Me Tex.)


View Turkish Star Restaurant in a larger map