If you spot a restaurant called Shaun The Sheep in Jumeirah 1, just know that it’s not the toddler-friendly place you expected it to be! Our co-founder Arva shared the details of this intriguing Iranian restaurant on our favourite radio station, Dubai 92.
What’s This Week’s Cheap Eat?
Shaun The Sheep Restaurant serves a dish called Kalle Pacheh which is prepared by boiling sheep’s heads and trotters. This hearty and calorific meal is one that is traditionally enjoyed by Iranians for breakfast.
The sheep’s head and trotters are boiled for hours resulting in a fragrant broth/soup rich in flavor. The restaurant will serve you a piping hot bowl of this for savory soup just 5 dirhams. You can also add a tender and plump deboned trotter to your meal for 15 dirhams or try any of the other head ‘parts’ on the menu.
Find Shaun The Sheep Restaurant on Google Maps here.
Tune In
Tune in to the segment using this audio recap or check out the transcript below.
Transcript
Nats:
It’s Dubai 92, Jono and Nats with you on the big breakfast and it is time for us to get hungry!
Jono:
Arva from Frying Pan Adventures joins us this week once again to tell us someplace that we need to go and sample some delectable delights. It’s not gonna cost you much but Arva, what are you going to tantalize our taste buds with this week? Because you’ve given us zero clues. Normally you’ll give us something. This week, you’re not throwing the dog a bone at all. What’s going on?
Nats:
We don’t even know what part of the UAE we’re going to be stuffing our faces in.
Arva:
All right. So this week, I feel like this is going to sound anticlimactic but we’re going to build up on this. So, we’re going to go for a deeply savory slow-cooked meat broth/soup. It’s one of the best I’ve had in the city. I know, that nobody is feeling like a bowl of hot soup right now because of the weather.
Nats:
I am.
Arva:
But winter will come, have faith, and at that point, you will have want to have bookmarked this place so you can visit.
Jono:
All right, where do you have to go for this? Because 5 dirhams for a bone broth is almost unheard of. Like the cheapest I’ve got it for somewhere around the 35 dirham mark would be the cheapest from some places in JLT.
Arva:
Right. Alright, so we are looking at sheep and the name of the place is “Shaun The Sheep”.
Jono:
I heard about this. I heard about this place and I did not know was it an experience, was it a show, I didn’t know what it was.
Nats:
Was it a kids’ store?
Arva:
Alright, let me break this down. So, from outside when you go, you see Shaun The Sheep, you see the logo there and you’re like, ah totally taking my toddler to this place, they’re probably gonna have a little Shaun The Sheep like cut out in there, they’re gonna have chicken nuggets, there’s gonna be a play area, fantastic, you walk in and you are like, oh, the situation… is very different. Very PG-13, it is. Kalle Pacheh, totally Kalle Pacheh.
Nats:
Oh, Kalle Pacheh. Oh boy, I don’t know how I feel about this now.
Jono:
So this is for those who aren’t aware. Tell us, Kalle Pacheh is the specific parts where you just think it’s not really what you would normally, you wouldn’t normally put into a stew.
Nats:
No it’s a Persian dish and let me tell you, no.
Arva:
So basically Kalle Pacheh is a very traditional Iranian breakfast dish and it’s Kalle means head and Pacheh are the trotters, so it’s basically boiled sheep’s head, boiled Shaun The Sheep’s head and trotters is what it is. And that is literally all that the place does. But, the broth that they’re boiling, you know, the broth sort of that emerges at the end of that cooking process is absolutely lush. Like, it is so deeply delicious and you can just sort of tear up the bread and soak it in there. You can squeeze and just like hit it up with some lime. It is honestly really delicious. I got that and then I got this perfectly cooked, like you know squishy plump jiggly piece of deboned trotter. It was 15 dirhams for one trotter which I feel doesn’t really qualify it for a cheap eat. I would have liked to have two at least on the plate but this is in Jumeirah 1, the original Beverly Hills of Dubai so I can see the rent sort of affecting the price a little bit.
Jono:
Okay, I mean it still is cheap for what it is and so just an FYI, not want to bring the kids along too unless they are deeply into offal. Deceptively titled Shaun the Sheep, it’s in Jumeirah 1. Arva, I don’t know whether to thank you for this week’s one or not, to be honest. But nonetheless, we love chatting to you as always. Thanks for sharing that one with us this week, I think.
Nats:
No, it’s fantastic.
Arva:
Always. I feel like we should have saved this for Halloween, but hey guys, it’s happening now.
Jono:
I think so too. We can revisit it again.
Nats:
It’s okay, Arva, you’ve terrorized us so much that it’ll still be lasting in October, like really.
Arva:
Awesome, have a scrumptious week ahead guys.
Check out Where to Find Mouthwatering Chicken Cutlets In Dubai here.
Arva Ahmed is the co-founder of Frying Pan Adventures, Dubai’s first food tour company, and a celebrated food explorer known for uncovering Dubai’s hidden culinary gems. Her expertise in the city’s diverse food scene has been featured in prominent publications such as CNN, Khaleej Times, BBC Travel, The Sun, The Independent and countless more. She also hosts Ditch the Silver on YouTube. Through her immersive tours and storytelling, Arva brings Dubai’s rich flavors and vibrant cultures to life.
