Hundreds of food lovers throng the various stalls at the 9th Qatar International Food Festival at Hotel Park. Pic:Salim Matramkot/The Peninsula
DOHA: As the ninth Qatar International Food Festival (QIFF) nears its conclusion, Qatari brands taking part in the country’s biggest food festival expressed content with the massive turnout and chance to compete with other companies in Qatar’s thriving food and beverage industry.
“We are glad to be part of this festival this year as it has more participants, categories and culinary options from all over the world which is creating a fabulous atmosphere and encouraging everyone to give their best in order to compete,” Qatari Chef Hassan Al Ibrahim of We Café told The Peninsula.
We Café was established out of the passion for food of Qatari friends including Al Ibrahim — a pilot and captain, Chef Amina Mousa — an IT engineer and Chef Dunya Abed — a housewife, each of whom has concocted unique dishes. “We are three chefs each one of us has his own speciality. We offer some of our signature dishes such as volcano burger, cherry burger, green biryani and, of course, some of our authentic Qatari dishes such as hares,” said Al Ibrahim, who expressed satisfaction of the response from foodies at the festival.
“So far so good we have very high interactions with the people, and they really like what we offer and the experience that they get with us. Also they like the fact that we are the only Qatari chefs who are doing almost everything by ourselves starting from cooking all the way to serving the food,” he said.
He lauded QIFF for “all the efforts that they are trying to do for us as a local company in order to present our brand in a best manner,” adding that the festival has givent them the chance to learn more and improve their service learning from other participants.
For Ali Al Obaidly of Tabakh Alwalda (Qatar), QIFF has helped Qatari F&B companies bring them and their products closer to the people.
“Consumers just don’t enjoy the food in its cheaper price but also built strong camaraderie among visitors as well as participating companies as well. QIFF gave every company opportunity to introduce their products at their best,” Al Obaidly told The Peninsula.
In its second time participating at the festival, Tabakh Alwalda offers traditional Qatari dishes such as majboos, mashkhool, bukhari and lahoob as well as its bestsellers harees, madhrooba, makarona and margoga and delectable sweets like aseeda, balaleet, khabisa and sagou. Al Obaidly was happy getting regular customers who give very good feedback on their offerings at the festival.
“We aim not just to do business but most importantly let the people from different nationalities know, taste and begin to love traditional Qatari food,” he said. Foodies can still enjoy the wide array of culinary offerings and entertainment at the QIFF 2018 from 4pm to 12 midnight today and tomorrow at the Hotel Park.
