Follow Your Sunshine: January 2017

The Best New Restaurant Openings in Qanat Quartier

Saturday, 28 January 2017

If you take a stroll along the Venetian-style roads of Qanat Quartier, following the intricate network of canals past its pretty pastel houses, you will soon notice that things are starting to pick up. This previously sleepy corner of The Pearl has a new hustle and bustle about its characterful squares and plazas; friends sit at little iron tables sipping coffee and chatting; families can be seen milling about, taking photos on stylish bridges. Finally, this small segment of Qatar is starting to display some of the Riviera lifestyle and Italian charm that it was built to represent. But what has brought about this sudden change?

Well, the restaurants have started to open of course!

There is nothing like the rumour of a decent new eatery opening to tempt Doha dwellers out of their villas and into their four by fours for a little visit. And if its 'Little Venice' you're visiting, you won't be disappointed. Here are my top restaurant picks in the area, and why I think they're worth the trip.

1. Best for Breakfast: The Breakfast Club

With an extensive menu of all of my favourite breakfast items, including some unique and surprising alternatives from around the world, this restaurant caters for a wide variety of tastes and will be sure to kick-start your day. Hailing from Kuwait, The Breakfast Club now has restaurants in Bahrain as well as Qanat Quartier, and I've heard rumours that it's about to open a second branch elsewhere in Qatar. It's the first breakfast place to open on the Pearl to really rival Eggspectation (but in my opinion it's not quite there yet).

Don't miss: the Shakshuka

2. Best for a Sweet Treat: Waffles and Coffee

If you're looking for a waffle that will blow you away you might be disappointed, but if it's a quick sugar hit you're after, accompanied by a swift injection of caffeine then this place defintiely hits the spot. Waffles and Coffee is a pretty little cafe located on the Rialto Bridge, and its terrace showcases gorgeous views over the pastel houses and canals below.

Don't miss: the fully-loaded Signature Waffle

3. Best Healthy Option: Evergreen Organics

Evergreen Organics opened in 2016 to widespread acclaim and a deluge of 'big name' visitors. And rightly so - it is the country's first 100% vegan cafe and it's pretty damn chic after all! Focussing on seasonal, organic, raw ingredients, the items on the menu are not only good for the waistline but good for the conscience too (and it's no secret that they even taste pretty good too. Just avoid the raw brownie. Cakes like these just aren't the same unless they're oozing chocolate and sugar in my opinion).

Dont miss: the fresh coconuts, Acai bowls and raw Zucchini Putanesca

4. Best Atmosphere and Views: Esmer Chef

My experience at Esmer Chef was mixed, but the location and ambience is unrivaled in Qanat Quartier. With an outdoor terrace which takes diners right to the edge of the canal, and views over the Rialto bridge and some of the prettiest of the pastel houses, I could have wiled many hours away chatting with friends while enjoying the al fresco dining and picturesque scenery. Some items on the split Italian/Turkish menu could do with a little refining, but it's worth a visit for the ambience alone.

Don't miss: the Spaghetti Bolognaise

I'm now on the look-out for a decent lunch spot, and somewhere that does an excellent coffee in the area. Any recommendations?

I was a guest at two of the above restaurants but as always all views are my own.

A Little Bit About Baby Sleep

Sunday, 22 January 2017

It was Shakespeare who said, "to sleep, perchance to dream", but funnily enough all I've been dreaming about recently is sleep!

For ten whole months now, my baby has ensured that I've had the kind of sleep that even my former party girl self (see this post for more on that) would be impressed with. Awake until 3am singing, rocking and cajoling; rudely awoken every thirty minutes or so throughout the night; forced to start my day several hours before the sun has risen... you name it, I've seen it all. The only thing that's kept me sane is the knowledge that I'm not the only parent going through this torture at night. That actually it's incredibly common and that babies, for their abundance of qualities often just do this. It's normal.

It's not surprising that Googling 'baby sleep' throws up a cool 173 million results. Parents like Mr Sunshine and me across the globe are busy pulling their hair out, frantically asking the internet for help and hoping that someone has the magic solution that will finally make little Henry go the F to sleep.

Now I hate to break it to you, but unless you're willing to set out a hardcore sleep training programme and stick to it (hats off to those of you that are, but I'm not), if you have a child like mine then nothing is going to change any time soon.

OK, the baby books are all right when they say that a solid bed time routine is an absolute MUST in order to help your child to wind down and switch off at night. They are not however correct when they list the number of hours your child should be sleeping over a 24 hour period, and the exact nap schedule they should be in according to their age. I once read that at four months old, my baby should be sleeping for an unbroken stretch of 8 hours during the night, along with three day time naps of at least an hour each and I almost went into meltdown. The problem is that these 'authors' seem to have forgotten a key piece of information: EVERY BABY (JUST LIKE EVERY HUMAN) IS DIFFERENT!

So for those of you, like us, who are the proud parents of a little sleep thief, and you're losing the will to live, here are my top three survival techniques to help to get you through those long and torturous nights:

1. The bed time routine. This is worthy of the two mentions it's received in this post, because it is just about the only technique (and trust me when I say I've tried it all) that has worked for us thus far. And when I say worked, I mean it's helped us to get her into a sufficient state of drowsiness to allow her to fall asleep in the first place (it unfortunately doesn't seem to have a lot of bearing on what comes next!). A warm bath, a story, a feed, a gentle song, keeping things dark and quiet and a long cuddle are all a part of our routine and these days Sophia is out cold within half an hour. To me, this is an absolute result.

2. Co-sleeping. Yes, that much talked about, ever-so controversial topic. We know the dangers, we've read the research, and actually it's pretty much the only thing that's allowed any of us (Baby Sunshine included) to get the requisite amount of sleep to survive. For her first two months she refused to sleep anywhere other than on me at night. For her next five, she refused to sleep anywhere other than in reaching distance (thank goodness for the Chicco Next2Me). Even now, aged ten months and in her own room, when she wakes in the night for a feed she often refuses to go back into her cot and will only settle when she's tucked up between us in our bed (usually with a hand on my face and a foot in Mr Sunshine's ribs). Co-sleeping is one of those parenting decisions that I won't apologise for. And I'm not ashamed to admit that I love the snuggles that come with it!

3. Acceptance. This final tip has taken us a little longer to master. It took a particularly formidable bout of colic for us to finally give up on trying to force sleep upon our wakeful child, and instead accept that it's just a phase, that it will pass and that this won't last forever. Repeating these phrases to yourself whenever you're having a particularly difficult night works like a charm (no parent has a fifteen year old who's keeping them up all night remember!!) and adopting a laissez-faire attitude also helps you to relax enough to transmit your oh-so casual demeanor onto your child. Remember, the more wound up you are about them not sleeping, the less likely they are to sleep!

The other night, we experienced a miracle. She'd just finished cutting a tooth, had gotten over a cold and come out the other end of a particularly difficult developmental leap (basically, all of our stars had aligned) and she did something she never did and slept for at least three hours without waking. Ironically, instead of using this chance to catch up on some much-needed sleep ourselves, we stayed awake talking about her, watching videos of her and wishing that she was awake. That is the craziness of parenthood in a nutshell!

I'd love your advice! What tips do you have for encouraging your baby to sleep?

PS. My baby woke three times in the making of this blog post.

OhLaLa Magazine Review: Sabai Thai

Thursday, 12 January 2017

At the end of last year, I was honoured to be invited by OhLaLa, one of my favourite fashion and beauty publications in the Middle East, to become their monthly food contributor. It's been a long-time dream of mine to have my own column in a prestigious magazine, and it was of course, an offer I couldn't resist. One of my first culinary explorations for the magazine saw me heading to Sabai Thai where I had one of the most memorable meals of my life in Qatar to date.

Here's what I got up to...

It was not long after midday on a Sunday when I walked through the doors of Sabai Thai at the Westin Doha Hotel & Spa, and I was surprised to find it busy and bustling.