There is no dearth of good pizza in the UAE, with outlets offering a variety in flavours and ingredients, dietary needs and lifestyle demands, prices and cuisine-fusion (fried seaweed pizza, anyone?).
But sometimes, all you want is a hearty pizza dripping with cheese and slathered in delicious tomato sauce, with meaty toppings and a solid crust.
Enter Emmy Squared Pizza, which hit the UAE market in 2021 with a branch in Abu Dhabi, followed by a Dubai outpost in April.
The Detroit-style pizza joint is best known for its deep-dish offerings that come in a distinct square shape, following a “secret grandma-style” recipe created by co-found Emily Hyland in 2016.
But the latest Dubai branch bills itself as “designed from the ground up, and different from all of Emmy Squared Pizza's 18 locations in the US, as well as the one in Abu Dhabi”.
So, armed with my three-decade experience of eating pizzas, I head to both of the restaurant’s UAE locations, in Yas Bay and Jumeirah, to see how the two match up.
Where to sit, what to expect
My dining companion and I visit Emmy Square Pizza’s Abu Dhabi outpost on a quiet Thursday evening, but I've seen it buzzing at the weekends on previous visits to Yas Bay.
This location has a large indoor space with wicker chairs and comfy brown leather couches, plus an open-plan layout with floor-to-ceiling glass walls, and an al fresco dining area on one side.
The decor is minimalist – featuring light-blue walls mounted with black and white illustrations of seemingly random celebrities, as well the cutesy graphics of the pizza box at the beach and around town.
The Dubai venue, in Beach Walk Hotel, is easy to miss but once inside, the cosy, indoor-only space has a cheery vibe, with pink walls and red couches.
It's smaller than the Abu Dhabi outpost but filled with a few families when we visit on a late Saturday afternoon.
The music is peppy in both locations, but soft enough to comfortably have a conversation with your dining partners.
The menu
Its namesake dish aside, Emmy Squared Pizza offers a selection of starters, burgers and desserts. The Abu Dhabi venue is licensed and also serves milkshakes, which are yet to be made available at the Dubai site.
In the capital, we start our meal with chicken crunchers (Dh49) and request the heat be turned up. For our mains, we go with the server's recommendations of the Colony Squared (Dh77) and Hot Chicken (Dh55) pizzas.
The starter, despite its name, is not crunchy or spicy – and so a bit of a let-down.
The Colony Squared, which comes with a heady combination of pickled jalapenos and honey, as well as deliciously crispy Italian beef pepperoni, has an interesting flavour profile given the heat of the peppers and the sweetness of the honey.
This is a rather heavy pizza, though, and we are already full by the time the Hot Chicken arrives.
This is another indulgent piie, with chunks of fried chicken, white sauce and chopped pickles. While the chicken pieces feel too large, chunky and even greasy, the white sauce is moreish.
At the end of the meal, not only are we left with no space for dessert, but we also have enough leftovers for a full lunch the next day.
Having learnt our lesson, we go hungry and skip starters at Emmy Dubai, and opt for the Star (Dh79) and Seoul Mate (Dh57) pizzas.
Cheese-lovers will relish the first – it features Mozzarella, ricotta and pecorino that pair well with the spicy oil and red sauce. But the Seoul Mate (more on this below) is the real winner for both of us.
This time, we have just enough room for dessert and opt for a delectable banana pudding (Dh31), which is strictly one for those with a keen sweet tooth.
If you're not overly hungry, one pizza should suffice between two. The menu lists three vegan options, a few veggie pizzas and a dozen diverse meaty offerings.
Standout dish
The Seoul Mate is the highlight of our meal and one of the best pizzas I've eaten.
The Asian-inspired dish, which comes with sausage, kimchi sauce, bell peppers, mozzarella, mushrooms and pecorino cheese on a sesame crust, is a flavour bomb in each bite, and much lighter than the other pizzas we sampled.
It is available to order at both locations of Emmy Squared Pizza in the UAE and is part of the restaurant’s new menu.
A chat with the chef
Luigi Mercogliano, the head chef at Emmy Squared Pizza, is from Naples and honed his craft in Italy and London before coming to Dubai in 2013.
He juggles his time between Akiba Dori, which is known for its Tokyo-style Neapolitan pizza, and Emmy Squared Pizza.
When asked about his favourite on the menu, he says: “I love a simple pizza and my absolute favourite is the burrata margherita. Playing with some of the simplest of ingredients, this pizza is full of fresh flavours that pop.
“This includes everything from the base, made with the San Marzano sun-ripened tomato sauce, going all the way to the toppings, including the buffalo mozzarella.
"The addition of the cheese adds a creamy richness to balance the acidity of the tomatoes and complements Emmy’s signature crispy frico crust."
Prices and contact information
Appetisers at Emmy Squared Pizza cost between Dh33 and Dh59; pizzas are from Dh55 to Dh89; burgers from Dh51 to Dh65; and desserts are Dh31.
Emmy Squared Pizza Yas Bay is open from noon to midnight from Sunday to Thursday, and from noon to 1am on Friday and Saturday. The Dubai branch is open from noon to midnight on all days.
For reservations, call the Abu Dhabi branch on 02 235 8763 and the Dubai branch on 04 835 9726.
This review was conducted at the invitation of the restaurant
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
What drives subscription retailing?
Once the domain of newspaper home deliveries, subscription model retailing has combined with e-commerce to permeate myriad products and services.
The concept has grown tremendously around the world and is forecast to thrive further, according to UnivDatos Market Insights’ report on recent and predicted trends in the sector.
The global subscription e-commerce market was valued at $13.2 billion (Dh48.5bn) in 2018. It is forecast to touch $478.2bn in 2025, and include the entertainment, fitness, food, cosmetics, baby care and fashion sectors.
The report says subscription-based services currently constitute “a small trend within e-commerce”. The US hosts almost 70 per cent of recurring plan firms, including leaders Dollar Shave Club, Hello Fresh and Netflix. Walmart and Sephora are among longer established retailers entering the space.
UnivDatos cites younger and affluent urbanites as prime subscription targets, with women currently the largest share of end-users.
That’s expected to remain unchanged until 2025, when women will represent a $246.6bn market share, owing to increasing numbers of start-ups targeting women.
Personal care and beauty occupy the largest chunk of the worldwide subscription e-commerce market, with changing lifestyles, work schedules, customisation and convenience among the chief future drivers.
THE BIO
Bio Box
Role Model: Sheikh Zayed, God bless his soul
Favorite book: Zayed Biography of the leader
Favorite quote: To be or not to be, that is the question, from William Shakespeare's Hamlet
Favorite food: seafood
Favorite place to travel: Lebanon
Favorite movie: Braveheart
Where to donate in the UAE
The Emirates Charity Portal
You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.
The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments
The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.
Al Noor Special Needs Centre
You can donate online or order Smiles n’ Stuff products handcrafted by Al Noor students. The centre publishes a wish list of extras needed, starting at Dh500.
Beit Al Khair Society
Beit Al Khair Society has the motto “From – and to – the UAE,” with donations going towards the neediest in the country. Its website has a list of physical donation sites, but people can also contribute money by SMS, bank transfer and through the hotline 800-22554.
Dar Al Ber Society
Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.
Dubai Cares
Dubai Cares provides several options for individuals and companies to donate, including online, through banks, at retail outlets, via phone and by purchasing Dubai Cares branded merchandise. It is currently running a campaign called Bookings 2030, which allows people to help change the future of six underprivileged children and young people.
Emirates Airline Foundation
Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.
Emirates Red Crescent
On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.
Gulf for Good
Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.
Noor Dubai Foundation
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).
Countdown to Zero exhibition will show how disease can be beaten
Countdown to Zero: Defeating Disease, an international multimedia exhibition created by the American Museum of National History in collaboration with The Carter Center, will open in Abu Dhabi a month before Reaching the Last Mile.
Opening on October 15 and running until November 15, the free exhibition opens at The Galleria mall on Al Maryah Island, and has already been seen at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
De De Pyaar De
Produced: Luv Films, YRF Films
Directed: Akiv Ali
Cast: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Rakul Preet Singh, Jimmy Sheirgill, Jaaved Jaffrey
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
The%20specs
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if you go
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Seoul from Dh3,775 return, including taxes
The package
Ski Safari offers a seven-night ski package to Korea, including five nights at the Dragon Valley Hotel in Yongpyong and two nights at Seoul CenterMark hotel, from £720 (Dh3,488) per person, including transfers, based on two travelling in January
The info
Visit www.gokorea.co.uk
Country-size land deals
US interest in purchasing territory is not as outlandish as it sounds. Here's a look at some big land transactions between nations:
Louisiana Purchase
If Donald Trump is one who aims to broker "a deal of the century", then this was the "deal of the 19th Century". In 1803, the US nearly doubled in size when it bought 2,140,000 square kilometres from France for $15 million.
Florida Purchase Treaty
The US courted Spain for Florida for years. Spain eventually realised its burden in holding on to the territory and in 1819 effectively ceded it to America in a wider border treaty.
Alaska purchase
America's spending spree continued in 1867 when it acquired 1,518,800 km2 of Alaskan land from Russia for $7.2m. Critics panned the government for buying "useless land".
The Philippines
At the end of the Spanish-American War, a provision in the 1898 Treaty of Paris saw Spain surrender the Philippines for a payment of $20 million.
US Virgin Islands
It's not like a US president has never reached a deal with Denmark before. In 1917 the US purchased the Danish West Indies for $25m and renamed them the US Virgin Islands.
Gwadar
The most recent sovereign land purchase was in 1958 when Pakistan bought the southwestern port of Gwadar from Oman for 5.5bn Pakistan rupees.
TOURNAMENT INFO
Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier
Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi
If you go
The flights
There are direct flights from Dubai to Sofia with FlyDubai (www.flydubai.com) and Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), from Dh1,164 and Dh822 return including taxes, respectively.
The trip
Plovdiv is 150km from Sofia, with an hourly bus service taking around 2 hours and costing $16 (Dh58). The Rhodopes can be reached from Sofia in between 2-4hours.
The trip was organised by Bulguides (www.bulguides.com), which organises guided trips throughout Bulgaria. Guiding, accommodation, food and transfers from Plovdiv to the mountains and back costs around 170 USD for a four-day, three-night trip.
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T10 Cricket League
Sharjah Cricket Stadium
December 14- 17
6pm, Opening ceremony, followed by:
Bengal Tigers v Kerala Kings
Maratha Arabians v Pakhtoons
Tickets available online at q-tickets.com/t10
Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Oppenheimer
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SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20SAMSUNG%20GALAXY%20Z%20FOLD5
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TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
Wydad 2 Urawa 3
Wydad Nahiri 21’, Hajhouj 90'
Urawa Antonio 18’, 60’, Kashiwagi 26’
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INFO
Everton 0
Arsenal 0
Man of the Match: Djibril Sidibe (Everton)
'Munich: The Edge of War'
Director: Christian Schwochow
Starring: George MacKay, Jannis Niewohner, Jeremy Irons
Rating: 3/5
'The worst thing you can eat'
Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines:
Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.
Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
The six points:
1. Ministers should be in the field, instead of always at conferences
2. Foreign diplomacy must be left to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation
3. Emiratisation is a top priority that will have a renewed push behind it
4. The UAE's economy must continue to thrive and grow
5. Complaints from the public must be addressed, not avoided
6. Have hope for the future, what is yet to come is bigger and better than before
MATCH INFO
France 3
Umtiti (8'), Griezmann (29' pen), Dembele (63')
Italy 1
Bonucci (36')
'Outclassed in Kuwait'
Taleb Alrefai,
HBKU Press
Race card
6.30pm: Handicap (TB) $68,000 (Dirt) 1,200m
7.05pm: Meydan Cup – Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (Turf) 2,810m
7.40pm: UAE 2000 Guineas – Group 3 (TB) $125,000 (D) 1,600m
8.15pm: Firebreak Stakes – Group 3 (TB) $130,000 (D) 1,600m
9.50pm: Meydan Classic – Conditions (TB) $$50,000 (T) 1,400m
9.25pm: Dubai Sprint – Listed Handicap (TB) $88,000 (T) 1,200m
About%20My%20Father
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The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
