With school being out for the summer soon, I’m sure lots of parents are already on the hunt for new and entertaining places to take the kids to, while being able to beat the heat at the same time. If you think air conditioned malls or indoor soft play areas are the only options, think again. With so many venue and activity options to choose from; for movie lovers, the athletics and even foodies, there’s something for kids of all ages, in UAE. Simply grab your phone and download Kidzapp, an app that will help you choose where to take your kids to next.
Thanks to Kidzapp, earlier this week, Azmu, hubby-bi and I were able to visit The Inventing Room located at the recently refurbished City Centre Sharjah. Even though hubby-bi and I were vaguely aware what we were getting ourselves in for, we were not prepared for the fun experience that even Azmu enjoyed.
What is The Inventing Room?
The Inventing Room is a unique science –lab based dessert bar that serves sweet treats and also an experience that will leave you visually dazzled. Started in America, in the year 2009 by Chef Ian Kleinman after being inspired by the magical world of the 1971 movie ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’, the dessert experience has made its way to UAE. Even though the menu here isn’t elaborate, the theatrics make up for it. In particular the use of liquid nitrogen to dry freeze ingredients, such as crisps and whipped cream.
What is on the menu?
Do you have a sweet tooth or prefer something savoury? Are you into ice creams or more a milkshake person? This place caters for all, even if you said ‘yes’ to all of the above.
Try their Spicy Cheese Balls to experience the dragon like breathe while biting into cold spicy cheesy, crispy puff balls, or the Vimto Slushy, to check out their take on traditional drinks.
What did we have?
There was no way that we were going to leave without trying out the Really Really Cold Cheetos (AED 15), so decided to start with that. The minute Martini, our server, turned on the Liquid Nitrogen tap to cover the Cheetos in, there was dry ice flowing everywhere like smoke. Azmu was most certainly enjoying attempting to ‘hold’ all of the smoke.
The Cheetos were most definitely cold inside our mouths, and every time we crunched there was more and more ‘smoke’ escaping our mouths. Hubby-bi and I most certainly enjoyed the experience, while Azmu, being quite young, did find it very cold after having a couple of Cheetos.
Next, we tried the S’mores Brownie (AED 35), from the dessert section, comprised of Chocolate Brownie on a layer of Graham Crust with a top layer of burnt marshmallow. This was served with Double chocolate ice cream and topped with explosive whipped cream and nitro chocolate. The explosive whipped cream was basically the whipped cream mixed with liquid nitrogen, resulting in crystals of cream that would leave a cold, exploding like feeling in the mouth. The nitro chocolate was chocolate syrup drawn in a pattern inside the liquid nitrogen, resulting a frozen chocolate lace like structure that was placed on top of our dessert.
Despite my love for everything chocolate, I couldn’t have finished this large portion on my own and was glad to have my husband share this dish with me. The warm and gooey brownie with the cold ice cream and the exploding whipped cream, all together in your mouth, created one fun experience. What was also wonderful, and worth mentioning, is that everything was prepared, as much possible, and assembled right in front of us. And ofcourse, everytime that Liquid Nitrogen tap went on, Azmu would be dancing in the middle of all the smoke.
To take away with us, we decided to have one Oreo Milkshake (AED 30). Once again, prepared in front of us and topped with explosive whipped cream and an Oreo biscuit, the milkshake was thick and creamy with the right ratio of crushed Oreo in there.
Overall verdict
It was a memorable experience for this foodie family of ours, for sure. Adults and kids of an older age may enjoy this a lot more than my young daughter did. The items on the menu are reasonably priced and well proportioned, with the experience of having liquid nitrogen being the most memorable.
The Inventing Room also provide catering facilities, where you can have them come to your next party or event. You can choose any 4 items on the menu, for a minimum of 50 people, which will be charged at AED 50 per person.
Apart from what is on the menu, this place has a funky minimalistic monochrome look that is pleasing to the eye. If visiting, along with your appetite, don’t forget to bring your camera too.
Locations: City Centre Sharjah, Last Exit, La Mer
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Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. The views and opinions mentioned here are of my own. The photographs are my property and cannot be copied without permission. Any material from the above post cannot be reproduced without permission.
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