Floating kitchen sets sail in Dubai; ready to carter to sea-customers

To attract customers, an enterprise or nations come up with all sorts of attractive-revenue earning ideas.

And Dubai’s latest venture is all set to sail.

The first floating kitchen and seawater drive-thru to hit Dubai offered free food on its opening day on Friday and will cater to “underserved” customers on jet skis, boats, yachts, and beachgoers.

Salt Bay, a novel idea of a food truck not on land but on the sea, opened to customers near Rixos The Palm Hotel on Friday.

The floating kitchen, which owners claim as the world’s first, is an Aqua Pod that can be navigated at sea to locations based on customer demand.

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“My drive is to be the first in doing something new in Dubai. This is a new experience. This is Dubai. People come here to experience new things that they can’t find anywhere else in the world,” Koussei Kurbaj, owner of Salt Bay, told an international news agency.

“We have food for vegans, for burger lovers we have meat and chicken, we have hot dogs, mojitos and stuff like that. It’s food [convenient to eat] for people in the middle of the sea,” he added.

Fady Georges Enkiri, F&B operations manager, said the menu offers a wide selection and not only burgers with regular and original sauces but also crepes, waffles and a variety of drinks.

Salt Bay has two ordering systems: a flag system where people on boats can raise their flags to order for delivery or customers on small marine crafts can stop by and order on-site.

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“We used to hear lots of comments, especially from yacht owners that they find it very difficult to order food because no one wants to deliver to them. They have to send somebody to the shore and bring the food to them. So we want to make their lives easy,” Enkiri told Gulf News.

Despite the Arabian Gulf being slightly rough on Friday, the six-member crew, including four chefs and a captain, managed.

“The kitchen is designed in a way that even though the sea is rough, everything is cool and safe. Everybody is working in a safe environment. In the past two days, the sea was rough but we managed. But we will coordinate with the captain if it’s a ‘go, or no go’,” Enkiri said, adding part of the reason why he took on the job was that he loved challenges and making wild ideas work.

Kurbaj said Salt Bay’s approved destinations as agreed with Dubai Maritime City Authority are the Dubai Lagoon in front of Kite Beach and the areas around it. They are also allowed to deliver to the Palm Villas and The World Islands.

Salt Bay will be open from 12 pm to 9 pm daily. It does not have an indoor or outdoor dining area. All the food will be served for takeaway or delivery. The pod’s daily destinations will be available on its social media pages on @saltbaydxb.