DUBAI: Tucked in a corner of Dubai’s high-end Jumeirah street, a theme restaurant gets the eye of every passerby with elaborate and flamboyant motifs that Pakistanis immediately associate with their homeland landscape: truck art.
With Lahore’s iconic Badshahi Mosque, couplets in Urdu, floral ornaments, peacocks and other birds painted with the colorful technique on the walls, furniture, plates and utensils, Truck Adda is exactly what its name spells and serves authentic Pakistani cuisine.
“The idea was to represent Pakistan through art and there is nothing better than truck art,” Muhammad Aaquib, the 28-year-old owner of the restaurant told Arab News on Thursday.
Truck Adda's interior was decorated by Phooljee, a popular truck artist from Karachi. (AN photo by Muhammad Aaquib)
Originally from Karachi, Aaquib opened the restaurant with his Dubai-based friend in 2015.
“I had an earlier experience in running a restaurant in Karachi,” he said. “We decided to open a restaurant that would offer authentic Pakistani cuisine in traditional settings.”
He wanted to make sure that the truck was authentic as well, so he commissioned it to Phool Badshah, a popular truck artist known as Phooljee, who flew to Dubai from Karachi to give Truck Adda its unique look.
The walls, furniture, plates and utensils of the Truck Adda restaurant are painted with truck art ornaments. (AN photo by Muhammad Aaquib)
The Urdu couplets that decorate the restaurant’s furniture are exactly the same as the humorous lines one would find on colorful trucks passing through Pakistani roads.
“We often have foreign diners who are fascinated with the art and they ask us what the couplets mean,” Aaquib said.
The restaurant that prides itself in non-veg dishes, especially karahi, a good range of barbeque and tea, soon gained popularity and in 2017 Aaquib opened its second branch at Jumeirah Lake Towers (JLT), another popular hotspot in Dubai.
The two restaurants employ more than 30 people, most of the Pakistanis.
Plans to open a third branch have been delayed by the pandemic, which hit most of the players in the hospitality sectors.
“We were hit because we were planning on opening a new restaurant last year in March which got delayed,” Aaquib said, adding that they had however managed to keep all their workers.
“We are a dine-in restaurant, so the impact was greater, but we managed without cutting costs or laying off staff and by using our savings.”
Diners sit at Truck Adda in Jumeirah street, Dubai on March 10, 2021. (AN photo by Muhammad Aaquib)
A regular Truck Adda diner, Hassan Sabit, a cyber-security consultant, has been coming to the restaurant with his family for both its food and atmosphere.
“It is local truck art style and I and my family enjoy coming here to get a feel of Pakistan,” he said. “I love the ambience and the desi food here is the best.”
Anatoly Vetoshkin, a telecom professional from Russia who came to Truck Adda for the second time, said that he was drawn by its colors.
“When we came into the restaurant, we discussed the colorful interior especially the painted chairs and loved it,” he said. “We love the food because of the taste and spices, even though it is very spicy for us.”
