Tim Hortons Dubai with a first-timer

So strange to see Tim Hortons in Dubai, not once, but multiple times. Bevan said Tim Hortons is as common as Baskin Robbins there. Baskin Robbins is in the Middle East too?? 

Remember when spotting a Tim's in the U.S. was a shock?
Check out this story on Tim Hortons in Dubai being mobbed by Canadian expats.

Although there are plenty of Tim Hortons in Dubai, Bevan had never been to one. So I thought what better way to spend our last evening then ordering a double double and a box of Timbits, Canadian style. 

It was weird walking in there, with a mosque on the corner, a larger-than-life mural of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum – prime minister of the UAE and Dubai monarch (whose image is everywhere) – a table of local men in traditional robes, and the oh-so-familiar Tim Hortons' logo but with Arabic translation. Yet it was the same environment I walk into almost every day at home. Minus the snow.

I was so pumped for Bevan to try the traditional Timmys order. I was hesitant to say “double double” to the guy behind the counter but I thought 'What the eh', at the very least Bevan will hear what Canadians at Tim Hortons sound like. Yet the Timmys guy knew immediately what I meant. We got a tenner of “Tim’s balls”, as my mother (hi Mom!) calls them, and we sat down outside.

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The double double was a hit – so says the guy who hadn't heard of putting cream in a coffee. 

He said he could take or leave the Timbits, although he didn’t leave a single one behind. 

This was a special moment for me – Bevan had showed me almost every inch of the UAE, and now I could show him a significant part of mine. Timmy’s was so Canadian, so Toronto, and a staple in my life. I sat back and took it all in as we recalled our wonderful reunion and enjoyed our Tim Hortons hangout. It was surreal, watching my dear friend from across the world whom I hadn’t seen in more than 10 years nibbling on a slice of Canadiana. And he loved the “double double.”

Oh, by the way, they totally had better lids. (No fair.)
TIP: Do not go to Tim Hortons in Dubai if you are a coffee lid crusader. It will only make you mad. 

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Tim Hortons in the Dubai Mall, the largest mall in the world.