Delivery riders in Dubai. EXPAT MEDIA

In the middle of the UAE's peak summer heat, where road temperatures climb and delivery riders continue moving across the city without pause, a simple gesture is turning into a quiet act of solidarity. Across the UAE, a network of Filipino-owned food and beverage businesses under the League of Food and Beverage Entrepreneurs (LFBE) has launched the “Ride Hydrated: LFBE Rider Care Drive,” a month-long community initiative offering free bottled water to delivery riders throughout July. Participating establishments include a familiar lineup for UAE diners: Cuisinerong Pinoy, Agemono Express, NaDerang Gundang, The Desert Wok Restaurant, Panadero, AffordaCup, Bawangong Avenue, Jaiko Taho DXB, Bravo Delights Cakes, and Elenas Pansit Batil Patung DXB. At each stop, riders collecting or delivering food orders are also handed something less expected: a cold bottle of water offered without charge, a brief pause in the middle of a working day defined by heat and tight schedules. LFBE described the initiative as a collective effort to recognise the people who keep food moving across the country. “Let’s spread the word and support our community heroes — because even a small act of kindness goes a long way,” the group said. Among the participating restaurants is Agemono Express, one of the UAE’s long-running Filipino-Japanese restaurant brands, which recently marked 20 years in the country. Its founder, Roberto Capulong, once described himself as an “accidental sushi chef.” He arrived in Dubai at 19, working first as a hotel waiter before joining Agemono in 2006 as operations manager, where he learned every part of the business, including sushi preparation. Today, Agemono Express is known for affordable Asian comfort food, from ramen and takoyaki to Filipino staples like kare-kare, bulalo, halo-halo and leche flan. In Sharjah, NaDerang Restaurant tells a different but equally familiar story, one that began in a small fish market kiosk built around home-cooked Kapampangan recipes. “It started as porridge, veggie okoy, cassava, puto, kutchinta. Everything was sold out by 11am,” founder and owner Liberty Samonte Galang said. “Even our customers started calling others to buy from us.” That early demand eventually grew into NaDerang’s current restaurants in Sharjah, serving Filipino comfort food across two branches. The Desert Wok in Jumeirah Village Circle adds another layer to the network. The Filipino-led concept serving Filipino, Chinese and Pan-Asian dishes, is owned by Philippine Business Council Chairman Asiyah Monjardin, who has described the restaurant as an expression of Dubai’s cultural mix. Meanwhile, AffordaCup has expanded to its fourth Dubai outlet at Al Ghurair Centre’s Flayva food hall, offering Kapampangan-inspired dishes such as sisig, kare-kare and halo-halo, while Bravo Delights Cakes continues to build a following with Filipino-inspired desserts and UAE-infused creations like Pistachio Kunafa. Different kitchens, different stories,  but for a few weeks this July, they are tied together by a shared act of care: handing a bottle of water to someone who spends their day making sure food reaches everyone else. PIA/Expat Media
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