Moroccan flavors

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Yet another evening of gathering with friends and finding somewhere interesting to eat. I dragged everyone to the "dark side" so I can have another taste of the Arabic/Moroccan food at Malouf's. It's been over half a year since my last visit, and I was ready to relive some fond memories...

We had three starters to tide us over, beginning with the mezze. The cheesy ladies fingers were OK, and the smoky baba ganoush was not bad with the homemade jou jou bread. The almond falafel was nice as to be expected, while the salt cod and preserved lemon fritter had a nice, soft texture like one would find in a Portuguese or Spanish restaurant.

Batt moubakhar - the duck leg was marinated in "7 year master stock"...not quite sure what that means. While the frying made it look like a duck confit, the cumin salt used reminded me of Chinese 5-spice. The accompanying carrot salad matched the duck nicely.

Laban immor - the lamb dumplings were pretty good, with the interesting tastes of garlic mint yogurt with spinach and chick peas. A second round of ordering added another starter and some mains. I didn't take any of the shawarma as it's been made into a modern salad.

We had two orders of the bistayeea, since we would have been fighting for the pigeon pie otherwise. However these fell a little short of my expectations, given how yummy they were on my last visit. The flavor of the pigeon meat was less intense, and although there was still the almond and the sweet filo pastry, it was just a bit anti-climactic.

Malouf's Mouhrabieh bi kraides - this prawn and mussel tagine was interesting, with caramelized fennel and giant cous cous that look like white BB shots. Not sure what these balls are made of, but they sure are chewy.

Mozat bi baharat - the veal shank looked gigantic sitting in the tagine pot. The meat was tender although just a tad dry for my taste. The butternut pumpkin base was sweet and good. We can't walk out of the place without sweets, so here goes a third round of ordering...

Spiced pomegranate ganita with minted watermelon salad and lime syrup pistachio halva - I had a tiny spoonful and it seemed pretty good.

Mahallabia - I had this on my last visit, but the jelly on top of the cream is now made with rose scented strawberries. Still had the Iranian candy floss on top which is just dragon beard candy (龍鬚糖) to the Chinese...

Syrian apricot and almond tart with caramelized orange and orange blossom clotted cream - pretty yummy actually, and the caramelized orange was especially interesting as this isn't something we usually see.

Burnt honey ice cream and kataifi and toffeed figs - delicious caramel flavors.

I had the Moroccan mint tea, but unfortunately the tea had neither enough flavor nor enough sweetness...

Overall it was a pretty decent meal, if a tiny bit below my expectations in terms of food quality. However the real let down came in the form of service. The staff seemed poorly trained and generally slow, perhaps even a little nonchalant. We were a bit put off by this. The whole dining experience would be so much better - resulting in more customers - if the staff could just care about service a bit more... Oh well...

Yummy Moroccan

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I went to the driving range tonight to try to regain some of my muscle memory for golf. After the short session, my cousin Maria and I decided to head over to Elements Mall next door and try out Malouf's - the newest outpost for Melbourne's Greg Malouf.

Malouf's first venture in Hong Kong - Soho's Olive - is high on my list for Middle Eastern cuisine, so I was eager to try out this place.  The place had nice, modern decor - with a comfy bar downstairs and the dining room upstairs. The music was a mix of lounge (can we say Hotel Costes?) and Mid East themed dance tunes. Very cool.

We started with the mezze platter - a mix of 5 starters. The merguez roll was tasty, and instead of the usual sausage, the meat was formed into a thin sheet and rolled with another sheet of dough, so it kinda looked like a Swiss roll. The crab meat and couscous cigar was also interesting, rolled inside a sheet of filo pastry. The falafel came in the form of round, flat discs like poker chips, and tasted nice with the yogurt dip. There was also a tomato and almond dip, and a mixed veggie chutney.

For main course I chose the bisteeya - the traditional Moroccan pigeon pie. This was really wonderful. The baked, flaky filo pastry contained shredded pigeon, almond flakes, along with finely chopped mint leaves and egg. The spices were wonderful, and the pigeon meat was very tender. The occasional bits of fatty skin added something extra to the experience. I didn't really care for the cabbage salad underneath - the dressing was a bit too acidic for me.

For dessert we shared the mulhalbia, the custard cream with strawberries and orange blossom water. On top of it all were thin strands of sugar just like the sai mai (龍鬚糖) I had in Ayutthaya. These were flavored with orange blossom water, and we had fun playing with them... I finished off with some Moroccan mint tea, and promised to return soon for another round of yummy food.

Three Meals in Dubai

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Had 3 reasonably good meals over 2 days in Dubai. They were all inside 5-star hotels on Jumeirah Beach, so naturally were not going to be on the cheap side. But contrary to reports I have read on the net, the food actually was not terrible. If anything, they were of reasonable quality, but unfortunately the prices charged usually warrant higher quality elsewhere. Therefore I think it's not that the absolute quality level of the food is poor; people are just disappointed that they didn't get what they paid for.

Al Muntaha, Burj Al Arab Hotel - Lunch on December 13

Was not seated at a table by the window, but still had a reasonable view of the Palm Jumeirah. This was fine as I'd just gotten off the seaplane and already had a spectacular view that morning.

Did not choose the set lunch and went a la carte instead. For starter I chose pan seared diver scallops, expecting them to be very fresh and sweet. I was not disappointed. I was served two large scallops, halved, along with the red roes in the plate. The scallops were sweet, seared to perfection, and the flavors came together well. The only shocker is that the plate was put in front of me much too quickly after I had ordered...which meant that it was already partially prepared when I ordered it.

My main course was steamed barramundi with a veloute of green peas. The large piece of flesh was very tender and juicy, completely covered in the green veloute and served over a bed of green asparagus and lumpfish caviar. Here again the flavors blended well together, and I was very happy by this point.

For dessert I chose the passion fruit souffle, which came in a rather large ramekin (for one person at least). It was pretty good, although I was reminded of the better passion fruit souffle at Plantane in Shanghai.

I did order a glass of Chablis to go with the scallops and the barramundi. Can't remember the producer but it was a village wine.

The decor was modern but a bit Disney-esque. I am reminded of Le Cirque 2000 in NY years ago, where the decor was a bit wacky and colorful. Of course the raison d'etre for the restaurant is the spectacular view, of Jumeirah Beach/Palm Jumeirah on one side, and of the new city skyscrapers and the World on the other (with the Jumeirah Beach Hotel just adjacent to the Burj on this side).

I take my coffee and petits fours at the bar, and enjoy the view of the city. Meanwhile I continue to snap away with my camera.

Overall, I think the food s fairly good. However, the pricing for this restaurant is comparable to some of the top restaurants in London and New York, while an appreciable gap remains in terms of quality, as well as service.

Tagine, One & Only Royal Mirage - Dinner on December 13
Looking at the name, it is immediately apparent that you are entering a Moroccan establishment. A bowl of dates, a traditional gesture of hospitality, rest on a small stand just inside the entrance, along with an empty plate for the pits as well as a stack of napkins. I grab a date and munch.

The decor is classically Moroccan. All the staff inside the restaurant are of Moroccan origin (a welcome change to the multinational staff we meet at other restaurants), and dressed in national garb with red tarbouches on their heads as well as babouches on their feet. The restaurant was pretty busy with only a couple of empty tables. However, the staff was extremely friendly and helpful (and knowledgeable), which is again a nice change.

I started with the Salade Marrakechia, a collection of small bowls each containin cauliflower; red beet root; a paste made from tomato, orange blossom water, honey and saffron; mashed chickpeas; and salad of tomatoes and cucumbers. The paste is especially interesting as it is sweet and is eaten with bread. By the time I run through these, I am already half full.

Next I ordered two main courses - way too much I had to have some variety. The tagine soussi, a lamb stew with onion, ginger and saffron, was delicious. I try to finish this as much as possible. The other main - the couscous bismak - is topped with prawns (both large and medium) and fish. It is among the best cousous I have ever had, but I had no hope of finishing it. I ask for it in a doggy bag.

I am already full, but am I going to walk out without having dessert? No way! The nice waiter suggests the kenaffa, overruling my original choice. Basically a mille-feuille made with vanilla cream, almonds and cinnamon, it is absolutely amazing. It is the perfect ending to a good meal.

I leave with a bloated tummy, a doggy bag in hand and my wallet intact.

Pierchic, Al Qasr - Dinner on December 14

This meal was always going to be about the setting and not the food. Built on top of a pier extending out from the beach, this was touted by Time Out as "one of the most romantic restaurants" since it has a view of the Burj at night.

The waiter makes a few suggestions, and since they match my tastes, I decide to take them. For starter I had the langoustines, served on a bed of salmon an scallop tartare with langoustine foam. This was well-executed and I find myself licking my lips for the foam.

For main course I had the halibut, which was pan-fried to perfection. I wash it all down with a glass of German kabinett riesling.
I'm pretty full at this point, so I pass on dessert and make my way back to the hotel.

One last word on the wine list: the Jumeirah group of hotels obviously spent some effort to stock the cellars of the hotels that they operate, so there are a number of trophy wines on the list. As one would expect in a fine-dining restaurant (if these could quality), and especially one located in Dubai, prices would not be on the cheap side. A bottle of '82 La Mission Haut Brion lists for AED 18,000, which is roughly 3.5-4x the current bonded price in London (and therefore not too unreasonable compared to what other restaurants would charge). The most expensive bottle is the '85 Petrus, which at AED 45,000 is about 10x the price in bond in London. Now THAT is excessive!