Dubai. In recent years, Middle Eastern cuisine has become more and more popular, thanks to its wholesome and rich approach. When I traveled to Dubai last week, I had the chance to savor the traditional cuisine of the region.
The culinary highlight of the trip came when we visited Al Nafoorah, a Lebanese restaurant that comes highly recommended and is widely regarded as the best of its kind in the city.
Located on Palm Island on the premises of the Jumeirah Zabeel Saray hotel — where actor Tom Cruise shot some of the scenes for his 2011 action film “Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol” — Al Nafoorah’s decor is as lavish and grand as the hotel’s, featuring a fountain in the middle of the venue that is further enhanced by high archways with beautiful wooden carvings.
We came during lunchtime — which is not the busiest time for the restaurant as it gets more crowded at night — and therefore opted to sit outside on the spacious terrace overlooking the hotel’s pool and Palm Island, and at the same time enjoying a fresh sea breeze.
A short glance at the menu revealed an overwhelmingly huge selection; it was a good thing that we could rely entirely on the Al Nafoorah staff to make recommendations and bring out the chef’s favorites.
The starters selection, also referred to as mezzeh, consisted of Tabouleh (chopped parsley and mint mixed with tomatoes and burghul cereal in olive oil and lemon juice), the vegetarian Fatoosh, assorted Arabic pickles, the Al Nafoorah Salad — a signature dish, most probably thanks to its light lemon vinaigrette — and a range of dips for the crispy toasted bread, including the ever-popular hummus, a chickpea puree with roasted pine seeds and cumin.
The appetizers could as well have been a full meal, but the waiters happily brought out more plates for our table.
The chicken liver in pomegranate sauce was so exceptionally tasteful that I actually shed my dislike of liver dishes in general, while the Warak Enab Bil Zaite, vine leaves stuffed with rice, tomato, mint and parsley, proved to be another favorite among our group.
Since lamb and mutton have always been the favored meat in Middle Eastern cuisine, the Al Nafoorah mixed grill unsurprisingly featured skewers of lamb fillet; they were accompanied by cubed chicken, beef sausage and shrimps.
However, I experienced a culinary revelation when first trying a dish called Arayes — grilled bread filled with minced lamb, onion, tomatoes, mint and pine nuts. The lamb was exquisite, perfectly complemented by the freshness of the mint, while the pine nuts added a mildly bitter twist. I wouldn’t have had any objection to snacking on Arayes alone for the rest of my trip; I immediately fell in love with it.
The meat-heavy lunch, our waiters told us afterward, could not come to an end without us trying at least one dessert.
After a short break that was spent mostly in silence — everyone seemed to be too busy digesting to engage in conversation — they served Ashtha Bil Aasal, a traditional Lebanese sweet consisting of fresh cream with almonds, pistachios and honey. It was presented in an entertaining way as well: the waiter came with the honey pot and poured it over the cream from a swindling, Burj Khalifa-esque height.
Barely able to move after this sinful feast, we decided to take a short stroll on the beach. From afar, I spotted some birds hovering over Al Nafoorah’s terrace, waiting for their chance to pick up some leftovers from our tables, before eventually being shooed away by the waiters. It seems that even for animals, the food of Al Nafoorah is too delicious to not give it a try.
The Jakarta Globe was invited on a media tour to Dubai sponsored by Emirates and the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing.
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