Benjarong the best Thai restaurant in Dubai

It is hardly a coincidence that the billionaire, disgraced former Prime Minister of Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra chooses to eat at the Benjarong restaurant on the 24th floor of the Thani Dusit Hotel in Dubai.

For quite simply the royal Thai cuisine is the finest in the city. Open since 2002 Benjarong is well known for its excellent food, and its magnificently carved wooden interior based on a tradtional Thai house.

Top Thai

Royal Thai cuisine is the top of the league, and as the name suggests was created to satisfy the appetite of the king, still an extremely powerful man in Thailand and a candidate for richest man in the world. This is a delicously subtle interpretation of Thai food, with its delicate flavors and spices.

A lunchtime treat might start with a medly of Thai starters from satay chicken and beef to prawns in parcels. Then a tasty coconut soup. And the vast range of main courses is strongest on fresh fish but just about anything is good. Pad Thai for a light noodle dish is outstanding.

Service is straight from Thailand and so graceful and discrete. There is live entertainment with a Thai musical instrument being played by a singer in the background.

But take your time over the wine list. There is a preponderance of older good wine clearly ordered for the cellar before the global financial crisis. But there are also a few over-priced howlers.

The Spanish Grenache wine can be bought currently in a two-for-the-price-of-one offer locally for AED31 or AED15.50 a bottle but is presented for the indecent amount of AED265.

Wine mark-up

Winning the prize for the biggest wine mark-up in a city noted for over-priced wine is not a great recommendation. Thai Singha beer is a nice alternative as at least it comes from Thailand.

But choose your beverages carefully and this is actually a remarkably inexpensive business lunch, especially if you have a Visa card with the 25 per cent discount. That brought a tasty lunch for two with beer to just under $100.

Some wine might be astronomic in price but that cannot be said of the gourmet food. For business visitors to Dubai this is also a convenient taxi ride from the exhibition centre and right opposite the new Dubai Downtown.