19 restaurant in The Montgomerie Dubai

After all the grumbling about the cost of wine in Dubai in these columns it is refreshing to report on a very unusual promotion at the trendy 19 restaurant at the Montgomerie Golf Clubhouse in Dubai.

Every Tuesday until the end of December evening diners who book in advance can enjoy a complimentary bottle of house cabernet sauvignon or sauvignon blanc provided that they eat at least two main courses.

Nice terrace

ArabianMoney took up the challenge and paid AED250 for a two course dinner and dessert, and the bottle of wine worth at least AED140 came free. It was also a beautifully cooked and presented meal on a spacious terrace looking out over the green.

My wife took the slow cooked lamb which required some mashed potatoes, and I tried the rolled chicken. The service includes some fresh Mediterranean style bread and an amuse bouche. And the desserts are delicious.

This is a fine dining restaurant at the upper end of the Dubai scale and prices are reasonable for the quality of the food, setting and service. Sorry to dwell on the wine but we did not like the choice and the manager kindly proffered a Hardy’s semillon chardonnay, hardly a Chateau Petrus but perfect for a balmy evening on the terrace.

Creative thinking

A sign of the times and the creative marketing now needed to fill restaurants in Dubai but the sort of initiative that ought to be copied by others. The 19 restaurant also has an attractively priced Friday buffet and Saturday roast lunch, and seems to be trying hard to get things right.

Finally if none of that tempts you then the tapas and four glasses of wine for AED99 after 5pm every evening is a hole-in-one!