Restaurant review: Zabeel Saray’s Al Nafoorah, the best Lebanese in Dubai?
Posted on 02 November 2011 with no comments from readers
Dubai is home to a very large Lebanese diaspora so the competition among restaurants for this favorite Arab cuisine is intense. That is good for standards, and one of the newest entrants in the five-star space is the superb Al Nafoorah at the Zabeel Saray on crescent of the Palm Jumeirah.
Location is not everything for a restaurant but this is a hotel so opulent that its taste could almost be considered Lebanese if it was not Ottoman. The Zabeel Saray is Dubai’s take on a traditional Ottoman palace and positively glitters with gold leaf and finely crafted marble (click here).
Imperial splendour
The interior of the Al Nafoorah is deliciously over-the-top, exactly the sort of place to entertain a visiting CEO or royalty for that matter. Apparently 95 per cent of staff and the chefs are from Lebanon so there is no danger of a lack of authenticity.
Go there for a full-on Lebanese feast and you are in for a treat. The freshest and most tasty cold mezzes and salads followed by a selection of those neat little pastries that make up the hot mezzes. This is almost a meal in itself but leave space for the grilled fish or meats for the main course.
The meat is presented on a fan of skewers and kept very warm with a plate too hot to touch. The highest quality chicken, fillet beef and lamb kofta are marinated and cooked to a turn, together with fresh grilled vegetables. It is a melt-in-the-mouth experience.
Traditional desserts
Desserts are also on the heavy side. A cream dish drizzled with honey, small cheesy rolls covered in syrup and a tower of assorted slices of melon.
It’s all such fine quality food that you alight from the table feeling heavy and satisfied but not in the least over-done. That said a stroll in the pleasant garden and a glance at the lights of the Palm hotels and skyscrapers of New Dubai framed in the night air is a must before heading home.
In this season you are also advised to take advantage of the restaurant’s excellent outdoor terrace where shisha can be taken.
