Luxury is in the details.
At Atlantis The Palm’s Asateer Tent, it will beckon you from every fold. You see it in the foot-tall palm tree, painstakingly crafted with hand-picked dates. It’s in the individually-wrapped lemon wedges, sitting pretty in white next to the soup station.
Luxury will never leave your side.
Not when you stand in queue for a piping hot mamoul mad bil ashta (puff pastry filled with clotted cream ) nor when you lose your way through the labyrinthine food stations, only to find it in the bite-sized, delicious familiarity of a shawarma in a pita bread pocket.
But are luxurious trappings enough to cut you short of Dh185 and not deliver on its promise of food that tastes good too? Definitely not. In the past few years, Asateer had maintained its reputation of being Dubai’s most glamorous Ramadan tent with very little attention paid on the taste front. Until now.
Almost all dishes taste great as standalones. A fitting example is the vegetable lasagne which is light, simple and nourishing — it also made me realise how overrated meat can be.
Which brings me to another realisation. Most of the items were everyday, no fuss food. What a contrast to the grandiose venue. Head to Asateer if you would like to drown in simple luxury. You will resurface again — just like the Atlantis — a little bit poorer but content in the knowledge of an evening, time and money well spent.
Must try dish: Lamb Makanik with vermicelli rice
- Where: Call 04-4260000
- Price: Dh185 per person, inclusive of buffet and Ramadan juices
- Timing: Iftar to 8.30pm (9.30pm to 2.30am for suhour)
