One of my conscious desires this Ramadan was to try and move away from the traditional Middle Eastern/Arabic iftars that we are graciously invited to. Well, how much of a good thing can one really consume?
So the lavish iftar buffet at Anise at the InterContinental Dubai Festival City was a treat. Of course, no one can miss the traditional kebabs and biryanis and ouzis, but my companion and I headed straight to the sushi counter. He, an avid fan of the Japanese cuisine, relished the maki and nigiri, as my sinuses opened up with the slightly excessive wasabi I put on my cucumber sushi.
As I washed down the tingle that went straight to my brain with a glass of fresh pineapple juice, a platter of straight-off-the-grill kebabs was placed before us. My bowl of harira soup was of considerable interest to the zealous servers. I was asked thrice whether they could clear my still uneaten soup. And then I had to actually hand it to them once I’d emptied the bowl to make space on the table for the kebab platter.
Accompanied with warm two-bite-sized khubz, hummus and salads, the succulent meat seekh kebabs melted in the mouth. But I missed the point with the joujeh kebabs, made from specially imported Brazilian chicken. Apparently, made from the breast rather than the thigh part of the chicken, they were supposed to be more juicy and tender. Unfortunately I didn’t quite find much difference with the more regularly available chicken kebabs (or maybe it was the fact that I was more interested in the Asian counter of the buffet that I missed something).
We took a break from eating, strolling through the various food counters. As you enter, you will be greeted with a pizza and manakesh counter, with its flavourful cheesy offerings, followed by the traditional Arabic counter laden with maloukhiya, maqlooba, hot mezzeh and the kebab grills. I moved past with my plate containing a sliver of manakesh to the Asian counter, the tempuras (where you will also find the Indian version of tempura – bhajiyas), fragrant curries beckoning. My friend helped himself to the Thai red curry and rice while I picked up some tempura. Besides these you’ll find a range of baked and grilled fish and seafood. If you are not in the mood for seafood, the shawarma counter — chicken and beef — is just next to it. The Thai curry was very good, pronounced my companion, while the baked fish found its mark too on the table.
The extensive sweet counter is not to be missed, hosting Indian jalebis, gulab jamuns and rasmalai to baklawa and umm Ali to brownies, parfaits and in-house created ice-creams. I tried the baklawa flavoured ice-cream, thinking it would be much like the Indian kulfi but was pleasantly surprised, while my friend enjoyed his umm Ali and gulab jamuns.
Don’t miss it
Where: Anise, InterContinental Dubai Festival City
Price: Dh195 per person, including Ramadan juices, tea, coffee and soft beverages. Dh98 for children aged six-12 years old
When: Sunset to 10pm
Call: 04-7011127/28
