It said eat o’clock on my phone as the muezzin’s call for prayer began to resound through the beautifully-set up tent at Downtown Emaar.
Miffed with having had to pay Dh50 for valet parking — something which is not a norm in Dubai — I decided to tune in to the soothing rhythm of the azaan and the generous iftar instead.
The thing with most Ramadan tents, offering “the widest variety of international dishes” is that they tend to focus more on quantity and presentation, with little or no emphasis on taste. There will be the many varieties of salads and starters. Main courses that beckon and lure but disappoint after the first spoonful. Very rarely would you find that solitaire dish which stands out from the rest of the culinary gems.
This is the part where Emaar’s iftar forced me to reconsider my observation.
Introducing bakli — the main protagonist of my two-hour tryst with delicacies. Neither Google nor I know the origins of this recipe — kudos to the chef if he is the original author. Perfectly diced pieces of chicken, tomato, black olives, capsicum and corn are punctuated with black pepper, olive oil and lime juice — the end result is a starter that is as fresh as it is flavourful.
Just as you would smell coffee beans to distinguish between various scents, this light dish helps break up the many flavours, in between bites, during a main course. For one, it cut down the buttery heaviness of the melt-in-the mouth roast beef that I had paired with baked potatoes and hummus.
Moving on, I was surprised to find not one, not two but three varieties of Indian curries and a biryani (I’ve found most Ramadan tents limit themselves to Chinese, Levantine and Italian cuisine). Full marks for attempt, zero for results. What worked against the initiative is that there was no naan or bread to pair the curries with. A word of advice for the chef — knowing your target audience is essential and in the case of Indians and Pakistanis, not everyone eats their curries with rice.
This minor glitch I discovered during my many back and forths to the food stations. Our decision to sit outside worked against us because while the view is definitely the highlight of the evening, the two-minute walk is not — especially if you are wearing killer heels and have an appetite to match.
My last stop was at the dessert station where a slice of wild berry cheesecake accompanied me back to the seat — this dessert is the Burj Khalifa of all cheesecakes. It is baked to perfection, but the cherry — or shall I say berry — on top is the frosting. Silk in each spoonful.
Emaar’s tent is a great option if you are okay with forking out some extra cash. The food and ambiance will up your senses — I can’t guarantee the same for your pockets though.
Call 050-4524558.
Price: Dh170 (plus that valet parking fee; or be prepared to walk from the metro. The tent is next to Burj Khalifa on Mohammad Bin Rashid Boulevard.)
Timing: Iftar-8.30pm
