A lot of Dubai’s restaurants are about concepts, fusions and doing something different. But at Boca, nestled away in the beautiful maze that is DIFC, the aim is to do one thing, and do it brilliantly — tapas.
A big, bright sign in olive green and white greets you as you walk up to the restaurant. The interiors are friendly and welcoming — the wood elements, fluffy pots of moss and not-too-dim lighting sync perfectly with the social theme of the place.
You quickly pick up on the casual atmosphere as you look around — tattooed bartenders, sneaker-clad waiters laughing with patrons, an olive tree that has been converted into a Christmas tree — Boca is all about having fun, and, according to their website, celebrating “the cuisines of the Mediterranean coastal regions of France, Italy and Spain”.
“Spain, Italy and France all have the same inspiration and flavours,” Chef Maxime Le Van, executive chef at Boca, says. “They have the same spirit.”
A native of Nice, France, Le Van adds that the focus at the restaurant is on quality and simplicity, which is reflected in the commitment to having the freshest produce.
Le Van, or his sous chef, makes a daily trip to the Deira fish market early in the morning to pick the best local seafood. They also ensure as much of their other produce as possible is locally sourced.
The menu is unique in that there are no main dishes. All the options are small plates and are half the size of a normal portion, so get ready to order a seemingly embarrassing amount of dishes. My friend and I got a little excited and ordered at least two dishes from the three food sections – Deli, Original and Marketplace. There is also a Finale section (desserts, obviously).
One of the first things we tried was the beef cold cuts. Salty, smoky and full of flavour, I was very impressed by both the size of the portion and the simplicity of it. Just delicious meat on a platter.
The octopus and air-dried beef with potato salad was a bit of a let-down — the octopus was fresh and tender but lacked flavour, and the potato salad was bitter and could have been left out.
A standout dish was the black rice and seared scallops. I could not get enough of the thick, gooey black rice that went along perfectly with the scallops, which were also cooked just right. This is a definite must-try.
Another must-try is the 12-hour braised lamb with beans. Again, the simplicity of the dish lets the ingredients shine. The meat fell apart into the earthy beans under it and I shameless scooped heaping spoonfuls of it out of its bowl into my mouth.
My favourite dish of the bunch was the braised oxtail tortellini. Served in a simple but aromatic broth, the tortellini were filled with the rich, buttery oxtail filling. The dish was so simple and yet bursting with flavour. I would suggest ordering your own cheeky portion of this.
After the veritable feast my friend and I had, we still had place for dessert, but the Finale options lacked punch. The mascarpone creme brule was average, and could have been sweeter. The olive oil torta was delicious and light for a cake, but was on the dry side (I loved the raspberry and lime granita served along with it, though).
Don’t let this put you off though. There is so much to try and unlike other restaurants where I’ve often felt intimidated by the overly fancy menu, Boca feels accessible and the dishes are exciting. The restaurant does away with pretentiousness and puts all its energy into making sure you have a great time and good food. There is room for improvement but for now I can see Boca becoming the hip, new place to be.
