Cinema eating has been more of a minefield than an Oliver Stone war movie. There’s the risk of missing the trailers by joining the popcorn queue, which here seem interminably slow. Then there’s the fact that there’s nothing even vaguely healthy on the menu — questionable chicken nuggets, hot dogs or bags of candy. But the last few days have seen some changes, at Reel Cinemas at least: there’s now an edamame stand at the Dubai Mall cinema (a great salty snack alternative to popcorn); and the Platinum Suites have relaunched their menu with the help of The Address Hotels catering.
The Platinum Suites are the business class of cinema-going — 140-degree reclinable plush leather seats, blankets, a luxurious waiting lounge and at-seat food and drink service. At Dh130 per film, it’s a treat for most, but it’s worth trying at least once. Just try going back to economy — I mean regular cinemas — after.
Don’t expect fine dining; many of the items on the menu are still straight out of the deep fat fryer finger food items, which are of course easier to eat in the dark, but there’s variety and quality, and it’s all served on china plates at your seat (there are tables).
The draw for me were the gourmet nachos (Dh45), a step above your usual cinema nachos with chili con carne, a spicy meat sauce, guacamole, real cheese (although I have a soft spot for the orange goo, this is nicer) and sour cream. I’d polished it off by the time the film had established the lead characters (I was watching Will Ferrell’s The Candidate, an election-themed comedy). The mini burgers (Dh45) were juicy but needed a kick of something — but it’s not easy to ask your neighbour to pass the salt in the cinema. A selection of dim sum (Dh45) was really tasty — I wonder if the chefs from Hukama were involved. Yes, two girls ate their way through this much, and more — we also nibble on some hot mezze (Dh50) and the wild mushroom risotto balls (Dh30), which needed more wild mushroom flavour and I’d skip. The portions are well sized and you’d only really need a couple of items. What I didn’t try, but if I get the chance to return again will, is a margherita pizza for two (Dh60) — it looks like a real Italian style one — and the gourmet caramel almond popcorn (Dh35).
