A whole new world

Pergolas: Al Murooj Rotana Hotel, Dubai

Of all the foods in the world, with the possible exception of pop rocks candy, Latin American is the only cuisine which seems to perform its own happy little dance on your plate — and your palate.

There's just something so vibrant and jolly about the spicy, salty and even sweet combinations that make up this cuisine — and with the massive range of dishes they serve at Pergolas' Friday-night Latin American evening, you'll soon find one singing your song.

Before I came across this spread, I had, mistakenly, thought the world of buffets was rather flat. And then I discovered
Pergolas' continent-sized one, and everything changed. Luckily, the natives were rather friendly, bringing us sizzling plate after sizzling plate of spicy, seared shrimp, rare ribeye steaks and soothing flour tortillas with which to mop up the
juices.

Zingy

But before the sizzling, things started off zingy. And mouth-puckering. And fishy. Hmmm... interesting, you're probably
thinking. Well, if you never thought a fish dish could smack you in the face with flavour and wake you up like a shot of
expresso, then you've never met ceviche.

Small chunks of raw white fish are marinated in lime, onion and chilli, the acid in the citrus “cooking'' the fish, turning it
from shiny raw cubes into firm, tangy morsels. Since nothing at this mammoth buffet is done by halves, Pergolas has at least three varieties of ceviche — with fish and seafood.
The salad and appetiser selection, is, in fact, enough to keep any normal person going for a couple of days, with chicken and pineapple combos, guacamole, bean and purple potato (yes really!) salads and smooth, cool gazpacho — that silky chilled vegetable soup.

Tamale time

But I started to get that awful feeling, as I heaved another load of salsa onto a tortilla chip, that I was doing the Mexican
equivalent of filling up on bread. “Stop!'' cried the food receptors in my brain. “Why are you wasting time on chips and dip when there's the steamy scent of tamales wafting our way?''

I only came across these little celebrations of corn on a vacation last year, and they're pretty intriguing. A soft corn
dough is stuffed with a variety of fillings, such as meat, cheese or more corn, then the whole thing is wrapped in a corn husk and steamed until firm.

The tamale stand is just one of the live cooking stations at Pergolas, and I'd recommend sticking with those, and salads, as the cooked dishes didn't seem to fare very well in the steam tray, the stuffed quail ending up rather dry and chewy.

Those live cooking stands also include a grill, where chefs will blast your choice of meat, chicken or fish. The meat was
charred and juicy, but the accompanying chimichurri — an Argentinian fresh green sauce of herbs and garlic — didn't provide the required kick, being instead rather tasteless and oily.

No entertainment

It was at this point that a waiter came over with a plate of fahitas we'd ordered, and my liver appeared to go into taco
meltdown. It was time for a break, at which point you realise that Pergolas really is just a gigantic trough. I had hoped for
some entertainment, however cheesy, to distract me from the families shovelling in food nearby (I was secretly hoping for a
Brazilian-style barbeque, where chefs carry flaming stakes of meat and slice it at your table.)

There's nothing really inventive or entertaining here, but for a chance to sample new flavours in a fairly relaxed, if
unexciting environment, it's worth a try.

Checklist