Grandmother's cooking at YiaYia

Who doesn't think of their grandmother fondly? However we may feel about our parents (yes, mum, I'll call you tomorrow...), you'd be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't have a soft spot for nana.

For me, my memories are coloured by what I believe is her amazing cooking. There's nothing like it on the planet... except for someone else's grandmother's cooking, which they probably believe is the best.

That's the premise behind YiaYia, a new Cypriot restaurant at Dubai Marine on Jumeirah Beach Road. The name is an affectionate Greek term for grandmothers, and it's inspired by the cooking of the elder matriarch of Peter and Anastasia Van Rijn's family.

The couple opened their restaurant which has a funky take on the Mediterranean island's traditional whitewash-and-blue look last month, and at a recent dinner there, it was busy with families and couples scooping up mezze and digging into hearty mains, family-style.

We took the shared mezze spread, which provided us with a belly-busting three-course array of dishes, from cold mezze salads to classic stews. It's all served in pleasingly chunky stone bowls, in keeping with the refined rustic look of the place, which bears Anastasia's touch — the couple also run Dubai's hidden gem, the Fusion Boutique B&B on Al Wasl Road, which has a similar, if somewhat darker, design.

The food has a definite home cooked quality, which is a rarity in Dubai, but on occasion meant it needed a bit of a kick in the flavour department. From the cold mezze, marinated olives were a winner, as was the classic pink dip taramasalata — thick, intensely creamy and with a subtle smoky hit from the fish roe. I gobbled up a bowlful by myself, with the fresh slabs of pitta bread that arrived in a cute basket. The country salad needed a bit more seasoning, though.

Cooked just right

Hot mezze up next, and again, seafood dishes were the best, namely some top class grilled shrimp, juicy, a little charred and sweet. Octopus — which can be so tricky to cook — here was just the right level of chewy, with herbs and a nice charred edge. Cyprus' famed halloumi cheese came in fat, grilled slabs, alongside vine leaves stuffed with meat and rice — a nice touch, as so many dolmades seem so underfed sometimes.

Underfed was something we were certainly not by this point, and I could picture a caring but firm grandmother gently admonishing me to finish my dinner as we moved into the main course of baked macaroni, beef stew and lamb shank.

Pastitsio — long macaroni tubes baked, lasagne-style, with seasoned lamb minced and cheese sauce, is a favourite of mine, and YiaYia's is a servicable, if unexciting, version. Best option would be to pile it on your plate and pour over some stifado, a stew of chunky beef and tomato cooked into silky, meaty submission.

With the kitchen's success in the seafood department, I'll definitely be back to try some more fish dishes, and also to enjoy the homely welcome — and the cheesy but fun bouzouki band.