From pies to grills, this upmarket restaurant's new menu offers plenty
Dubai: Not many Sundays ago last month, I was at a crossroads, disconcertingly torn between what they call the ‘Best of British’ food in town and what many say is the ‘Best of British’ sport in general. The choice wasn’t easy but I thought I could, for once, skip an Arsenal visit to the Hawthorns in English top flight football for a dinner at the Rivington Grill in Souk Al Bahar. Thankfully it turned out to be a fairly good choice, fuelled by a drawn football result and some delightful ‘new’ bits from the heartland of Britain.
“We bring about seasonal changes periodically, but this time we have had a complete overhaul of 22 dishes on our menu and introduced a few new items,” says James Worthington, the Kiwi General Manager of the Rivington Grill with a popular Downtown Dubai address.
Get started
So sipping on Colonial (Dh20), a refreshing mocktail made of pineapple, almond, orange plus grenadine and Cranberry Iced Tea (Dh20) made of Earl Grey tea, lemon and cranberry, our lens man and I waited for our first dish on the table – roasted scallops (Dh100). Served with Kentish cob nuts and Maldon salt baked baby beets, it tasted divine with a generous dash of a puree made of Jerusalem artichoke commonly called ‘sunchoke’. The scallops were brought straight from Canadian shores and they tasted every bit a delicacy.
I had a choice between bites on toast or salads and I went for the latter - smoked duck salad (Dh70) served with salsify and cherries. Surely not the best of my picks that evening, but recommended for those who love things ‘smoked’.
There’s a revamped seafood section called ‘from the shores’ serving everything typically British – from a whole grilled dover to roasted cod to smoked haddock fishcake, but I chose the good old lamb chops (Dh140) ‘‘from the grill’. Sometimes popular dishes are better indicators of how good the chef is and for me this was it – ‘Well done’ to order, the meat was succulent and made for a perfect main course, served with hand-cut chips and Béarnaise sauce.
If you are at Rivington Bar & Grill, you can’t afford to miss out on the Rivi Favourites serving a range of other British favourites – from traditional fish and chips to oven baked ‘pie of the day’. I was lucky they were doing cottage pies (Dh125) that day. The greatest delight was to cut open the perfect, golden baked crust of cheese and potato to reveal its delicious insides – a dark, rich gravy of minced beef and vegetables. You have got to taste it to know it.
For us of course, it was time for sweet somethings and the manager suggested we try the Gooseberry and Cherry Mess (Dh45) their take on the famous Eton mess served traditionally at Eton College’s annual cricket game against Harrow School. Urban legend has it that it was created after a yellow Labrador picnicking at Eton College once accidentally crushed a meringue dessert. What could be salvaged was served as a crushed meringue with strawberries and cream to give birth to the dessert.
Rivington’s version with gooseberries is a legend of its kind too!
Details
Meal for two: Dh 520
Location: Rivington Grill, Souk Al Bahar, Dubai
Timings: 12 pm to 11 pm
Call: 04-423-0903
We recommend: Roasted Scallops, Grilled Lamb Chops, Oven Baked Pie of the Day, Gooseberry and Cherry Mess
Sign up for the Daily Briefing
Get the latest news and updates straight to your inbox