Shipshape

Oriental Palace: Dhow Palace Hotel, Bur Dubai:

Coming across the Dhow Palace Hotel, one could be forgiven for thinking that Cyclone Gonu had picked up one of the gargantuan cruise liners from the nearby port and dropped it in the middle of the apartment blocks and shopping centres in the heart of the city.

Its tall, white form dominates the surrounding area, and once inside, one discovers the theme is intentional, with staff decked out in epaulettes and even the occasional sailor suit. (Or perhaps Popeye was on shore leave.)

But deep in the hold of this grounded liner, a little restaurant has a more tasteful angle on the theme. At the Oriental Palace (perhaps the laziest name for an "Asian" restaurant ever, and one which does nothing to sell the decor or cuisine), they dispense with modern notions of shipbuilding and hark back to the days of tall ships, outfitted in wood and in search of adventure and breadfruit.

Well, we weren't looking for Bligh's fabled payload, but we were after sustenance, and were looking forward to the "South-East Asian seafood" that the staff had conspiratorially mentioned over the telephone when booking.

Go fish

Oriental Palace has a short but sweet selection of seafood dishes. (Apart from the desserts, nearly everything on the menu contains something from the sea, so those with allergies will have to stick to plain rice and Tic Tacs.)

Like many of the Dhow Palace's restaurants, the Oriental Palace was deathly quiet on the weekday evening we visited, although the reason is unclear - the standard of food in the eateries here is generally high.

The enthusiastic and knowledgeable staff got us off to a spicy start with some prawn crackers while we made our starter choices - crab and sweet potato cakes and poached calamari salad "Asian style". The three golden crab cakes looked appetising enough on the plate, topped with a chilli and sesame dressing, but they turned out to be doughy and heavy, without much crab flavour. To be fair, South-East Asian crab cakes are made from a blended paste rather than the flaky mixture usual in Western fish cakes, and so these were in line with that tradition. Yet they were a disappointment, especially since we passed on the wasabi-tempura prawns for them.

Refreshing

The salad presented tender rolls of poached calamari, with just the right amount of chew in them, nestling in a bath of lemongrass, Thai basil, tear-inducing chilli and refreshing lime dressing.

Soup followed, brimming over with large, well-filled (although slightly doughy) prawn wontons, shiitake mushrooms and chunks of tofu in a warming, but slightly stock-cube flavoured, broth.

Crisp batter

I'll admit it: I usually don't take the fish choice on a menu when there's a meaty main to be had. So it was pleasing to have no other option than to choose the fish. And it was a pleasure to remember how good a perfectly cooked piece of fish can be - as it was at the Oriental Palace. My deep fried grouper - aka hammour - was a thick fillet, cooked in a light batter and served with a spicy tomato sambal on the side and steamed rice. It didn't need either. All I wanted to do was eat the juicy, flaky flesh, reminiscent of the best fish and chips - and that is a real compliment.

Taking a step back from the deep frier, and into steam territory, was steamed sea bass and prawn with wok-fried greens. Again, it was a chance to nakedly display the perfect fresh seafood - the delicate flavours of lightly cooked fish revved up by tart, garlicky greens.

Rich sweets

The great thing about fish is that it is not too filling, and that left us with room to sample the Malaysian-inspired desserts, which the chef, a Malay himself, came over to describe for us. Sago pudding was a cold, gelatinous mass of frog spawn until it became a delicious platform for the supplied coconut milk and thick, rich palm sugar. Banana fritters were hard and unripe, however, and really unpleasant to eat.

The restaurant (open two months now) has its heart in the right place: an ability to produce subtle and well-executed fish dishes. So despite a couple of slips along the way, Oriental Palace is still on course to making a name for itself as a small, smart seafood go-to.

Checklist

Getting there: Dhow Palace Hotel, Bur Dubai.
Seating: 50
Dress Code: Smart casual.
Decor: Swab the decks.
Opening hours: Noon till midnight and till 2am on weekends.
Must have: Deep fried grouper with Somali sambal.