For years, people looking to eat seafood by the beach in Dubai had only one real option: Bu Qutair. (And what a fantastic option that drill-seargent-run Portacabin still is.)
Our city has a gorgeous coastline, and yet a dearth of choices for places to eat nearby. Don’t point out Pierchic and Flooka. Those are wonderful restaurants, but we don’t want fussy. We don’t want to walk through a hotel lobby in cutoffs and sandals, with sand still clinging to the back of our legs.
We want juicy grilled seafood, simply done, perhaps some chips or a drink, good music and please, no fawning wait staff.
Looks like it took two guys from the super-luxury Burj Al Arab to do it.
Claudio Leenders and Thomas Bator both worked at the iconic beachside hotel in Dubai — Nicaragua-born Leenders managing the F&B, Aussie Bator as a chef — before teaming up for Surf Cafe, on Jumeirah Beach Road, in the shadow of their former employer.
The menu’s emphasis is on fresh seafood, cooked in one of three ways, and served with a choice of sauces. An ice-filled display showcases whole fish of the day, while tanks hold gigantic live Norwegian crab.
The restaurant, on the first floor of a corner building, has great views over Jumeirah (although sadly not the sea) and is connected to the Surf House, a hub for surfing and run by friends of Leenders’. It’s got a relaxed, beachy vibe, with a large mural painted by a local artist in tribute to a fallen surfing legend; there are lounging chairs, bar seats and regular tables (grab one by the windows.)
Leenders started with the Surf Shack, on Kite Beach, which serves the best frozen yoghurt you’ll ever taste. Trust me — it’s frozen Greek yoghurt, unbelievably creamy and tangy; have it topped with honey. Plans are underway for more superfood smoothies there once the weather cools.
He never planned to have a large restaurant — when his Surf House friends pitched him the idea of a cafe, it was smoothies and sandwiches. Then his enterprising landlord suggested he take the small space downstairs and build up. On a bit of a whim, he went for it. “We started quite small. This is completely unexpected. I had the vision of this restaurant, but I didn’t define the concept. I just had some ideas about healthy eating and I love food.”
The downstairs area is a tiny shop with a staircase to the restaurant upstairs; there are plans to turn it into a sushi bar.
But for now, the Surf Cafe is simply a great place to get top-notch seafood cooked by a top-notch chef in a chilled beachside atmosphere.
Leenders was looking for an Aussie to cook — “I thought an Australian chef here would be cool,” he says, over non-alcoholic Estrellas beers. “Thomas calls me and says, ‘have you found a chef? Can I apply?’ I said, ‘you’re out of my league’. He did the opening of Ossiano [at Atlantis] and used to run Al Mahara at the Burj, and was running a hotel in Adelaide. This is going back to basics.”
Sample any of the dishes and you’ll see chef skill and presentation, if not fancy chef-y techniques. Pick your seafood and have it cooked on the grill, steamed or on the plancha — a flat griddle. Then top it off with lemon-caper butter, chermoula, chimichurri or choron sauces, and get some fries (including sweet potato), steamed or roasted vegetables or salad on the side.
“When you see the menu, it’s quite straightforward, giving Mediterranean touches and a bit of what we are passionate about, which is the simplicity,” says Leenders. “In Dubai you can get everything, but not necessarily every day the same. We are working with suppliers to get food that is the same as Burj Al Arab, Zuma. The core value will always stay the same — simple, fresh and quality oriented.”
The absolute winner from the menu is the crab leg, split and seared on the plancha, topped with slightly spicy, herby chermoula. The fluffy, sweet flesh gets a browned top that soaks up the sauce; similarly, grilled prawns with chimichurri are out of this world. I didn’t even bother with the wedge of lemon — the flavour of the seafood and sauce provided all that was needed. If your appetite is bigger, try a fillet of salmon on the plancha, its skin crisped up and served on a bed of stewed peppers and aubergine, similar to a ratatouille, and flecked with lemon and dabs of black olive tapenade.
Dessert may not be your first thought when I say seafood restaurant, but take friends and share the bunyols — mini donuts crammed with dark chocolate. They are more donut than chocolate, deep, rich and not for the faint of heart, but delicious.
Surf Cafe, Jumeirah Beach Road, Umm Suquiem, open 8am-midnight. Call 04-3466292.
