Dubai: If you are spending New Year’s Eve watching the Burj Khalifa fireworks and partying long into the night, then brunch on the first day of 2016 at the Mezza House on Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Road in Downtown Dubai should only be a perfect fit.
No doubt the turquoise and white theme of this cosy 400-plus venue for Levantine speciality overlooking the route of the Dubai Trolley and Burj Khalifa makes for a wonderful mealtime.
A good way to get started is to order one of their speciality drinks (they do anything from watermelon to passion fruit mocktail to rose syrup quite well) while tucking into their starters.
A chilled mezza I picked from their stunning range of items was the muhammara, a delightfully piquant dip made of bread crumbs, chilli paste, walnuts and pomegranate molasses. With a bowl of fresh baked bread it tasted fabulous. I also ordered their curiously named cheese cigars, a handful of deep-fried, crisp rolls filled with classic halloumi cheese. You can’t also miss out on their kibbehs - kibbeh akrass. No fancy frills, just good old stuffing of minced lamb and pine nuts, deep fried to perfection. If you are not on a guilt trip already, you could also add their batata harra or cubes of golden sautéed potatoes with coriander and garlic.
Their mezza mixed grill platter, complete with skewers of veal tikka, shish taouk (garlic and yoghurt marinated chicken) a rack of lamb, kofta skewers and arayes (minced lamb stuffed pitas) is undoubtedly one of their best mains. In fact the last one, arayess, was so good that we ordered it separately.
Sinfully crisp grilled pita breads stuffed with minced meat, it was undoubtedly the highlight of my brunch.
One that gives it close competition though is their makloubeh, the famous Palestinian one-pot rice dish made of shreds of roasted chicken and fried eggplant, subtly spiced and slow cooked before it’s flipped and served upside down. I can guarantee you will have a satisfying start to the New Year.
Details:
Meal for Two: Dh250
Timings: 10am to 1am
For bookings, call: 04-420-6444
Location: Shaik Muhammad bin Rashid Road, Downtown Dubai
We recommend: Kibbeh Akrass, Mezza mixed grill platter, Arayess, Makloubeh
