The countdown to the Jumeirah Festival of Taste has been running on the event’s website for a couple of weeks.

As Time Out Dubai’s online editor looking at this website has been a major part of my job recently.

Not, I am ashamed to say, for any work reasons. But because I have been checking back to the site every couple of hours. Literally counting down the minutes until chow time.

The notion of an entire festival of taste is one that appeals to me greatly. The recent Desert Rhythm event - Dubai’s answer to Woodstock - was never going to be something that appealed to me.

Give me Foodstock any day!

Some of the world’s best-known chefs (and TV presenter Ainsley Harriott) rustling up dishes live in Dubai.

Better than some old fella with a guitar any day.

The countdown reached zero at around 8pm on Sunday evening as the festival began with appearances by ‘world’s sexiest chef’ Jean-Cristophe Novelli, golden boy of British cooking James Martin, and Michelin legend Michel Roux at Al Qasr.

In fact, with six celebrity and a uniformed army of resident chefs doing the rounds guests at the event might have been left wondering if there were enough to spoil the broth.

Wise then that the organisers decided to keep broth from the menu in favour of the usual staples of a typical Friday brunch at Al Qasr. Excellent curries, steaks, seafood and salad.

Celebrity chefs each took on one of Al Qasr’s famous live cooking stations and prepared dishes of their own to the great, the good and the greedy among Dubai’s many gourmands.

More events will be taking place around Dubai all week, if you’re a serious food enthusiast looking for an entertaining alternative to the usual cycle of brunches and fine dining check out some of the hottest tables of the week.

Well, that’s it.

The Time Out Restaurant Awards are over for another year.

And we have a new winner. A very deserving one at that.

The glittering awards ceremony at the Monarch Hotel finished just over half an hour ago and a new champion of the Dubai restaurant circuit has emerged.

Congratulations to are in order for The Noble House.

Not only did the new Raffles Hotel restaurant walk away with the Best Newcomer and the Best Chinese restaurant awards, it also did the unthinkable and knocked Gordon Ramsay’s Verre from the top spot.

It is now, officially, Time Out Dubai’s Restaurant Of The Year for 2008.

Not bad for a restaurant that has been running for less than 100 days.

“We’ve obviously had a fantastic night,” a delighted Christoph Ganster, Executive Assistant Manager/Food and Beverage, told Time Out just seconds after picking up the third award.

“Expectation was high because we know the team has put in a lot of work. This restaurant officially opened on the 24th of December last year and we’ve been exceeding expectations since then. We were pleased to pick up the award for Chinese restaurant. And then Newcomer. And then…wow…it has been a fantastic night for us”.

Nobody was more pleased than The Noble House’s head chef, Peter Lau.

Asked by Time Out how it feels to have toppled Gordon Ramsay from his position as the man behind the meals at Dubai’s best restaurant Peter was polite. Far too polite, in fact.

“I think I have cooked for Gordon Ramsay twice in restaurants. He liked the food a lot, so I was very pleased,” said the city’s newest superstar chef.

Comment of the night, however, goes to the multi-award winning Restaurant Manager, Christopher Won from The Noble House.

“Look, it says on my business card Christopher Won. And guess what? Christopher won Best Restaurant with Time Out!”

Brilliant. Congratulations again to Christopher, Peter and all their team. Keep up the good work. Just remember - winning the title is difficult, but retaining it, as Verre proved in the first two Time Out Dubai Restaurant Awards, is the hard part.

The after party for the event is sure to go on late into the night. Winners, highly commended managers and chefs, the losing restaurants and even Time Out’s team will be pushing the Bose sponsored sound system to its limits late into the night.

Keep checking back to the blog throughout the next few days for more comments from winning (and losing) restaurants, pictures of the prestigious black tie event, gossip from the night and maybe even an exclusive story or two and a few recipes from winning chefs.

More on these stories in the next few days:

* Who gave the biggest cheer on the night? And the strangest?

* What hotel’s manager claimed the emotions of Time Out Awards night were amongst his highlights of last year?

* What was the final sum for the amount of money raised for the Dhaka Project charity on the evening?

* Which Dubai radio celebrity turned up late and was was forced to pinch bread rolls from neighbouring tables?

Let Time Out know your thoughts as well. Did we get it right?

Look at our special awards section to see the complete list of winners in every category.

Have you been to The Noble House yet? Did we miss out your favourite restaurant? Think you know a better brunch?

Leave a comment and join the debate.

What makes good service in a restaurant?

I only ask because I’ve been on the end of some very bad service today.

The scene was a familiar one. Sitting down for a medium-priced meal in a Garhoud restaurant and I was asked four times if everything was OK for me. Before the food even arrived.

This is, by any rational standards, too much.

Allow me to even try my food before the questioning begins!

In total a combination of three waiters checked up on me seven times in about one hour.

As it happens the food was satisfactory and the waiters’ attention really wasn’t required. If I need anything I’ll ask.

I think a customer knows what they are letting themselves in for when they order a Coke. It doesn’t really need to be followed up with after sales service and hovering. Does it?

I understand the waiters want me to enjoy the food and the dining experience, but do we really need a tour guide for a simple bite to eat?

In the end I had to be blunt and asked not to be bothered again until the bill arrived. It felt rude, but is this any more rude than hovering over a diner and interrupting a meal with too much service?

So I ask again - what makes good service?

Let us know what you think.

Taste of Dubai was the festival of food we all hoped it would be.

Despite a worrying lack of homegrown or Emirati talent it was an opportunity to sample some of the finest foods in the city.

Time Out’s food editor, James Brennan, was on site to sample the best the event had to offer.

He picked out ten favourite dishes from the show. Continue reading … ‘The best of Taste of Dubai’

Another busy week at Time Out towers.

It has been a week that has seen us make a stage debut with the Krystal cabaret, eat our way through a couple of Michelin stars and ponder on the best way to cook a potato.

Listen to the Time Out Podcast with Dubai Eye’s Jeff Price and Suzanne Radford to find out our pick of the week’s events.

Press play to hear part 1.

 

 Time Out Podcast - Part I [11:19m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (114)

 

 Time Out Podcast - Part II [9:38m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (83)

We’ve also picked out ten things to do this week.

1) Celebrate the Shopping festival: We all know about the bargains (how could we not with all the ‘Up to 80% off’ posters around town) but there is plenty more to enjoy at DSF. This week’s highlights are Toy Fantasia (traditional toy fair) at Wafi Mall and Art Avenue (an opportunity to watch and take part in a series of art and craft exercises) at Al Seef Street on the Bur Dubai side of the creek. Not to mention more of the weekend Firework Festival. Look to the skies above the Creek between 8 and 9pm to see 300 fireworks per minute popping and cracking.

2) Massive clubbing weekend: Some of the biggest names in dance music grace decks in the city this weekend. Seb Fontaine, John Digweed, Panjabi MC and Ferry Corsten are all doing their thing for beat-hungry dancers in Dubai.

3) Have dinner and a show: The Krystal Dinner Show brings cabaret-style entertainment to the Mina Seyahi. Expect the unexpected with acts such as the one-man duet, mind-readers and acrobats.

4) Take an afternoon tee: The Dubai Desert Classic is underway and until Sunday February 3 the world’s best golfers will be slugging it out to walk away with the $416,660 first prize. Go along to the Majilis Course at the Emirates Golf Club to see some of the world’s biggest sporting icons.

5) Do it all again: Saturday is Groundhog Day. So, in true movie style, repeat what you did on Friday. Go to the same places, eat the same food, speak to the same people.

6) Taste of Dubai: The festival for foodies begins on Wednesday night. If you feel the need to take your tastebuds on holiday then let them run wild at the Media City show for a few hours. Watch this blog for more news from the exhibition as it happens.

7) Watch a musical comedy: The world’s only one man Armenian comic pianist is hoping to entertain crowds in Dubai this week. An artist with such a strange billing really does deserve to be seen and heard.

8) Get the Oscar buzz: The Coen Brothers’ No Country For Old Men is leading the Oscar charge at the moment with eight nominations. See it in Dubai this weekend.

9) Remember a legend: Jacques Brel is one of France’s greatest ever singer songwriters. He is remembered by professional soundalike Cedric Vandenschrik at the Madinat this weekend.

10) Save the world: Tuesday is UAE Environment day. Do your bit to save the planet.

Listen to Jeff Price and Suzanne Radford weekdays from 9am on 103.8FM in Dubai.