Shimmers

Romantic beachfront restaurant with excellent views 1 Reviews

There are two extremely good reasons for paying a visit to Shimmers at Mina A’ Salam: the view and the spicy tomato and lemongrass soup. Set at one end of the hotel’s beach, Shimmers is like a deluxe beach shack with wooden floor, heavy furniture, a slatted roof and no walls. It’s an amazing spot for lunch and does a mean line in shisha in the evenings. And with the Arabian Gulf on one side of you, the Mina A’ Salam on the other and a perfect view of the Burj on another, it’s a an absolutely charming spot.

The menu is limited and essentially quite snacky; soups, wraps, sandwiches and pasta make up the bulk of the offerings. But while they aren’t elaborate, they’re all well executed. The aforementioned soup was an exercise in subtlety, not too spicy, shot through with lemongrass and, in a stroke of culinary genius, topped with of a blob of crème fraîche.

The nasi goreng was also a success, although the portion was a little mean. That said, additional prawn crackers and peanut sauce quickly arrived when requested. The Peking duck wrap is not quite what you would get in Zheng He’s, the hotel’s flagship Chinese joint, but did good service nonethless, while a simple panini with turkey and gruyère was a real success; packed full of juicy turkey breast with a decent layering of melted cheese. Throw in the stunning view and this place should really catch on for long weekend lunches of snacking by the sand, accompanied by a decent bottle of chilled white wine.

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