Levantine in Atlantis, Palm Jumeirah, Palm Jumeirah, Dubai - Restaurant Reviews

Levantine

Time Out checks out Atlantis' pricey Arabic offering 9 Reviews

Though you might not guess it from the two waifish Russian girls perched outside the restaurant (swathed, as it were, in Arabic robes), Levantine is a strictly Lebanese affair. But as my diner date and I approached the tearfully bored looking hostesses, we couldn’t shake off a mounting sense of dread.

‘Are we really going to dine in that Aladdin’s cave?’ she asked. Once seated in the main dining room, however, poised at the bottom of a long winding staircase and walled in by chintzy crimson curtains, the vibe started to feel a little more Phantom Of The (second rate) Opera.

Shortly after sitting down, we were presented with a plate of olives, a bowl of lemon-soaked carrot sticks, and another bowl with what looked like a mixture of almonds and rock candy, though on further inspection, was a bowl of almonds and ice. ‘Excuse me,’ I asked the waiter, ‘why is there ice in these nuts?’ ‘To make peeling the almonds easier,’ he said, his scowl implying a silent, ‘Duh!’ It was the kind of information that would have been useful upfront. Otherwise, you’d just think you were eating a bowl of cold, soggy almonds.

The waiter used taking our order as an opportunity to practise his hard sell: we had to refuse wine three times before he let the matter drop, and he never missed an opportunity to push extra portions of mezze. He ultimately succeeded in getting us to order a mutabbal we did not need – a tasty, if standard, rendition of the smoky eggplant dip, though overpriced at Dhs30. Much of the food was priced way above what is standard for Arabic fare. While an order of shish taouk – a combo of grilled chicken and chips – would set you back maybe Dhs30 max at any Diyafah Street hole-in-the-the wall, here it was an inexplicable Dhs105. There certainly wasn’t anything exceptional about the dish to warrant those 90 extra dirhams (the morsels of chicken were in fact tougher than other versions).

The elephantine crustaceans that came in my companion’s order of grilled prawns nearly justified the cost, though the dish was wildly inconsistent; some prawns were tender and smoky, others tough and without flavour.

The mezze in general met with more success than the mains. Though an order of seafood kebbeh proved a bit startling at first (the shrimp tail sticking out of the deep-fried wheat dumplings was somewhat off-putting), the minced interior was delicate, and had a nice combination of spices. The moussaka, however, was closer to a ratatouille and was presented as a big lump of tomatoey eggplant and chickpeas rather than the evenly layered dish it is traditionally.

Halfway through our meal the lights dimmed and the belly dancer (introduced as ‘the amazing Svetlana’) began her series of gyrations. The considerably busty and enviably svelte performer did little for our self-esteem, especially as the heaviness of the food promised to make us that much more removed from our trim-waistline dreams (naturally, this is exclusively a female complaint – the hordes of hooting men did not seem concerned).

After Sveltana’s performance we were happy enough and full enough to forgo dessert, though the full-fat meal had made us too groggy to successfully refuse the waiter from forcing a Kunafa on us. Fans of this pastry should by all means order this confectionary version of grilled cheese; those less familiar with it can give it a skip, as it makes a weighty end to an already heavy meal. The kashtaliah, a bland pudding made with cream and pistachios, and which came topped with a thick skin, didn’t justify the calories it took to ingest.

As we hauled ourselves out of the restaurant, carrying our bodies like two sacks of stones (a feeling that didn’t leave either of us until the following evening), we pondered how a fairly standard Lebanese restaurant could justify a minimum Dhs180 per person spend. The answer came from the cheering crowds below, who obviously didn’t mind spending a little extra for a belly dancer, a room full of kitsch, and the opportunity to say, ‘I dined in the Atlantis last night.’

The bill (for two)
1x Large bottle Vittle water Dhs28
1x Moussaka Dhs35
1x Moutabel Dhs30
1x Seafood kebbeh Dhs40
1x Grilled prawns Dhs110
1x Shish taouk Dhs105
1x Kashtaliah Dhs35
1x Kunafa Beiruiti Dhs45
Total (including service) Dhs428