Al Mahara
‘Hold on tight’, our captain monotonously deadpanned as our submarine plunged 150 metres below sea level, ‘During last year’s tsunami I crashed and lost a vessel.’ Is this what they mean when they say wealth breeds bad taste? 18 Reviews
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‘Hold on tight’, our captain monotonously deadpanned as our submarine plunged 150 metres below sea level, ‘During last year’s tsunami I crashed and lost a vessel.’ Is this what they mean when they say wealth breeds bad taste?
Following Al Mahara’s infamous, brilliant, and slightly offensive submarine journey, we were led to a table next to a giant fish tank, meaning that our much-delayed anniversary dinner would involve no proclamations of undying love, not even the occasional amorous glance. There were simply too many funny-faced fish to stare at. We immediately developed a rapport with Cedric the Police Fish (our name, not the Burj’s), whose motionless, unblinking gaze patrolled our side of the restaurant, and we developed an advanced empathy for Norbert the Hopeless Shark, too small to eat people, too big to be eaten. After ten minutes of goggling, the anticipated hugeness of the bill wasn’t the only reason why we demanded good food. Something had to take our mind off our aquatic amigos before we embarrassed ourselves.
We were furiously hungry (it seems to be impossible to book a table at Al Mahara before 10.30pm) so we eagerly began munching on a selection of dill, mushroom and rye breads, all messily crispy – a heap of breadcrumbs blemished the left side of my table throughout the meal – and not particularly fresh-tasting. My lobster bisque cappuccino, however, was a startlingly good appetiser.
Evaporating on my tongue in a fervour of foam, the red bisque was gorgeously sweet and full of juicy pieces of seafood. The unobtrusively thin batter of the accompanying lobster tempura permitted the seafood within the opportunity to impress, which it did with explosive gusto. My partner carefully sampled the translucent, noodle-like strands of shark fin in her soup despite the best protestations of Norbert, who stared solemnly through the tank at her spoon. The fin had absorbed the deliciously salty, mushroomy, Cornish crabmeat-enhanced flavour of the broth, but being such a prized (not to mention morally dubious) delicacy, the tiny portion cost as much as our bottle of wine.
My medium-rare cut of Scottish salmon was wonderfully meaty and flavoursome, and smartly matched with an adjoining scoop of caviar cream, cubed purple potatoes and dashes of green pea mousseline. Unfortunately, an overpowering and unsubtle commotion of salt flakes, whole grains of pepper and fennel seeds atop the fish resulted in an unpleasantly intense clash of flavours. My companion’s Asian-style main, BBQ halibut with rice noodles and mushrooms, had been flawlessly prepared but the idea was rather unadventurous. Having absorbed the sweet sauce, the meaty fish was delicious, and was topped with a complex-tasting lobster claw. At these prices, however, we were perhaps expecting something a little more exciting.
My dessert – an ‘apple composition’ featuring two stacks of warm apple tart with sorbet, dried apple rings, apple jelly and baked apple – was sensational. My companion’s equally splendid (and monothematic) ‘chocolate collection of origins’, subsided upon the application of hot chocolate sauce. The resulting synthesis of chocolate shell, mousse and hot sauce was a cocoa-lover’s heaven.
Seconds before the bill arrived we were given luxury truffles, presumably to soften the blow. We waved goodbye to the fish and agreed, during a comparably uncontroversial submarine trip to the surface, that although most of the food had been superb we’d wait a while before returning. Equally good food is available elsewhere for half the price (at Verre, for example), but if you’re one of the lucky few who can afford it, you should visit Al Mahara as a one-off.
By Matthew Lee- Previous reviews
- 30 March,2009- reviewed by Time Out Dubai staff
- 26 March,2008- reviewed by Jeremy Lawrence
- 25 February,2008- reviewed by James Brennan
- 29 August,2007- reviewed by TimeOut Dubai Staff
- 12 March,2007- reviewed by Time Out Dubai Staff
- 30 April,2006- reviewed by TimeOut Dubai Staff
- 01 January,2003- reviewed by Rob Orchard
- 01 September,2002- reviewed by Carolyn Robb
- 01 January,2002- reviewed by Time Out Dubai Staff
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