Fashion Lounge in Dubai Marina, Dubai - Restaurant Reviews

Fashion Lounge

What's the food like at Dubai's most stylish new joint - we popped along to find out and we're glad 5 Reviews

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I was a little mistrusting of a place calling itself ‘Fashion Lounge’. Having visited London’s Fashion Café before its demise back in the ’90s, I envisaged a dark, cavernous space dominated by a central catwalk with models strutting up and down as I chowed down on my burger, acutely aware of why it wasn’t me up there in the size-zero haute couture. Either that, or Fashion Lounge would be like a clothes-themed Hard Rock Café. I wasn’t sure which would be worse.

What I was not expecting was an intimate, tasty, hip little restaurant with the most genuinely friendly service I’ve experienced in Dubai. The soundtrack seduced us with reggae classics and Gipsy Kings numbers; the exposed cement walls were adorned with dreadlock-heavy silhouette shots and the occasional length of oh-so-trendy, flock-effect wallpaper; the furniture was an eclectic mix of cool white leathers and comfy dark fabrics. The only downsides of the divided, multi-levelled space were its emptiness – which led to paranoia that our few fellow diners could hear every word of our gossip-laden conversation – and the lighting, which despite coming from amazing contemporary chandeliers, was a touch too bright.

After ordering mocktails – a divine apple, cucumber and coriander blend for me; a disappointingly un-minty mint pineapple juice for my companion – we were presented with a surprise round of canapés. At one end of the rectangular plate, smoked salmon sat atop slightly dry brown bread; on the far side were quail egg halves with olives; and in the middle was a rustic, nicely lumpy cream of mushroom soup in the ubiquitous shot glass. Decorative drizzles of balsamic vinegar were attractive but too dry to serve any gastronomic purpose.

In the interests of research – and because we simply couldn’t pick from the vast menu – my pal and I had gone for a sharing platter, which allows you to choose five dishes, served in downsized versions. ‘I’ll bring the timbale over on its own first as that’s the only cold dish,’ twinkled our waiter. We were still none the wiser about whether it was actually a starter, as the menu is just divided into soups, cold dishes and hot dishes. However, considering it was meant to be a mini version of the real dish, the vast tower of mashed up crab meat, grated celeriac and lobster dressing that was put in front of us was pretty intimidating. Though tasty, it was too rich to be served in such a quantity, and it could have done with more toast than the wafer-thin half slice that was planted into the top.

The chef’s obsession with impeccable presentation continued with our main platter – another rectangular plate piled high with delicious-looking bites. The tuna caponata boasted perfectly tender steaks resting on well-seasoned vegetables; slices of feather-soft duck breast fanned out aside decadent potato rosti and an accompanying kumquat relish that was too sharp for our palates; in the vegetarian quarter smoky halloumi complemented baby artichokes and tomato concasse perfectly. Oddly, everything was served in double portions except the blackened tenderloin beef fillet, which was more well-done than the medium we had ordered.

With an empty plate staring us in the face, we ignored our stomachs’ pleas for mercy and decided to share a ricotta cheesecake. Though it was good, the mixture seemed more like whipped cream than the solid, borderline savoury mixture we had expected, and the base was tasty but rock hard, leading to much embarrassment as we tried, and failed, to make hacking into it a discreet process in the hushed restaurant.

As we rubbed our groaning bellies, we surmised that Fashion Lounge is definitely worth a visit – as long as you ignore its horrible name.

The bill (for two)
1x Sarpentine (mocktail) Dhs28
1x Moon stone (mocktail) Dhs28
1x Sharing platter Dhs170
1x Cheesecake Dhs32
Total (excluding service) Dhs258