Smiling Bar-B-Q & Shabu Shabu

Fun restaurant with oodles of charm with the noodles Discuss this article

From Time Out Dubai Eating Out 2009

If you come here expecting the same level of zaniness as its sister restaurant, Smiling BKK, you’ll be sorely disappointed: the decor is relatively plain and the menu lacks the innuendo-saturated smut for which the Jumeirah-based Thai madhouse is famed. However, cast these familial hopes aside, assign Smiling Bar-B-Q & Shabu Shabu a shorter, more manageable nickname, and you’ve got a nice little find for when you feel peckish on those balmy Satwa nights.

The somewhat overwhelming menu comprises traditional Filipino favourites (quite tasty, but avoid the weird Marmite-y paste that’s served on the side of the combo meals), a frankly unimpressive Thai selection, and shabu shabu. This ancient Japanese method of cooking is apparently so named because of the swishing noise that comes as you dip wafer-thin slices of meat in the bubbling hotpot of stock, vegetables and spices.

Whatever – all we know is that it’s darn yummy. The abundance of Filipino customers happily tucking in is testament both to Smiling Bar-B-Q’s quality and its authenticity, and we left with bellies more swollen than a particularly rotund Buddha statue.

• Previous reviews
  • 11 April,2007- reviewed by Time Out Dubai Staff

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