The Dubai Mall can be a dire place to find a meal. Many venues are overpriced and few serve up decent grub. It is for this reason that Café Blanc is such a welcome addition to the fray. Location-wise, it is one of the few restaurants tucked a happy distance away from the ice-skating rink and its blaring music. The tables, which were full up with locals, bear witness to the fact that it’s a reliable bet for good Lebanese food. The Dubai Mall marks Café Blanc’s second Dubai-based outlet, and fans of the Festival City branch will be happy to note the chain is nothing if not consistent. With a date in tow, I lingered over an extended lunch, enjoying a spread of mezze and grilled meat. The food was a bit mixed, ranging from just OK to very good. Nothing here repulsed, but neither did it send us into raptures.

One of the standouts was prawns dressed in a zesty, chilled tomato sauce. Strips of basterna carpaccio proved a bit disappointing: they more closely resembled cold cuts than the smoky, wafer-thin strips of cured meat I was expecting.

Unlimited amounts of freshly baked pita proved fluffy and cloud-like, though the mutabbal they were meant to soak up was a bit bland, if rich and creamy. An order of grilled chicken, meanwhile, resulted in a pair of plump, juicy breasts that we polished off within seconds. As a finisher we went for the byzance cheesecake. This intriguing dessert – a Middle-Eastern take on the classic – came topped with a gelatinous, bubblegum pink layer of rose-flavoured jelly. The topping was utterly saccharine, though this was probably not a bad thing, as it cut the tartness of the cheese layer underneath. Café Blanc may not be the type of place you go out of your way for, but for anyone that finds themselves hungry in The Dubai Mall, it may well be one of the Mall’s best dining options.

The bill (for two
1x Shrimp Dhs34
1x Mutabbal Dhs20
1x Carpaccio Dhs26
1x Chicken Dhs54
1x Byzance cheesecake Dhs28
Total Dhs162