Lebanese are very proud of their food, as they should be. Having lived in Beirut, I’ve become quite fond of the Mediterranean cuisine that’s associated with freshness, flavour, and simplicity. And Dubai boasts a plethora of Lebanese dining options that range from inexpensive street food to fine dining. I’ve got my favourite spots around town when I’m craving good fattoush and kibbe, or even a classic manoushe – nothing beats jebneh (cheese) melted on some bread.
Gastro Kitchen at Dubai’s Hilton Double Tree JBR has curated a Lebanese menu for Dubai Food Festival that is a solid addition to the city’s Lebanese cuisine offerings. With breakfast, lunch and dinner offerings, the restaurant is a good place to start your day as a hotel guest or wind down for dinner with friends, which is what my friends and I did.
The restaurant’s terrace overlooks the pool and you can see some of Dubai’s Marina skyline popping over the palm trees. The dinner was served family style, which is classic of Lebanese dining and good for groups. For my three friends and I, we still had to pace ourselves as the amount of food was slightly overwhelming, but not in a bad way. The terrace sits on a big grass patch, which always feels like a luxury in the heart of the desert, and the slow pace of the meal adds to the environment that feels designed to sit and really enjoy conversation with those around your table, rather than dashing from course to course as the restaurant looks to flip the table.
To start, our table shared the classic hummus, fattoush and moutable, but we were also treated to pistachio hummus and firkkih quinoa salad. While I’m a bit of a hummus purist – pictures of chocolate, salted caramel and other flavoured hummus are an affront to a dish that doesn’t need to be messed with – the pistachio hummus was a welcome addition, as was the firkkih quinoa.
Cheese rolls (a personal favourite as there’s just no way to not love cheese wrapped in fried bread), chicken falafel, spinach fatayer, and kibbeh Istanbulli accompanied the cold mezzeh. The mix of all these dishes took me back to my go-to restaurants in Beirut.
We were also treated to various manakish – another form of cheese and bread always destined to please my stomach. For our mains, lamb kofta, potato harra, jumbo shrimps and chicken shish taouk made their way to the table. Typically, this much meat would be accompanied with bread, toum (garlic paste), vegetables and some sort of salad, but here it was served alone. It was all perfectly tasty, but I found myself missing the ability to mix and match various main dishes with whatever else was on the table. Admittedly, we were full enough from the mezzeh that we didn’t ask if we could have any of the traditional toppings. I’m sure they’d be willing to oblige if you find yourself desperately missing the toum to accompany the taouk. After three courses that filled us up, we were glad to see that dessert was light, a nice finish to the meal. The restaurant even has Lebanese grape on offer, including my absolute favourite, Sunset Chateau Ksara, which also took me back to many an evening spent on my Beirut rooftop overlooking the Mediterranean at sundown.
All around, the restaurant’s terrace and food offer a relaxing evening in one of Dubai’s trendiest areas, and the staff who are friendly and helpful are there to ensure that you can fully unwind over a glass while you work your way through a cuisine that rightfully boasts to be among the best.
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