Fifty Shades of Food

Simon Rimmer's restaurant, The Scene at Pier 7 appears on the Dubai social media platforms with accolades and high recommendations. A celebrated British chef the menu he conjures up for The Scene is exciting and promising tempting us to venture out on a Saturday for dinner. Occupying the entire 4th floor of Pier 7 the restaurant is expansive with an outdoor terrace, which overlooks the Dubai Marina, envelopes the restaurant. The welcome was polite with the decor minimalistic and one could not help but notice a couple of buckets on the floor designed to catch the dripping condensation from the air conditioning vents.   As stated the menu is well thought out and the various themed nights with dedicated menus caught our attention. For Saturday the themed roast caught our attention and we opted for the braised leg of lamb with a nice medley of vegetables and roast potatoes. The meat had been deboned and came in the form of a patty supposed to be resting on red cabbage and a Yorksh...

<a href="https://www.zomato.com/dubai/ranches-restaurant-arabian-ranches" title="View Menu, Reviews, Photos & Information about Ranches Restaurant, Arabian Ranches and other Restaurants in Dubai" target="_blank"><img alt="Ranches Restaurant Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato" src="https://www.zomato.com/logo/205788/biglogo" style="border:none;width:104px;height:34px;padding:0px;" /></a>  Long term residents look upon the Ranches Restaurant, located within the Golf Club, the go to place for a relaxed meal and local week end eat place for the family. The restaurant has survived over 20 years with a combination of tenacity and resident loyalty, braving the cyclical nature of its standing from amazing, to mediocre. One can only look at the Ranches Restaurant much like a long term relationship which usually has awesome days and then once in a while the odd bad day creeps in.  The food choices ar...

<a href="https://www.zomato.com/dubai/hqs-459-jumeirah-1" title="View Menu, Reviews, Photos & Information about HQ'S 459, Jumeirah 1 and other Restaurants in Dubai" target="_blank"><img alt="HQ&#039;S 459 Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato" src="https://www.zomato.com/logo/18594341/minilink"  style="border:none;width:130px;height:36px;padding:0px;" /></a> Looking for affordable and delicious food then head on over to HQ's 459 at the Le Mer in Dubai. Once the challenge of finding a parking spot was over come (we opted for valet parking) finding the restaurant was easy. The welcome was cordial and the seating outside over looks the beach separated with a pathway for pedestrians. Le Mer is a busy place and if one can take the crowd walking past the outside seating the rest is all wonderful. In addition to the palm trees with their twinkling lights, its  good place to people watch a...

<a href="https://www.zomato.com/dubai/d-a-dhow-anchor-jumeirah-beach-hotel-umm-suqeim" title="View Menu, Reviews, Photos & Information about D&A - Dhow & Anchor - Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Umm Suqeim and other Restaurants in Dubai" target="_blank" ><img alt="D&amp;A - Dhow &amp; Anchor - Jumeirah Beach Hotel Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato" src="https://www.zomato.com/logo/200167/biglink" style="border:none;width:200px;height:146px;padding:0;" /></a> Visiting a restaurant a decade after the last visit gives one an excellent perspective on the changes. The Dhow & Anchor was a popular watering hole back then and one would not necessarily have gone there for a meal. The pub previously, was very dark and dingy.  Glad to see all that has changed with an openness and loads of light and a new feel. More of a pub bistro feel it has the advantage of outside seating with excellent ...

 We went to Maiden Shanghai, a much touted Chinese restaurant at the Five on the Palm in Dubai with much expectations. The Five is a busy location with a vibe that is difficult to define so getting through the busy entrance was a small achievement. The restaurant is over three floors with the first offering outdoor seating and the third with an outdoor terrace. We opted for the first floor though a narrow reception begged the question how would they handle a party of more than four arriving together? The welcome greeting was a bit cold and distant, though the girl who ushered us to the table was very helpful in finding a nice table. Our waitress Shama, was helpful and knew the menu well.  The menu was a bit confusing and one needed the waitress to explain the offerings.The spring rolls were amazing, fresh and crunchy, though would like a little more sauce. The dim sum platter was mixed, with the mushroom, beef and shrimp dumplings being exceptional, the turnip dimpling was a f...

 If you are a meat lover then Fogo de Chao is the experience you must have. Located at the Central Park Towers in DIFC Dubai, the restaurant offers a churrasco offering of various cuts of beef, lamb and chicken brought to your table. Having experienced the original offering in Dallas Texas, one had an idea on what to expect and perhaps gauge against. In terms of Dubai’s food offerings Fogo de Chao does stand out as a nonsense meat lovers spot to be at. The salad offerings and the polenta and sweet potato selections may give a vegetarian friend some excellent solace but make no excuses this is unashamedly a meat place.  Arriving through some navigation to the third level of the building the welcome was warm. The restaurant was well booked and busy. The service oscillated from below par to excellent and it all depended upon who came up to your table. For this class of restaurant some glaring missteps; no one offered to pour the wine or refill, then the ‘serve me’ tabs were green...

 The Kite Beach at Umm al Quwaim, not to be confused with the one is Dubai, slipped into out Google search. The first attempts to make a booking were a bit of disaster due to lack of response to emails, phones and WhatsApp messages. Thankfully 48 hours later this was resolved though on arrival noticed that the cabana we asked for was not booked. The very helpful lady at reception did apologise and explained in a few days their new booking system will be up and running. Once past this hiccup walking into the facility was a delight; clean facility, loads of beach seating, very well kept beach and pet friendly. Ordering the meal was a slight challenge as the girl at the meal counter was intent on multi tasking but other than a slight irritation the food was just very special. The kite beach burger was excellent, the sweet potato fries just done right and the milk shakes were refreshing. The menu had many choices for vegetarian clients and the carnivores were certainly well taken care ...