A fun filled evening @ Maison Rouge
Posted on September 11, 2018 Leave a Comment
There’s a new hotspot in town and it’s been super popular since it’s recent opening. Maison Rouge replaces the old Vesna restaurant inside the Conrad Hotel and offers guests a dinner and show offering hours of live entertainment. It’s cabaret style with the dancers wearing incredible outfits, and they have live performers including saxophonist and singers performing various songs from different musical theatre shows including Chicago, Sweet Charity and The Greatest Showman.
There’s a DJ who fills in before, between and after who plays a mix of old & new RnB as well as some Afro beats.
It’s also home to the 24k red/gold beef burger. Priced at 365AED it’s definitely not cheap but it’s humongous and comes complete with its own theatrics. See below.
Their menu is quite limited and but also very random as it covers European cuisine in terms of khachapuri, borsha and vareniki but also Asian food including gyoza and sushi as well. If there’s one thing I can recommend it’s the light as a feather not but overly sweet honey cake that I ate at the end of the evening. Delicate layers of moist cake and filled with cream and coated in crumbs which I’ve only just discovered originated from Russia.
Maison Rouge is in high demand and constantly at capacity so if you want to visit soon you’ll need to make a booking. It’s also open 7 days a week although the Entertainment only starts from 9pm onwards, so do take that into consideration when booking.
It’s a nice place to celebrate special occasions or even just for date night. They have a strict dress code which is smart elegant, so don that dress and high heels and get ready for a fun filled night of entertainment.
Location: 1st Floor, Conrad Hotel, Dubai
Phone: 04 352 8169
Get some South in your mouth @ The Blacksmith, Wyndham Marina
Posted on August 15, 2018 Leave a Comment
The Blacksmith is a newish American restaurant inside the Wyndham Hotel, Dubai Marina. It specializes in smoked meats and Southern favorites. Think chicken wings, beef short rib, shrimp po’ boy not to mention my personal favorite Beef Brisket.
It’s a mid week evening when a friend and I have an early reservation and I’m surprised to see quite a few tables occupied.
The ambiance is moody with dark leather seating and circular light features overhead. I noticed a fairly large terrace outside complete with a smoker which would perfect for those cooler Dubai months. Inside the restaurant they are playing a mix of classic American country music which my old boss would of loved.
Our waiter hands us the menu which covers only two pages and informed us of a few items which are unavailable. We’re given some recommendations including Armadillo Eggs for a starter and the BBQ Short Rib for the main, however these end up being our least favorite dishes.
Instead we prefer the smoked chili rubbed wings which come with an unnecessary ranch dressing in my opinion as the sauce is so good on it’s own, you don’t need to add another. Although I would of liked to of seen an option of buffalo wings on the menu too.
The Texas Brisket Sandwich was gigantic. I almost needed to of fasted for the week leading up to this dinner as there’s no way between the two of us we could of finished the Manz sized portion. Layers and layers of smoked brisket, complete with onions, pickled chili green beans, with a tangy white sauce, it what carnivores dreams are made of.
Not sure how we managed to keep any space for dessert but we tried their golden Oreo banana pudding complete with a vanilla custard and the Flaming Jack Daniel’s Pecan Pie. I was expecting something involving lighters & flames when I saw the name but it arrived with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream on top. It was my first time ever having pecan pie and my goodness it was good. It was like eating a nut brittle inside a chewy pastry base and the vanilla ice cream on top balanced out the caramelized filling perfectly. Would definitely order this dessert again!
The Blacksmith offers loads of daily deals including a Friday Brunch, unlimited Wings on Wednesday, All you can brisket on a Sunday and a daily happy hour from 5-8pm.
I’d visit again to try their BBQ Apricot Duck Breast which sounds interesting or if I need a good chicken wing fix.
Bookings: 04 407 8873
An Italian restaurant over 10 years old in Dubai!?
Posted on August 9, 2018 Leave a Comment
I’ve lived in Dubai a little over 4 years but the amount of restaurants I’ve seen open and close within the span of one year alone is plain heartbreaking. I mean gosh it must be hard in this saturated market to stay relevant when there’s over 10,000 restaurants in Dubai to eat at. You could literally eat at a new place everyday and not even get bored.
Props to Trattoria Toscana. It’s survived the ups and downs in the F&B sector and has still remained a popular place for diners. Maybe it’s their ideally located venue perched on the corner of Madinat Jumeirah or perhaps it’s to do with their consistency when it comes to service and food that has kept them afloat. Whatever they’re doing, it’s working.
It’s admittedly my first time visiting and I’m there for lunch with friends. We order some drinks and settle on an appetizer platter to share.
The platter has many different flavors and textures to choose from but the meatballs were a favorite among the table followed by the crunchy arancini balls for me.
It was when our drinks arrived with pasta straws that we were really impressed by the restaurants initiative to be more sustainable and help to save our environment. Bravo!
For mains we shared a mix of pizza, pasta and protein.
Although the gourmet Burrata pizza with shrimps was nothing to look at it made it up for it in taste.
The seafood pasta was also impressive with perfectly al dante pasta with clams but it was the seared sea bass with baked artichoke that stole the show for me. The crispy skin against the soft flesh and the pistachio oil was just a dreamy combination.
The restaurant manager came over to our table and introduced himself and told us about the recent refurbishment the restaurant underwent. During the Summer time they open up the glass doors for al fresco dining over the Madinat canal.
We finished off our dining experience with an affogato and shared a really good tiramisu.
I’ll definitely visit again.
Bookings recommended: 04 366 6318
