Cuisine: Contemporary British cuisine with a French flair.

Rhodes Mezzanine, Gary Rhodes Signature venture in Dubai is one of the most unique and beautiful to be found anywhere, let alone Dubai. It’s crisp white core is punctured with splashes of vibrant orange, cherry and lime.  French style furniture and chandeliers mix with contemporary glass surrounds and accessories.

We know it doesn’t sound like it would work but trust us it does, and as we said it does so beautifully.

The next thing to stun is the service, staff are immaculately dressed and some of the most attentive and knowledgeable we have ever had the privilege of being served by.   Whilst waiting to be served and in-between courses you get to watch the free ballet show that is the service here, as wave after choreographed wave of staff arrive at tables delivering a succession of delights which only serves to heighten your anticipation of whats still to come.

Last but not least is the British Cuisine that Gary Rhodes has become world famous for.  Best known in the UK as a Celebrity Chef, Gary’s fanatical passion for updating British classics has rocketed him rightly so into a position of one of the worlds most respected chefs and restaurateurs. Gary has been at the pinnacle of pushing British cuisine into it’s now internationally renowned status. He not only re-introduced British gastronomy to Britain but also to the world.

We think that Gary puts it best:-

“With the many hot days that pass in Dubai, great British culinary fare almost appears an unexpected approach, but we’re proud to say the great flavours and cooking techniques that British classics hold is proving popular. It’s a lovely way for expats to have that taste of home, but also introduce the locals alike to some homely old favourites that have been around for so long, but served in such a unique setting. Trying to take off the jam roly-poly from the menu created almost a riot from our guests so we immediately re-introduced it!.  We like to feel perhaps Rhodes Mezzanine is the first to offer truly British cuisine, for all to enjoy.”  -  Gary Rhodes OBE.

As travel writers we are privileged to visit and dine at some of the most amazing and lavish venues in the world; the down side to this is, and it might sound ungrateful is one becomes jaded and used to being wowed.  However Rhodes Mezzanine is spectacular enough to keep this writer looking forward to his next visit to Dubai so he can make another reservation ready in the anticipation and assurance of being wowed all over again.

This truly is not only one of the greatest restaurants in Dubai, but in our opinion one of the greatest restaurants of the world, offering as it does the holy trinity of :  Venue, Service and most importantly Cuisine.

Check out Gary’s other London Restaurants (We can highly recommend Rhodes 24 & Rhodes W1)

Cuisine: Seafood, International, Mediterranean:

This sophisticated restaurant is as good as it gets in Dubai. This 50th floor restaurant at the top of the Jumeirah Towers Hotel is a place not to be snubbed and if you do so it is at your own cost. With many awards to its name it is easy to see why the Vu’s Restaurant is in a Class of its own:

This restaurant has the most incredible views of the city skyline, the Arabian Gulf, the sky above and the city below. It serves the most incredible food that you will find in Dubai with its contemporary cuisine and its magical mix of exotic flavours and aroma’s. Your journey of experience starts with your ears popping in the rapidly rising lift on the way up to the 50th floor (more than a thousand feet high).

The restaurant offers the perfect dining experience whether it is for a business lunch or a romantic meal for two. Emil has put two of his signature dishes on the menu for all to enjoy. Liquid honey and pineapple ravioli with scallops that have been caught by hand rather than netted. The other gem in the offering is a roasted monkfish dish with a creamy sauce.

The menu here is just enough to know your not in Europe or the US but if won’t put off the less adventures pallet from trying something new to delight the taste buds.

There are of course other foods available on the menu such as a H2O detox menu that will be of the tiniest calories yet still having food of Middle Eastern delight. The portions of deserts served are of a tiny portion that will suit both the healthy eater and the desert connoisseur. The deserts are like works of art that are comparable to the intricate buildings that have sprung up in the city. This restaurant is one of the most upmarket venues that you will find in the country that you would mistake it for a Michelin starred restaurant with its attentive and well presented waiting staff, the immaculate set tables to its highly polished cutlery that you can see your own reflection in blemish free. The tables are set well away from others so that you don’t have the feeling that your intimate dining experience is not subject to eaves dropping.

Cuisine: Contemporary European, Middle Eastern, Asian:

As soon as you arrive at the Armani, you are treated like a VIP and pampered beyond belief even though this restaurant is classed as a more casual style all day diner. The waiting staff dressed in fashionable designer Italian shirts and blouses flanks the Mediterraneo.   You would expect nothing else but Italian designer wear as you would expect from the influence of the restaurant of Giorgio Armani, a moments lapse of concentration and you would think you were watching a catwalk show in Milan. The staff from the waiter to the head chef are handpicked to work at Armani, to ensure that they have nothing but the best staff to work for the organisation, as they are a direct reflection on the quality of the restaurant.

The Mediterraneo is a luxury restaurant set up in a buffet style, to which the volume of choice is immense with not only Mediterranean dishes from all across Europe but also including Asian and Arabic dishes, there is also an amazing raw bar where you can select your choice of ingredients and have the chef cook you up your own taste sensation.   The food at the Mediterraneo is as fresh as can be with all organic produce most of which is sourced locally.

 

Normally buffet style restaurants use chafing dishes to hold food whilst keeping it hot with gel burners from below, but not at Mediterraneo; the dishes are presented in a selection of small cast-iron pans and dishes almost home-style in very small quantity’s to ensure the food is always at its freshest and piping hot. 

The quality has to be nothing short of perfection or the food will not be sent out to the restaurant, as it is inspected by the head chef before being dispatched. The taste combinations are sublime, something that is continually worked on by the chefs when creating delicacies.

This is assessed on a continual basis, such is the pride that is instilled into the staff from the very first day that they start working for Armani. The choice that is available is extremely special, with the menu updated regularly to add new creations that are either gained through recommendation, or through the latest tastes that have become popular elsewhere around the world.

And with views overlooking the Dubai fountain, you won’t be short of spectacular scenery to look at, there’s even a private balcony for guests to view the dancing fountains from.

The only downside to this restaurant is leaving enough room for dessert. (Our editor’s recommendation is the Ricotta Cheesecake and the Hazelnut Delight.

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