Review of Shabestan in Dubai Radisson, SAS
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STYLE was in shorter supply at Shabestan in the Radisson SAS Hotel (Dubai Diera Creek; 971-4-222-7171; www.deiracreek.dubai.radissonsas.com). In this upscale Persian restaurant, a soundtrack of ’80s synth-pop was rivaled in cheesiness only by the gaudy ’70s-style carpeting.
Still, the unappetizing décor wasn’t dissuading lunchers — South African businessmen, a well-heeled Arabic-speaking family — from savoring baghalah polo-ba-mahichech (leg of lamb cooked with broad beans and spices; 109 dirhams) and meat kebabs marinated in various yogurts.
Classical Persian cooking is celebrated for its blend of meats with fruits like peaches, cherries and limes, so I ordered fesenjan-ba-morgh — chicken with pomegranate sauce (95 dirhams) — and polished off the earthy warm flatbread while waiting.
When the cauldron arrived, the thick and chunky purple mixture had a consistency more like warm cement than stew. But it tasted exquisite. The meat was succulent, as if cooked for hours, and the pomegranate sauce was a hearty mix of sweet and sour. Some long-grained basmati rice — with the highly crunchy exterior that Iranians prize — provided the base.
Most surprising, though, was the final course, which proved that the distance between East and West can be measured by a strand of noodle…SOURCE
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Tags: Basmati Rice, Broad Beans, Carpeting, Cauldron, Cherries, Diera, Dirhams, Flatbread, Iranians, Kebabs, Leg Of Lamb, Limes, Peaches, Persian Restaurant, Radisson Hotel, Radisson Sas Hotel, Radisson Sas Hotel Dubai, Shabestan, South African Businessmen, Spices
