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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