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Steaking claim

Ruth’s Chris Steak House is offering a new lounge menu, but is it good enough to draw people from the restaurant’s podium dish?

A few years back, I set out to find Dubai’s best steakhouse.The mission was a tough ask, forcing me to visit some of the finest restaurants in the city, but at the end of the challenge, a winner popped out, rising far above 
all others. It was Ruth’s Chris Steak House, which served the most tender, most succulent, most (insert your own description of ‘superbly tasty’ here), most bloody marvellous piece of bloody meat I’d ever tasted.

Now, years later, with many more five-star steakhouses added to Dubai’s fine dining list, I returned to test the restaurant’s… well, actually, to test its new lounge menu. That was the plan at the outset, so I set out to undertake what I’d been assigned, as most diligent journalists would have done, considering we’re part of a respected industry that fights for truth, freedom, integrity, honour, courage… and, admittedly, a tasty snack.

Everything was going as planned, except that, three hours after arrival, I suddenly realised that I’d demolished a vast T-bone steak with a side of fries and asparagus. It was instinct. You don’t go to Ruth’s Chris and not eat steak. That’s like going to Paris and not being ripped off by a surly waiter. It’s just not the done thing. (To confirm, the steak was, as three years ago, succulent, juicy and still the finest steak in the city.)

But, as assigned, I’d agreed to taste the new lounge menu. It’s a job after all, and someone has to do it. Now, the only way you’re going to Ruth’s Chris and not eat a large steak is potentially that you have a night out, want a light bite, want to torture yourself by going to Ruth’s Chris and not eat a steak, so therefore opt for the lounge menu. Some people are masochists and to those people I now offer up a full-ish report of the lounge snacks:

Order a steak.

Alright, fine, my apologies to the assembled masochists of Dubai, here it is: without a doubt, the finest nibbly item on the menu is the voodoo shrimp. It’s a sweet and sour popcorn-sized bite of creamy shrimp heaven. You’ll order a plate to share, then wish you’d had the lot.

Aside from the shrimp, you’ll want to try the tuna tartar, as its light, fresh flavours of tuna and avocado are an ideal balance to the richer voodoo shrimp platter. For a third option, try the beef carpaccio, as it’s another light dish, yet rich in flavour, that’s sure not to fill you up leaving plenty of energy for a night out.

The lounge menu also has various beef-based options, but if you want a beef portion you know what to do…

Order the steak.

There’s one major downside to Ruth’s Chris, which is the location; it’s on the wrong side of the Marina for most Mar-ina residents. A boat across the water would be ideal, so let’s hope that’s in place soon. Once you get there, I think you know what to order.