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Review: Fish Beach Taverna

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The newly-opened restaurant in Le Méridien Mina Seyahi Beach Resort & Marina offers visitors the best of Santorini in the bustle of Dubai

Published: Thu 17 Nov 2016, 11:00 PM

Updated: Tue 30 Jul 2024, 12:57 PM

A friend was rather incredulous to hear that our destination for the evening was a restaurant simply named Fish Beach Taverna in Le Méridien Mina Seyahi Beach Resort & Marina. "Not too original, is it?" he drawled. And I did think he had a point. The place isn't the easiest to find; the entrance is a rather tiny corridor set on the dimly-lit beach (walk past Mina Seyahi's infinity pool and follow the cobbled footsteps - you may get a little lost like I did). But once you enter, the reason for the tiny entrance is obvious - it creates a wonderful feeling of seclusion by encasing you away from the rest of the beach.

Entering the gorgeous Santorini-inspired restaurant also makes you realise that the name Fish is rather on point. After all, the first thing you see when you enter is a display of fresh seafood that you can pick from and ask to be cooked according to your specifications. The menu also features some truly fresh Aegean fare, sourced from the Aegean Sea, Black Sea and Marmara Sea, and flown in straight from Turkey. It's obvious why this is a seafood lover's paradise, and as I settled in for the evening, I felt right at home.

These cooler months will be the perfect time to take advantage of Fish Beach Taverna. You can feel the grass under your feet, see the stars above you, and take in relaxed views of The Palm and the surrounding skyline. With the whitewashed walls and shades of blue (that Santorini made famous), lights hanging from trees, and the beach in front of you (where a couple of bean bag chairs are propped), everything about the place is downright pretty. Even my sceptical friend was charmed.

Now, Aegean food encompasses both Turkish and Greek, which is interesting, since most restaurants prefer to focus on only one cuisine. We got started with Cacik, yoghurt mixed with mint, garlic and cucumber (interestingly, it's called tzatziki in Greece and cacik in Turkey), and Atom, a very Turkish-tasting mashed eggplant with garlic yoghurt that reminded me of baba ganoush. Both decent, but not quite mindblowing. What did amaze us was their Ahtapot, a delicious grilled octopus tentacle, marinated in olive oil and oregano - crispy on the outside and perfectly juicy on the inside.

On to our mains. We were recommended Safran, a dish of seabass in saffron sauce, and found it exquisite. The fish was as fresh as it gets, and the coconut-based sauce, brimming with asparagus and mushrooms, was deliciously creamy. All that was needed was a side of Pilav (baldo rice), which we had quite forgotten to order. Pekmez, which we had ordered, was tiger prawns marinated in chilli flakes and grape juice and pan-fried to perfection, with a sweet and sour taste. We also got the Mousaka, because it's a bit of a guilty Greek pleasure I have - but this one didn't quite live up to expectations. It was served more like a cake and felt like it had been sitting out a while instead of arriving, piping hot, from the oven.

It's obvious that seafood is where this restaurant stands tall, and I would gladly go back to try out more of their fishy mains. But if you're wondering why we didn't opt for their customised dishes: though prices weren't mentioned in the menu, the wait staff did inform us that they could go up to Dh400 or 500 - quite surprising since most of the other mains ranged within a reasonable Dh150. I can't help but wonder what the Greeks would think of this, considering their own rather dicey financial situation.

janice@khaleejtimes.com



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