So we spoke about that gorgeous Aman property at the ATM, the one outside Shanghai, the Aman Yangyun with the Ming and Quing dynasty village and camphor forest? Well we don’t have to fly 9 hours to experience that, we can down to the Viceroy again and try some Chinese food at Maiden Shanghai! Not handmade in Shanghai just Maiden Shanghai. Set on 2 floors with 2 private dining rooms and terraces, these will be prime places to dine when it’s cooler. We ate inside and the food was of a very high standard, prepared by a chef flown in from Hutong at the Shangri La in the Shard. Try the soft shelled crab, prawn rolls to start with. We tried the roasted Chilean sea bass, vegetarian noodles and an aubergine dish. All very good, but the portion of the fish was on the small side bearing in mind the AED 220 price tag!
We LOVED all the desserts, subtle flavours, using chocolate and mango. It’s quiet at the moment, maybe a Ladies who Lunch on the Palm deal would encourage people to try Maiden Shanghai.
PICK UP A POKE BOWL FOR LUNCH IN JLT OR DIFC SOON!
We LOVED our POKE bowls for a quick, healthy, delicious lunch last week. Choose from 3 different bases, brown/white rice, quinoa or coconut rice or even kale then choose protein so raw tuna, cooked salmon type of thing, then your extras like daikon radish, beetroot, sesame, add your choice of gastro art dressings made with spicy wasabi for example and voila! AED 45 or AED 65 so you won’t be hungry and your wallet won’t be empty. ! And the best cappuccino I’ve had in a long time! We’re at Almas Towers in the JLT side of town. Don’t get confused with the other Almas Towers in the Marina. Pineapple Express are going to be opening a branch in DIFC soon and I think at those prices, they’ll do very well!
So what’s in a Poke Bowl then?
DELIGHTFUL DECOR AT DEMOISELLE
Do you know what Demoiselle means? We found out at lunch there yesterday, one of 2 restaurants from the Galvin Brothers in London, this bistro/cafe is based in City Walk and will have you falling off your gluten free bandwagon as the bread is SO good! We loved all the baked goods here and I’d go back for a breakfast or a quick coffee and croissant at the bar counter. They take their coffee seriously too, try a pour over V60 brew coffee or a Cloth filter brew, both at AED 30 each but you’d easily get 2 cups each out of those. A regular cappuccino is AED 22. A good way of trying the restaurant would be to sample their afternoon teas. So expect tea, finger sandwiches, scones and a selection of pastries and cakes. Very affordable at AED 98 and then just order an extra tea and share between 2. We all loved the decor and display of the silver teaspoons (a whole wall of them!) and antique silver and brass teapots.
