Was invited by a friend of the chef here over the weekend and man, was I surprised, Yes. definitely. This is one of the hidden gem in plain sight. Beautiful in set up, three levels of surprising elements. garden setup with matching plants, and vines. This is one beautiful restaurant, pleasing to the eye, it has al fresco dining and inside as well. They have place for private dinning and a VIP area too. You will simply fall in love with this place. Having its roots in UK , where they have several namesake and a cafe called " Knightsbridge" in the KB area, they have opened in the heart of Jumeirah. Chef Hamza, is the bossman, who's dishes are simply amazing. They have created sepcialty dishes to suit the tastes buds of us. Here you get dishes from Iraqi, Lebanese, Mediterranean, Arabic cuisine. Here you pick your choice and each of the cuisine will be exquisite.
We ordered the pink pineapple smoothie and a pomegranate juice, both were good, fresh, set the tone for our evening ahead. For starters we ordered Date salad, and Moutabal beetroot. These two were tops, Not had a date salad before, this has rokka leaves, various varieties of green, walnut and the main, top quality dates shaving, which was finely shaved, with some special dressing. tasted really good and the balance with the date was super. First time I tried a moutabal, with mix of beetroot. moutable in pale red was something nice to see. flavours were great, went well with the sesame roasted bread.
For the main we got the namesake of the restaurant - Masgouf, which is a specialty fish from the Mesopotamia region, eating Masgouf is tradition, eating masgouf is family affair, its in the bloodline. Masgouf is life, thats how the passion and drive lead to these guys to have a restaurant names so. The fish cooking process was excellently explained by Chef Hamza, you would feel his joy and passion he has for this Fish and the trade he is in. Lots to mention about this, best is come visit here and ask from the man himself. We loved the fish, it comes with rice or bread. The flesh was tender, and falling off the bone, and you can peel off the skin of you wish, you can taste the marination and smell the aroma's of the sea in this beauty. indeed it was a great evening of trying new dishes and experience a journey back in time, where time was a bit slow to move.
For the dessert we had the sticky date cake, which comes with a special sauce and crushed lotus biscuit. The chef him self poured the sweet sauce and sprinkled the biscuit crumbles, the cake was really good, not too sweet, just the right balance to change the flavours in your mouth. It was really good. overall we loved our food experience here.
The price was reasonable I would say, some may say its expensive. but given the ambiance, location, the quality of food and for the multiple cuisine on offer and price can be justified. It was a pleasure to meet the chef who engaged with us quite often, would expect the serving staff to engage in a bit more, but maybe next time.
This restaurant from the out looks high end and pricy but I would just encourage to take that leap of faith and set yourself in here, you will truly be inspired. Once you have had here, if you wish to have a sheesha, the adjoining cafe will sort you as well. Thank you you Chef Hamza and Mohammad, It was a great experience yesterday. Good luck guys.
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