The National's Taste Test series takes you inside the newest restaurants just before they open their doors, and asks chefs what dishes they would recommend – and what makes them special – for you to try (or, indeed, avoid).
Here is a preview of the menu at Dragonfly, a collaborative venture between famed chef Reif Othman and the Bulldozer Group (Not Only Fish, Frou Frou), which opens at The Lana Promenade by Dorchester Collection in Dubai next week.
Inside Dragonfly
The venue is a delight right off the bat thanks to its stunning location at the waterfront promenade in Business Bay. The first restaurant to open in the complex, Dragonfly is simple but chic. The large windows and high ceiling create an expansive feel, which is refreshing compared to spaces that describe themselves as intimate, but often end up feeling a bit restrictive, not to mention noisy.
Two life-size kokeshi dolls greet us at the entrance while, once inside, the eye turns naturally to the massive dragonfly sculpture that hangs overhead. This theatricality works in tandem with the equally effusive menu, courtesy of Othman, who also leads award-winning restaurant Reif Kushiyaki plus Korean restaurant Hoe Lee Kow.
Othman used his Japanese gastronomic might to conceptualise the food at Dragonfly, while also bringing in his ability to capture the Dubai palate. “The dishes here are pretty new,” says the chef, who's ostensibly aware of the city's intense love affair with Japanese cuisine. “As you can see in Dubai, there are so many Japanese restaurants, and we end up doing the same stuff. I want to get away from that."
Indoor and outdoor seating is available in the main dining area, and my favourites are the dining tables with rotating centrepieces. The restaurant also has a central bar plus an after-dinner mezzanine area.
Despite the theatrics, the food very much remains the main event. Here are chef Othman's recommendations.
Salmon tataki with Asian pesto
“Everybody loves salmon,” says the chef. “This is a very clean, simple and straightforward dish. For the pesto, we use coriander and yuzu leaves for a herby-citrusy flavour, and the umami comes from the ponzu truffle sauce.”
Taste test: The dish is a harmonious balance of umami, citrus and earthy flavours, with the freshness of the salmon playing a central role. The shio kombu offers a briny punch, cut through by the smart use of yuzu leaves in the Asian pesto sauce. It is simple but decadent, and I may have finished the entire plate by myself.
Wagyu in nori bread with tonkatsu sauce
“People know me because of my sando,” says Othman. “In the version here at Dragonfly, the bread is mixed with charcoal powder and a bit of seaweed powder, too, while the sauce gives a sweet and umami flavour.”
Taste test: The Wagyu is cooked beautifully with its buttery texture working well with the charcoal nori bread. Sandos can be heavy, but Othman's treatment of the bread makes it light as air. The dried seaweed taste is subtle, allowing the meat to shine through.
The exterior is delicately crisp, creating a pleasing textural balance. I wish there were more tonkatsu sauce, to balance the richness of the Wagyu with its tangy-sweet profile, but the dish is still my favourite of this meal.
Dragonfly battera zushi
“The idea behind this sushi, which we serve on a wood plank, is for diners to have fun with it. We serve it with nori on the side. It's like a hand roll, but not,” says the chef. “It looks stunning, and you can never go wrong with uni and caviar. We season the nori ourselves too.”
Taste test: It's easy to mess up deconstructed food, but this is a home run for Othman, who is known for his modern approach to Asian cuisine. The act of picking up the nori and wrapping it around the sushi is fun indeed, and the flavours emerge beautifully, too. The uni and the caviar offer a luxurious mouthfeel, with the yukke sauce tying the dish together.
Crystal toast
“Again this is like sushi, but not. It looks like a toast, but it's also not a toast. This is our crystal bread with raw fish on top. I don't think any other Japanese restaurant in Dubai has it,” claims Othman.
Taste test: A recurring theme throughout the meal is Othman's attention to aesthetics, and this dish epitomises that. The raw fish sits on top of the translucent “bread”, which looks almost plastic (I had to clarify with staff that it's edible).
The bread itself has no outstanding flavour save for a slight hint of sweetness, yet it adds an interesting texture to the “sushi” because the crispness contrasts well with the softness of the raw fish. It feels like a cross between a high-end canape and a deconstructed sushi roll, encapsulating Othman's boundary-pushing creativity.
