How Destination Mina Seyahi is making culinary pursuits a priority, with everything from laid-back food to fine dining, and seafood to pizza are at your fingertips
With scores of travellers now booking holidays based around an appetite for gastronomy, hotels are ramping up their culinary offerings in a bid to offer a kaleidoscope of options all under one roof. Destination Mina Seyahi – a triptych hotel collection, featuring W Dubai Mina Seyahi, Le Meridien Mina Seyahi Beach Resort & Waterpark Dubai and The Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi Beach Resort & Marina – is leading the way, with 17 different eateries across its F&B footprint, with restaurants, bars and cafés offering everything from relaxed Californian poolside bites and seafood served by the sea, to Spanish dishes that transport you to the streets of Barcelona and the charming towns of Andalusia, and healthy, gluten-free dishes set against a gorgeous nature-fringed backdrop. The beauty is, you get to choose what to eat, where and when to suit your mood and cravings. With all this culinary art on your doorstep, you’ll be forgiven for never leaving the resort. But with three five-star hotels to bed down in at the end of the day, you can cherry-pick the best suite to sleep it all off in.
1. BOUNTY BEETS
One of the prettiest spots in the city, Bounty Beets centres its menu around organic, 100 percent gluten-free dishes, with plenty of vegan dishes too. The restaurant promotes healthy eating and going green with dishes that pack a powerful punch on the flavour scale, each with their own inspiring names, too. Start the day with ‘You’re All I Avo Wanted’, or choose from its breakfast section, called ‘First Breakfast, Then I’ll Change The World’, with acai bowls, plant-based scramble, chocolate chip pancakes and French toast. From breakfast into brunch and lunch, and the menu switches to Buddah bowls, noodles green goddess soup and hummus served three ways. Or tuck into beef or plant-based tacos, buffalo chicken wraps, pizza with homemade gluten-free crusts or tuna tataki. You can wrap it up with ‘Tiramiss You’, pavlova or berries and cream for dessert, and wash it all down wellness lattes and smoothies. Best yet, Bounty Beets’ garden is also pet-friendly, meaning you can bring your four-legged friends to join in the fun.
2. FISH BEACH TAVERNA
If you fancy taking a little culinary trip to the Aegean, book a table at Fish Beach Taverna – a gorgeous, white-washed restaurant that sits right on the edge of the beach. With oodles of seaside charm, blue accents and a laid-back atmosphere, the menu heroes Mediterranean flavours that will take you a tastebud tour around the Aegean region.To start, you tuck into seafood salads and soups, then share an Aegean mezze platter, choosing from dishes such as visneli yaprak sarma (grape leaves filled with rice), cerkez tavugu (shredded chicken breast with walnut, milk and garlic) and peynir kavun (Turkish ezine cheese and rock melon). You can also add in your choice of cold fish plates, like smoked salmon rolled with labneh or octopus marinated in fresh rosemary, garlic and oregano. For something special, order the monkfish casserole, the slow-cooked lamb shoulder, the flaming salt fish or Aegean oven-baked turbot. With Fish Beach Taverna’s stunning sea views thrown in, every dish will taste even better.
3. EL SUR
Spain is known for its excellent culinary scene, and El Sur brings a little of that Spanish foodie flair to the shores of Dubai. With its eclectic modern art dotted around the restaurant, the vibe here is undeniably cool and casual, with a dining experience to match. Transporting you through the vibrant streets of Barcelona and the charming towns of Andalusia, you can start your Spanish soirée by tucking into a little tapas – be it traditional or from the sea. Think pimientos del padrón, croquetas filled with prawns and tortilla with potato and onion, or fried calamari with parsley aioli, mussels cooked in white wine and garlic or fresh tuna served with Dijon mustard dressing and avocado and green olives mash. Naturally, there’s paella too, with seafood, corn-fed chicken or seasonal vegetables, while other signature dishes include black tiger prawns with coral aioli, roasted lamb chops with pine nuts and chimichurri, and 21-day dry-aged grilled Spanish ribeye. Buon appetito!
4. BUSSOLA
Bussola is the beating heart of Destination Mina Seyahi – a beautiful three-concept-in-one restaurant that whisks you away to enjoy drinks in an Italian olive grove, the best stone-bakes at a bustling pizzeria, to upscale dining at the restaurant. The pizzeria is something of a Dubai institution, with 28 different pizzas to choose from, ranging from classic funghi and Napoli to specialities like Tartufata with truffle cream and Sorrentina with provola cheese, confit dates, eggplant and tomatoes. It’s a slightly smarter affair at the restaurant, with seabass carpaccio, smoked sardines, blue lobster, seafood risotto, beef tenderloin and affogato served inside or on the sun-kissed/star-lit terrace. For an aperitif or digestif, the terrace is the perfect place to sip something cool and refreshing whilst watching the boats bob around the marina. There’s also Mare by Bussola, a gorgeous poolside lounge that captures the spirit of La Riviera Italiana’s laid-back la dolce vita. Here you can nibble on the freshest ingredients with seafood platters, summer salads and beautifully-cooked pastas and steaks, while sipping on Mare’s signature cocktails with the twinkling waters of both pool and sea in your eyeline.
5. GINGER MOON
This beautiful venue has mastered the art of a ‘no beach’ beach club experience concept, creating a chilled out space to relax, eat, swim and enjoy good vibes but on a more boutique, laid-back scale. It’s the perfect spot to soak up the sun, and with the pool facing Dubai Harbour you can people or boat-watch to your heart’s content. Ginger Moon’s boho-inspired restaurant serves easy Californian cuisine set against a bucolic backdrop of indoor plants, rattan furniture and a verdant colour scheme, both inside and on the sun-soaked terrace. For breakfast, there’s blueberry pancakes, wellness toast topped with figs, smoked salmon, avocado or strawberries, homemade granola and oodles of eggs to choose from. When it comes to lunch, the Californian influence comes in strong, with salmon avo nachos, Wagyu beef toast, grilled chicken, gambas or octopus, watermelon salad with Persian Feta and homemade pasta with mushrooms, lobster and mozzarella or ricotta and asparagus. Once you’ve had your fill, you can sleep it off poolside after!
6. MINA'S KITCHEN
Mina’s Kitchen is an all-singing, all-dancing foodie haven, that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner in the most gorgeous Art Deco surrounds. Living plant walls, floor-to-ceiling windows, triple-height ceilings, monochrome chequered floor tiles, mix-and-match prints... It’s all here and all incredibly pretty. Flanked by live cooking stations, it serves a happy smorgasbord of cuisines throughout the day, running the gastronomic gamut of Middle Eastern to Asian to European, meaning there is something for everyone - even the littlest hungry guests amongst you. Mina’s Kitchen is also famous for its Bubbalicious Brunch that takes place every Saturday; The Roast by Bubbalicious every Sunday; Mina’s Market - a bustling market-style fast of British cuisine every Wednesday; and Mina’s Wharf, which transports diners to the great British seaside every Friday. Perfect culinary experiences for the most adventurous gastronomes.