As a vegan, it’s not often I find myself pouring over a steak restaurant’s menu not-so-subtly salivating over everything I know I can’t have or don’t even want. But there’s something about the smokiness and flame-enriched flavours at Firelake Grill House & Cocktail Bar that do something to my tastebuds. I can’t quite explain it. The menu nods to America’s Midwest tradition of charcoal, wood oven and open-flame cooking, so a heady scent percolates the dark and inviting restaurant at Radisson Blu Hotel, Dubai Waterfront. Amidst the dark wood and leather interiors and exposed brick walls of the restaurant, there’s plenty of smoke and fire, sizzle and spice, tracing their way across the menu, from seafood to barbecued meats and grilled vegetables.
While I segue around the above with smashed avocado dip and grilled Padron peppers (hold the labneh) to start, my guest dabbles in an under-the-sea tasting menu of sorts, ordering Hamachi, marinated in Tiger’s Milk, with fermented Serrano chilli and mango vinegar; crab and kimchi with buttermilk and Thai basil; and three Dibba Bay oysters served with dill. The padron peppers are chargrilled with an outer crunch that leads through to the beautifully bitter soft insides, with salt and crispy garlic to cut through the tartness. I wish I’d ordered another plate, and refuse to share. My friend’s three dishes hang on the freshness of the seafood – the Hamachi all light with a touch of sweetness, and the crab slightly more creamy and indulgent.
The main course walks you through pizza and pasta, seafood, chops (lamb, veal or cauliflower) and wood-grilled steaks, all hand-cut from 28-day aged Greater Omaha prime beef. For something a little lighter, I have a five-grain salad, with butternut squash and avocado, with a side order of charred greens, while my guest goes big with a 300g Butcher’s Cut Steak – with beautifully cooked bone marrow, beef dripping peppercorn sauce, and topped off with two jumbo prawns for good measure. The portion is generous and then some, and only I have room left for dessert (I may have gloated a little, as their eyes glance longingly over the ice cream sandwich and Basque cheesecake). I try the yuzu sorbet, which is, as you’d imagine, full of zingy, citrus flavours and an excellent after-dinner palate cleanser.
After, we sip Old Fashioneds and New World Sours on the starlit terrace as dinner digests, with Burj Khalifa beaming at us over the bay. While inside might feel all Midwest America, the terrace is the very best of Dubai. Steak your claim, quickly.
RESTAURANT:
WHAT: Firelake Grill House & Cocktail Bar
WHERE: Radisson Blu Hotel, Dubai Waterfront, Dubai
TEL: +971 4 249 7800