A Taste of Tepanyaki at Green Spices Sofitel Dubai Downtown

My last trip of 2014 was a whirlwind fortnight in Dubai. The purpose of my trip was to help launch a new magazine out there that I edit and write for, a project which ended up being extended from 1 to 2 weeks – no complaints from my end.

Whilst I didn’t get to spend too much time soaking up the perfect November sun, I did get to run around the entire city for back to back meetings and events, checking out some of it’s best restaurants, hotels and hot spots along the way. One of these was Green Spices Sofitel Dubai Downtown, where I was invited for dinner to write a review exclusively for The Travelista. Here’s the story…

It was a humid and hectic Dubai Friday night when I hopped in a cab towards of the Sofitel Downtown Dubai. Ready and waiting in the cab was Mr.S,  my hot date / review guinea pig for the night. On arrival to the Sofitel Downtown, we were directed through the elegant lobby, up the lift and into Green Spices Restaurant.

The interior of the restaurant was cool, contemporary and spacious with orange accents and two large show-cooking stations in the centre. Surrounding both stations was stool seating and separate tables for two fringed the room for a more intimate dining experience.

Offering a choice of ornate sushi, spectacular Tepanyaki show cooking and traditional thai dishes, Green Spices Sofitel Dubai Downtown is a fine dining Asian restaurant with a wide repertoire. With so much choice, I asked one of the lovely waitresses to talk us through the menu and make some recommendations. Luckily Mr.S and I were in agreement with every dish she suggested, so we placed our order and cracked open the wine. So far so good.

Starters

I am a huge sucker for thai fish cakes, and whenever I see them on the menu it’s pretty much a dead cert that I will order them. I was up for trying new things but when the waitress told us it’s one of their most popular starters, it was a no brainer. The fish cakes were served with a rustic and homemade sweet chilli sauce that complimented the texture and aromatic fish cakes like no other sauce can. The fish cakes were both fresh and perfectly flavoured.

For our second starter we chose prawn spring rolls which were hot, fresh and crispy. I liked how they came as whole prawns with the tails left on for a get-your-fingers-dirty kind of indulgence. The prawns were delicately flavoured and the roll had just the right amount of crunch.

Main Course

In order to try a bit of everything we chose both a chicken tepanyaki dish and a beef thai curry to share for our mains. The tepanyaki dish was chicken and our entertainment started with a bang when Chef Francis hit the gong to mark the start of his show-cooking session.

We watched Chef Francis expertly slice, dice, season, flavour and flip the chicken and vegetables with amazing skill. He was a true entertainer and the whole of the restaurant watched on as he cooked. I managed to get a quick video of his skills on my iPhone whilst he was in action. It took him all of about 5 minutes to serve up some deliciously tender chicken and vegetables whilst juggling knives and other precarious cooking utensils in the process. The finished product was a steamy, sticky and aromatic chicken dish which I appreciated all the more having seen it being cooked. It was my favourite dish of the night.

Next up came the massaman thai curry which Mr. S chose with beef. I absolutely love massaman currys but as it’s one of my favourite thai dishes, it had some stiff competition. The curry sauce was flavoured to perfection but I would have preferred the chunks of beef to be a bit smaller in bitesized pieces. I loved that dish was presented in a stylish ceramic bowl which had a little tea light underneath to keep the curry warm and simmering. This one turned out to be Mr.S’ favourite dish of the night.

To go with our mains we opted for a traditional pad thai noodle dish which was beautifully presented and was served with some big juicy prawns.

Thanks to the help of the waitress, we ordered the perfect amount of food for our review and got to sample a great mix of what Green Spices Sofitel Dubai Downtown has to offer. The tepanyaki show cooking was undoubtably a highlight of the evening, making it a fun and informal first-date venue. The dishes were up to an excellent standard and the service was spot on. Two bottles of white wine later, Mr. S was seriously impressed with the whole experience and told me that I had the best job in the world, and I had to agree with him.

What did you think of my dining experience at Green Spices? Are you a fan of tepanyaki or have you visited Green Spices Sofitel Dubai Downtown yourself? If you enjoyed this post, please leave me a comment in the box below and tell me what you thought! Jess x 

This dining experience was provided complimentary in exchange for an exclusive and personal restaurant review on The Travelista.