This weekend was nice but also rather tiring, or maybe I am just getting old (any comments agreeing with that statement will be deleted, you have been warned). On Thursday evening we started with dinner at the Rivington Grill (Souk al Bahar). I decided on this restaurant purely because of it’s location, it has a good view of the new Dubai Fountain. And, as it seemed to get a good review overall on Timeout, it seemed like a safe choice. We were taking a visiting friend there with us as well as two of Stu’s American colleagues who were in town. As we walked into the Souk we could already see (and hear) the water display through the large window at the end of the passage. It looked amazing!
As this IS Dubai after all the fountain is bigger and better than any other, as you would expect of course.
Following a competition, the fountain was named ‘Dubai Fountain’, reflecting the rising prominence of Dubai as a global destination and as Emaar’s fitting tribute to the city.
At over 900 ft (275 metres) in length – equivalent to that of over two football fields – Dubai Fountain is about 25 per cent larger than The Bellagio Fountain in Las Vegas in area. Powerful water nozzles shoot water sprays to heights of over 500 ft (150 metres) – equivalent to that of a 50-storey building.
Over 6,600 lights and 50 colour projectors create a visual spectrum of over 1,000 different water expressions that will appeal to visitors. Different combinations of water-forms of Dubai Fountain perform to selected musical pieces – chosen from a range of classical to contemporary Arabic and world music.
Dubai Fountain, when operational in all its glory, will have over 22,000 gallons of water in the air at any given moment. Its nozzles will take water to different heights – from 70 to 500 ft. The 50 colour projectors provide the full spectrum of colour with a total output of 1.5 million lumens.
Source: Emaar
When I made the initial reservation I had requested a table on the terrace, so was very happy to see that we were to be seated outside with a stunning view of the fountains. The only potential spanner in the works was that we had to be out at 9.30 as there was another table after us. This proved not to be a problem though as the service was brilliant, we had a waiter from Cape Town, and we managed to get 3 courses finished by the time the next table arrived (happily they were also late). Essentially the menu is sort of British pub meets continental steakhouse (if there is such a thing), complete with a Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding Salad – my mind boggles a bit at that. I had a prawn cocktail to start (loaded with shrimp) followed by the roast chicken breast for main course, but skipped dessert as I was stuffed at that point. Stu had a beetroot, smoked salmon and shallot salad followed by a rib-eye steak, he raved about both actually. Our guests also went for the steak, but followed that with honeycomb ice-cream with chocolate sauce. All washed down with a couple of bottles of lovely Beaujolais, the name of which eludes me now. It is probably one of the last weekends we will be able to sit outside for dinner, it was decidedly warm out there, but at least the wind changed direction half-way through our meal so the spray from the fountain kept us cool. Oh and the fountain is lovely, granted its a little OTT but then what isn’t here. The water and lighting comes on for the duration of one one song and then it all goes quiet for 10 to 15 minutes, so you can have a conversation in between. A good balance I felt.
After over-staying our welcome we were politely reminded to please vacate our table. Our American guests fancied an after-dinner drink at Buddha Bar (Grosvenor House) so we headed there, but after two drinks our severely jet-lagged company was fading fast (and so were we) so we parted company and headed home.
On Friday I dropped Stu off at the airport just after lunch-time, poor thing was off on a week’s “roadshow” with these same colleagues. Ok I just re-read that and what I mean is poor things (all three of them), it’s the trip and not the company that was the drag. I had made plans to meet some girl-friends for late afternoon drinks at 360 (Jumeirah Beach Hotel) to be followed by a spot of clubbing. 360 is a great venue but my oh my the drinks are expensive! Much later on we dragged ourselves off to the opening of a new club at the Habtoor Grand, called Fratelli. We managed to make it in before 11pm which meant it was free. The club is very nice inside, lovely large dance floor area and bar surrounded by quite a few tables as well although these were largely empty, not sure who would eat in a club like that? Anyway we spent an hour or two on the dance floor, and then I went home, exhausted.
Saturday I vegged* on the couch 🙂
All in all a lovely weekend.
*(verb) to laze about, to engage in mindless activity