It has been a while since Stu and I had a fancy meal out. There hasn’t been a really special occasion to celebrate since his 50th in September, and my not earning a whole lot lately has meant we haven’t had a great deal of disposable income to waste on lavish feasts. Nevertheless we had reason to push the boat out a little bit on Friday, we celebrated our 5th anniversary.
I was in two minds really whilst making the reservation. Should we go somewhere we had already tried and knew to be good, or should we try somewhere different? Whilst browsing around the Timeout Dubai restaurant listings I noticed in the column on the left that there was a breakdown by area, and Emirates Hills (which is round the corner) had 1 restaurant listed. Pretty sure that this was probably something at the Montgomerie I was nevertheless curious, so I clicked through to see which restaurant it actually was. And I learnt something new. There is a French restaurant, called “Le Classique”, at Emirates Golf Club that has been there 21 years! And I had no idea. And according to the review it is brilliant and reasonable. Now that is something you don’t find too often in Dubai. So I made a booking. I mean who could resist that combination?
Walking into the restaurant you would never guess it has been there that long. Ok they did have a refurb in 2008 which would explain that. The overall feel is elegant and understated, I loved the leather settees in front of the bar where you could wait for the rest of your party, and the rows and rows of Moët lining the entrance-way.
To keep us happy as we decided on our food selection we were presented with a snack platter which included crudités and dip, olives stuffed with anchovies (yum) and those ubiquitous oriental rice crackers (which really didn’t belong on the same plate as the rest). That was promptly followed by a bread basket. I decided to go with the degustation menu, 3 courses for 245 dirhams, whilst Stu opted for a la carte. He picked the roast tomato and goats cheese tartlet starter, whilst I had a wild mushroom ravioli with scallops. However before the starters arrived we were further indulged with a canapé of very more-ish smoked salmon and sour cream.
After our delicious starters we were served a very refreshing lime sorbet. For mains Stu had chosen a mushroom crusted rack of lamb, and I had a chicken breast stuffed with truffles and duck liver served with a champagne sauce. Both mains came with a selection of vegetables, including the most delicious potato dauphinoise I have ever tasted. All this washed down with a delightful Georges Duboeuf Fleurie wine (of course).
We then had a much needed breather, and finished our wine, before rounding off the meal with dessert. Well I had dessert, Stu had a cheese platter, which he said was nice but the cheese wasn’t room temperature and so the flavours weren’t what they could have been. Probably worth ordering this at the start of the meal, and requesting they take the cheese out of the fridge to warm up. My crème brulée was nice enough but completely eclipsed by the yoghurt ice-cream which was outstanding. I was sooo full by this stage that I couldn’t finish it 🙁
Our ever attentive waiter then wheeled the liqueur trolley over, and Stu managed a Spanish brandy as a nightcap. Incidentally the waiting staff were brilliant; attentive without being intrusive and clearly very experienced.
I would highly recommend the restaurant. It really is good value and the food is amazing. They also do a gourmet brunch on a Saturday which we will definitely be back for!