Verre-y Nice Indeed

Last week was pretty good on the food front. I had a couple of colleagues visiting from the UK which meant dining at their expense. We ate at Ushna, a smart Indian restaurant in the Madinat, and Beachcombers, an excellent Thai/Malay buffet, in the Jumeirah Beach Hotel.

Friday was my birthday and as a special treat we had booked to go to Verre - Gordon Ramsay's first restaurant outside the UK - in the Hilton on the Creek. First impressions of the room were that it was perfectly ordinary. No worry, we hadn't come for the interior design, and the restaurant has been Time Out's best restaurant in Dubai for the past 2 years. It was also the only Dubai restaurant in the recently published world top 100 restaurants.

The Maitre d' was a perfectly charming Frenchman and it was hard to resist his invitation to a glass of champagne to start. I had the full 7 course Menu Prestige and every single thing about it was flawless. Service was impeccable and the whole experience was relaxing and enjoyable. To cap things off, thanks to a passing acquaintance with the Head Chef (whose kids are also in Lucy's school), all of the drinks were complimentary. All in all, probably the best meal I have ever eaten, matched only by a couple of meals at Marco Pierre White restaurants in London.

Now, it's back to the treadmill...