Always passing through the Lower Ground Floor of The Dubai Mall with shopping bags in hands accompanied by growling appetites, experiencing dining spectacle at Café Blänc had always been on our minds. Days, weeks and months passed but somehow we never made it here though we passed by this Lebanese restaurant innumerable times on our mall visits. May be we waited for the weather to get better? Probably! Oh, a slightly off topic but bear with me please because I’ll be raving about this beautiful weather in UAE in my next posts too considering I simply yearned for this season after the scorching months of summer! And last week we finally were on our Lebanese expedition at this attractive outlet.
Concept is simple – you get a choice to sit in one of the sitting areas from three, the contemporary pastel colored interiors instantly makes you feel fresh and relaxed that are soothing to the eye and your orders are taken and served at a lightening speed by very polite servers. Since we were there for the dinner and knew the drops of sweat wouldn’t trickle down our shirts as we dine, we chose an open area facing the ever-so-captivating Dubai Fountain, provided great background and entertainment for our meal! I thought the outdoor area was mainly for sheesha and was little hesitant considering Little A was accompanying us but I was super impressed when we were informed that a few tables were reserved in the non-smoking zone! And we were lucky enough to not even see a hint of a smoke in the course of our dinner-time. Little A couldn’t stop clapping and admiring everytime the fountain started, which by-the-way is in the interval of every 15 minutes.
Cafe Blanc interiors
We started off with drinks and ordered a kids meal of nuggets and pizza for Little A. A place serving a good kid’s meal is always on my high list of regard and Cafe Blanc sure won my heart on this. The crunchy, not-so-oily and fresh chicken nuggets went down well with Little A as well as one round of pizza while the other two came along in our take-out bag.
Kids meal – Taouk Nuggets
For the drinks, husband didn’t get too adventurous and called for Exotic Shake which was a mix of strawberries,mangoes and peaches. While I, on the other hand went with the restaurant manager’s suggestion and called for Andalousia which was a banana shake with vanilla ice-cream whipped and topped with blueberry syrup. I’ll come back for you again, andalousia and now I know why you are the most preferred choice at Café Blanc!
As is the tradition to start off with cold appetizers we commenced with Hummous (with Pine seeds) as an entrée which wasn’t on the menu but our server got one made for us. And some fresh breads by the side always fit in superbly! Hummous is our most delightful choice when at a Lebanese restaurant, hence this order always make it’s way on our table with olive oil drizzled on top for that peculiar flavor.
Traditional Hummous with Pine Seeds
Immediately next on our table was a bowl of scrumptious looking Fattoush with fresh leaves, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, mint, onions, lemon and olive oil, not too over-powered by the dressing. And fried pita breads gave the perfect crunch to the whole salad. So fresh, it lifted up our spirits for the next appetizer.
Fattouch
Next up on our cold appetizer outset was this creamy and pungent Shanklish with strong flavors of cheese and parsley. If you are brave enough to probe into Lebanese feast, give this dish a try!
Shanklish
We ended our cold-mezze frolic by ordering Tabbouleh Chicken Skewers. A double satisfaction indeed – herb marinated chicken over a bed of traditional tabbouleh was served with an absolute blend of Middle Eastern gusto and had a perfect punch of parsley twang.
Tabbouleh Chicken Skewers
If you want to munch around while appreciating Dubai beauty or even better order for kids, this Batata Harra gotta be ordered. Not very spicy, roasted just right, sublimely sprinkled with herbs and exotic in taste, we were glad we called for this dish on our table.
Batata Harra
We knew at the back of our minds that shrimps wouldn’t be as spicy as we would have liked as per our Indian taste, but to fulfill our light seafood craving that night we ordered for Marinated Shrimps that were cooked in garlic-tomato sauce. Too bland for my taste although husband gorged on the dish with keen appetite.
The Meat Arayees is a typical dish that we’d repeatedly order when at a Lebanese joint yet the smokiness in the meat at Cafe Blanc was nothing short of being impeccable. Eat while it is still hot dipped in a pomegranate sauce and you’d have a burst of flavors inside your mouth. Served perfectly charred outside while the meat still retaining it’s juiciness, arayees it perfect to munch on with gratifying demeanor.
Meat Arayees
After having a mammoth of a dinner we otherwise would conventionally have on certain occasions, our main dish was this Masheweh Combo Platter served with garlic paste and hummous. We chomped off three pieces each of grilled skewers of meat, taouk (chicken) and kafta (beef). The meat was appetizing and juicy saving us from chewing on hard pieces of meat and deserves a fitting place on the menu.
Masheweh Combo Platter
I wish we could order a portion of everything on the menu (which was thoughtfully designed and written both in English and Arabic with photos of the dishes on the next page) that looked so ever appetizing but we were already so full with the quantities ordered, we called it an end of the meal with a creamy dessert – Mouhallabieh Brulee, which again came in a portion we didn’t expected!
Mouhallabieh Brulee
And just when we thought we were done for the night, we were surprised when our server fetched for each of us a hot white coffee that is known as a popular Cafe Blanc drink - a combination of orange blossom and water. It is served to every guest at the end of a meal for proper digestion and is supposedly very prevailing amongst Lebanese. So fresh and rejuvenating, we were super contented!
Cafe Blanc drink
When planning a visit to Cafe Blanc, go after a long tired shopping day at The Dubai Mall and go with a hungry appetite. You are sure to relish each bite!
Note – The orders get served too fast at Cafe Blanc. So if you are there to loosen up and enjoy your meal in a relaxed atmosphere, advice your server to serve the dishes at a pace you like. All in all a good place to chill with family and friends while you munch on an extravagant Lebanese fare.
Location – Lower Ground Level, The Dubai Mall.
Website – http://www.cafe-blanc.com/