Post Category - EatEat - Post Category - Eating OutEating OutMake your next date night a fabulous steak night!
Sometimes there are only two things that can help you after a long day entertaining Sassy kids. Red wine, and steak. In need of a relaxing but special date-night, we decided to head to Dubai’s luxury JW Marriott Marquis Hotel for an evening of red meat and red wine at Prime 68, the hotel’s boutique steakhouse that soars (both literally and metaphorically) above any other in the city. If you’re looking for the ultimate steak restaurant in Dubai, then look no further – this is it.
Starting your date night with a drink at on of the hotel’s bars, The Vault, is a must. This slick bar is split over the 71st and 72nd floor, the view of the Burj Khalifa is breathtaking, the drinks are divine, the music is the perfect combination of up-beat and chilled-out, and, well, it’s just pretty darn cool. Sipping on our Sundowners (pink vodka, cranberry juice, cranberry bitters, lime juice, and processco – yum), looking out at the actual sunset and across the city’s skyline, we couldn’t have asked for a better start to our evening.
But then it was time for the main event – the steak. If you’re a steak lover, you’ll be on cloud 9. Almost literally, as you’ll be dining on the 68th floor of the world’s tallest hotel, looking out over Dubai as you feast on, it’s official – the best steak I’ve ever had. Prime 68 is chic and modern, with simple but elegant décor, dimmed lights, white furnishings and accents of black. Again the views are stunning, making it one of the most romantic date night settings you could ask for, and even if you’re not a steak fan (which you soon will be if you try one here, guaranteed) the menu is diverse without being overwhelming.
After our amuse bouche (a mini taste of the Wild Mushroom Cream soup with Caramelized Onions), we chose to start with seafood, sharing the Prawn Cocktail and the Crab Cakes – both of which were light, fresh, and fabulous. Forget the mayo-laden, limp-lettuced idea of a Prawn Cocktail you might have, this one is like no other. For a start, it doesn’t come in a 80s style cocktail glass, and instead of mayo it’s made with a spicy cocktail sauce and is served with a dollop of avocado cream. I practically licked my plate. The Crab Cakes are hot and melt in the mouth, complemented perfectly by a crunch cabbage apple slaw. Sublime.
The steaks here are the specialty, so there was no way either of us were going to order anything else (although the roast chicken and ‘cauliflower’ steak looked amazing!), and after listening to the wise words of our waiter (who, it seems, live and breathe steak) we both had the Australian Wagyu fillet – one of the finest, most tender cuts of beef you can imagine. There’s an array of sauces to choose form (the black truffle butter is so good I could eat it with a spoon), and the list of sides makes it impossible to choose just one. From Lobster Creamed Corn and Roasted Organic Vegetables, to Sweet Potato Fries and Mom’s Mac and Cheese, I mean really – how can you!? We went for Country Potato Gratin, covered in gooey, hot cheddar cheese and veal bacon, and the Creamed Spinach (you have to get your greens in somewhere, right?), the perfect accompaniments to our succulent steaks, which melt in your mouth. Just thinking about them now is making my mouth water…
Stuffed full of steak and sipping on red wine, Dubai stretching out beneath us, if you’d have given me a duvet and a pillow I could have quite happily set up shop in Prime 68 for the night. But then the dessert menu arrived, I saw the words ‘Valhrona Chocolate Journey’, and I was back in the game. A squidgy slab of chocolate cake, a rich gooey brownie, giant milk chocolate buttons, crème caramel ice-cream and splodges of milk chocolate mousse, all on one plate?
Yes please. I also helped myself happily to my partner’s New York Cheese Cake, which was served with fresh berries, blackberry jelly, raspberry crunch and a pretty mini macaroon, the perfect way to end a decadent and delicious date-night.
Just be warned, once you’ve had a taste of Prime 68, you’ll go to bed dreaming of steak, you’ll wake up thinking about steak, and you’ll find yourself thinking about steak, a lot. And there’s nowhere that will satisfy those cravings but up in the Dubai Sky at the JW Marriott Marquis.
Prime 68, JW Marriott Marquis Hotel, Business Bay, Dubai, (+971) (0)4 414 3000, www.jwmarriottmarquisdubailife.com/dining/prime68
