Anar | Souk Madinat Jumeirah

Persian cuisine has an elegance of its own. Be it the melodious names, the delicate use of ingredients or the beauty in their settings – everything about a Persian experience is charming to the say the least. But all that allure goes one step up when the restaurant serving Persian food sits in the heart of Dubai’s most beautiful waterside property – Madinat Jumeirah. Anar, which translates to pomegranate in various languages, relaunched their outlet quite recently and thanks to the al-fresco friendly weather, we decided to lunch there over the long weekend and sample some of the best Persian fare from their menu.

The restaurant, as expected, perfectly balances subtlety and glamour with its bold colors, bright yet minimal accents and a very earthy look. Obviously, we chose to seat ourselves outdoors by the waterway, but if you’re dining with toddlers who love to run around, you might either want to strap them to a toddler’s chair, or steer clear of sitting next to the waterway, since there is no fence around it.

Our grand lunch, with Burj Al Arab in the backdrop started with an order of two of their recommended cocktails. I opted for the signature Anar-tini, which as the name suggests, was a pomegranate based drink mixed with vanilla and lime flavors, while my plus one went with the Padideh which brought together strong spirits with lime, sugar and mint.

While we waited for our starters to arrive, we were offered some fresh bread with a salad on the side. I was quite impressed to see a feta and walnut salad instead of a dip, and to be honest, it was a welcome change from the expected usuals.

Our starters followed shortly and included a selection of Ash-e-Reshte soup, Salad Anar-o-Khiyar and Kofte Anar. I loved the soup, mainly for its hearty ingredients – kidney beans and chickpeas, and also for the its perfect portion. The signature salad had a strong resemblance to the likes of tabbouleh and fattoush, but was slightly more sweeter thanks to the heavy drizzle of pomegranate sauce. The kofte were something I would like to classify as rich meatballs. Rich because they were stuffed with dry fruits in addition to lentils and rice, and tossed in a unique pomegranate paste.

Mains came in next, and we made sure we got a bit of everything on our plate. From their Kababs variety, we opted for Kabab Bakhtiary that covered chicken and lamb, and Maygoo Kabab that ticked off the seafood box with a gorgeous platter of prawns. Both these grills were served alongwith Iranian rice. Also on our list was Ghormeh Sabzi which was a thick stew featuring vegetables, mixed herbs and served with rice.

The chicken kababs were my favorite. I have been lucky enough to try quite a variety of different Iranian kababs at a lot of restaurants, and they do it right every single time. The lamb fillet pieces were quite good too, but I found them slightly dry. The prawns were juicy and crunchy, just the texture I like, and there was a slight hint of saffron, or zaffran as the Persians like to call it.

I wasn’t a big fan of the stew, but if you like them, Anar has a variety of these stews available in vegetarian options, as well as with different meats.

To end this picturesque lunch, we decided to try a portion of Faloode Shirazi along with some classic Iranian tea. Very different from the subcontinental Falooda, this Persian dessert brought together chilled rice noodles flavoured with strong essences of rosewater, fresh lime and a homemade pomegranate syrup. The noodles were as cold as ice, and it almost felt like eating a slush. Tip: if you love getting a brain freeze, then this one is for you.

The cold was quickly balanced with a hot cup of Persian tea, which as expected was served in pretty ceramics accompanied with a side of cookies. I loved the crystal sugar stick that allowed me to sweeten and mix my tea at the same time.

Anar

Location: Shop 147, Ground Level, Souk Madinat Jumeirah, Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai
Contact: 04 3686505

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