Moonrise* Abu Dhabi

Located in Eden House, Dubai my bad…

Here on business trip and decided to dine outside my comfort zone. Usually stick to asian, new American and French flavor profiles. Missed my exits about 10 times on my way to the restaurant. Might be a skill issue but driving in Dubai is wild. The high-end apartment complex is nice with people navigating you to the roof where you can find the beautiful view and restaurant. Donna the host was very welcoming and personable as a fellow Filipino (Filipinos everywhere in the hospitality industry, pretty cool to see). Dining alone I was sat in the middle of the 15 seat chefs table surround the open kitchen.

In front of you, you have these postcards that have a brief reflection on the dish. What inspired it? Where ingredients were source? And techniques used to achieve the dish. Not having not as much familiarity with Emirati food the post cards depicted nostalgic exerpts from Chef Haddad's experiences.

Roots (amuse) tomato, black lime, labneh, furikake – punchy, acidic and rich. This amuse literally punched me in the face in a good way. I think my face twinged as if you took a hit of singang powder.

OG Grilled Cheese (2) milk bread, parmigiano reggiano, black garlic – fatty and rich complemented by the earthy black truffle. Hokkaido milk bread was slightly toasted on the grill.

Fish Fry (3) hamour, masala, creme fraiche – fatty, rich and punchy. Sauce kind of reminds me of a sauce i make with kewpie mayo and sambal olek for chicken karaage. Fish was light with a crazy crunch from Japanese sushi rice coating.

Spicy "Tuna" (4) shima aji, shatta, nori – fatty, rich and punchy…again. Slightly redundant at the this point but tasted phenomenal. Chef explained the dehydrated potato similar to takis. The shima aji also tasted just like a tuna. I may never unsee spicy tuna at your local rotary sushi.

Market Prawns (5) amaebi, toum, ponzu – probably my favorite dish. The golden surprise pouch. Textures were great, everything complemented each other, the amaebi was succulent and sweet. The toum with dill oil was rich and light at the same time.

Khubz (6) bread course with a miso and date syrup butter – the bread was slightly charred on one side and the butter was both savory and sweet. The smell of the yeasted dough was perfumed by the grill.

Sarookh (7) lebanese potato, beurre blanc, trout roe – rich and buttery. Brunoise of potato still had a very nice texture. Reminds me of Winchels clam chowder in Guam.

Kamchatka Crab (8) king crab, aleppo, orange – did not know about Russian crab. Meaty, sweet and decadent. Loved the simplicty of the dish and acidity from the sauce.

Shwarma Mexici (9) wagyu, yogurt, daikon – im very full and hanging on by a thread. Heavy shwarma spices, steak was cooked to perfection and the daikon was a nice touch to cut through the richness.

Melon and Labnah (10) omani melon, labnah, honey – we made it to something fresh and light. I wish there was another dish like this around courses 4/5 or 5/6. It was a nice break.

Banana Milky Way (11) banana, honey, caramel – not too sweet. Banana compote was intense and light. Chocolate tuile added some needed texture and bitterness.

All in all a great meal. I respect the punchy and in-your-face approach to every dish. Service was great, the pacing of the dishes was good. Thank you Chef Haddad, Ashley and Donna for the conversations. Till next time ✌️