Rare

Friday night was probably the loveliest night I have ever had in Dubai. After inadvertently being out until 2am on Tuesday night (the equivalent of Wednesday night in the US) going to a Ladies Night (ladies drink free!) at an Irish Pub called Fibber Magee's we decided we wanted a fairly quiet weekend. So, Friday we decided to go out to a nice dinner and have a sort of 'date night' (forget that Valentine's Day and our 7 (!!) Year Anniversary are a week away). As is kind of a general theme here, finding a really good restaurant is hard, and specifically finding a good steak house. Jared has been to a bunch of different ones here and nowhere has even come close to meeting his expectations (which, admittedly are high, compared to our favorite steak restaurant in Boston). So Friday we decided to try a new one called "Rare" at the Desert Palm Resort, outside the city.

We had an 8pm reservation but didn't know how long it would take us to get there (it was out past Dragon Mart, Chinese mega-store/mall which I must do a post on sometime... going is an experience like no other), so decided to leave the house about 6:45pm to give us plenty of time, and we also thought we might explore the resort a little if we had extra time. Well, we got there by 7:10 and after exploring for about 30 seconds (it's a small resort and it was dark), we decided to get a cocktail on their terrace/veranda which overlooked one of their four polo fields (we were later informed by the general manager that the Desert Palm is the only purely polo resort in the world).

So we each ordered a drink with a fun name like "Lynchberg Lemonade" (Jared's) and mine was called "Serendipity" which had Pimm's as the primary alcohol, so I knew I'd love it. They brought us a bowl of mixed nuts with our drinks and turned on the portable heater (it's been very chilly at night here lately) and we were able to lounge with our drinks overlooking the dark polo pitch in complete silence, with the Dubai skyline in the far distance. Everywhere at the resort is green and all feng shui with fountains and an infinity pool. More than anywhere else we've been in Dubai, being at the Desert Palm truly felt like an escape and was completely relaxing because it's probably the most green we've seen here and also the most quiet and serene since it's outside the hustle and bustle of the city.

After enjoying our drinks and the lounge furniture for 45 minutes, we moved into to our table at the restaurant. It has a nice atmosphere (not tacky like 90% of places here), but what really got us was the food. They had all varieties of red meat from North America (!), including Colorado Ribeye and Canadian Elk Loin and Bison (in addition to Australian beef, which is what you typically get here). Jared started with the Carpaccio of Canadian Bison and I started with a Lobster Pancake. Both starters were amazing and then we both had the Colorado Ribeye (we couldn't resist ordering the American beef), which was hands-down the BEST steak we've had in Dubai and honestly not that far off from our favorite Grill 23 in Boston (although I fancy fillet more than ribeye). I know I am going on and on about the food, but it was just so shocking to both of us to find such a good restaurant in Dubai (our expectations have been seriously lowered after almost 6 months here). Definitely the best meal I've had out in Dubai.

And what really rounded out and made the whole night so lovely was the personalized and engaged service we received. Toward the beginning of our meal, the general manager of the resort came over and introduced himself and asked how things were going. That in and of itself was not all that unusual. What was unusual though, was that he stayed to talk with us for 5 minutes, before coming back and bringing Jared his business card and telling us to phone or email him if and when we were planning on coming back so he could take care of us. So, we thought that was all very nice, but that would be it. After dinner, however, we decided we wanted to stay a bit longer on the terrace to have some Moroccan tea and sheesha (I was driving so wanted a bit more time to relax after my two drinks). While we were eating the terrace had filled up and the couch we had been sitting on before was taken. The general manager happened to be out there sitting at another couch and saw us and invited us to join him and his assistant on the next couch area over. So, we agreed, and then proceeded to have a 20 minute conversation with him about living in the Dubai, the different restaurants and resorts here, and the difficulties of finding a good meal. He was interesting and engaging and telling us all about the resort (now we can't wait to go back for Saturday afternoon polo and cocktails!). After he finished his glass of wine he left us to enjoy the live acoustic guitar player who was playing covers of tons of great American songs. So we decided to stick around and listen to the live music for awhile, and soon the guitar playing was talking to us and asking for requests, etc. So I requested "Message in a Bottle" which he promptly played for me. Just fantastic.

Then, to cap off the night, after we finished our tea and sheesha, we asked for the bill and the waiter told us that the manager had taken care of it (the bill for the sheesha and tea, not dinner, which we had already paid for, although that would have been totally unbelievable). Unreal. Never before have we had such an absolutely perfect night in Dubai. I wish all my nights here could be so lovely.