There’s a myriad of Iftars taking place across Dubai and this year, like last, I’m fasting. As well as this I’m also helping with FillingTheBlues so have few opportunities to enjoy hotel Iftars this year. I’ve chosen four different types of Iftar to attend so that I get a variety of different experiences and here’s the second one that I’ve attended.
Breaking Fast With : Dates, Water and thin laban (personally we prefer thicker laban). There’s also a good selection of juices available.
Food : Dates, Arabic bread and a platter of starters are delivered to the table which is a nice tough. Wandering around the restaurant, we spot a nice display of fresh salads, nuts and dried fruit, as well as a few soups for starters. Mains are served at live cooking stations with pizza and shawarma, a wide range of arabic grills and traditional dishes, an indian section and an asian section. The Thai salads are particularly good and we choose these over those available at the salad bar. There’s also dessert station with a mixture of international and arabic sweets as well as free flowing arabic coffee served during the evening. We’re also happy to see platters of juice being delivered to the table at regular intervals saving us multiple trips to the juice station.
On my plate : I was in the mood for spicy food so headed to the Asian life cooking station returning with a plate of spicy chicken drumsticks, and thai beef with chilli and two fresh salads, the pomelo salad was particularly good – ask for it spicy if you like the heat.
Ambiance : Accents is bright and light, and feels very modern inside. Aside from some little lamps on the table and some larger arabic lamps at some of the cooking stations it doesn’t have a traditional Iftar feel to it so if you are looking for a more traditional arabic Iftar with an Arabic influence this isn’t for you. Service was excellent and whilst it was quite busy there was enough room to wander around and not have to queue which always adds to the experience.
Bonus : For every two Iftars bought by guests, the hotel will donate one Iftar meal to a labour camp in Al Quoz. The restaurant also pays particular attention to reducing food wastage and the live cooking stations not only contribute to this but makes the experience more enjoyable for us.
[Accents Restaurant,InterContinental Dubai Marina, Dubai Marina (04 446 6669). Price : 165/AED per person]
