We park in the underground parking at City Walk two and ask for directions to Izu Brasserie. The security guy gives us two options, walk though the French department Le BHV Merais, or alternatively walk around the outside of the building and then head into Izu Brasserie from the front. We choose to walk around the building since it’s an unusually grey day in Dubai and we’re relishing in a spot of cloud watching as well as hoping for a spot of rain. IZU Brasserie is located inside of the department store and is split into two parts. The Brasserie is on one side, whilst the Bakery is on the other side. It’s a little odd layout, as we are in the department store, but once you are seated it’s easy to forget this. Outside there’s a terrace overlooking the Boulevard, which would be a great place to hang out and people watch. We choose to dine inside and are treated to a quite dramatic downpour of rain with lightening a little later, an unusual occurrence for Dubai which we relish.
French Toast with Salted Caramel Cream and Berries compote
Breakfast is Served : We arrived at about eleven am, a little late for breakfast and a little early for lunch, however the rain keeps us in our seats for a while longer than we planned and we end up dining from both the breakfast and lunch menus.
We choose to sit in the bakery section, but are told it’s ok to order from either or both menus and so that’s exactly what we did. As well as the dishes we ordered, the French Toast and Spanish Omelette, staff send us a few other dishes to try and I’m glad that they did as we tried a few dishes which were fantastic and probably not ones that I would ordinarily have chosen. The tartines are a case in point, not only do they look pretty and dare I say “Instaworthy”, they taste good too!
A perfectly brewed and poured flat white
Coffee : There’s a decent choice of coffee on order, and it’s brewed well with some cute latte art which is always pleasing to the eye. The coffee is single origin Ethiopian coffee from Boon coffee, all machine brewed but with a great selection including macchiato and flat white to name but a few.
Smoked Salmon Fillet with grilled fennel
Main Courses : The menu is not huge, but there’s enough choice to satisfy us. My guest chooses the lightly smoked salmon which is served perfectly pink/translucent in the middle. The smoking is subtle but enough to make the difference. A dish we would not normally choose, is sent across for us to try. It’s *** and it’s really good. The intensity of flavors packed into the ravioli is great and whilst I wouldn’t order it for myself again as I tend to steer clear of pasta, my guest says he would and was pleased to try something new.
Squid Ink Ravioli with seabass, prawns and a butter sauce
Izu Brasserie – The Brasserie side
Tarte Tatin – We didn’t taste this but it looks great.
When we entered the bakery, a cake loaf had grabbed my attention, for all the wrong reasons. Sat next to a beautiful display of French pastries was a plain looking loaf cake which didn’t look that appealing. Imagine our surprise when the loaf was served set on a bed of caramel custard, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and with a topping of caramel. Turns out this humble looking cake was packed full of caramel flavor and at 20/AED is a steal! Whilst we have room for the Tarte Tatin, pictured above, which we will return for someday soon, we were a bit disappointed at the patisserie counter which was quite empty. That said, it was a quiet day so maybe they hadn’t prepared too many.
Finally, it would be rude not to mention the Viennoiserie (breakfast pastries) and bread on offer. Whilst our long breakfast and lunch left us full and defeated, we took home a few pastries for later. The almond croissant is one of the best I’ve had in a long time, and immediately reminded me of my last trip to Paris. Worth returning just for this and a cup of coffee.