Movenpick Soul Restaurant

Jumeriah Beach Resort can be a hectic merry go-around with the latest Middle East cars with their boy toys cruising around — but if you are looking for a relaxing, yet very elegant, and semi-discreet hideaway to entertain a client, or visitor, or a surreptitious date, consider the Soul Restaurant & Bar at the Movenpick Hotel’s JBR location.

Chef Baljit Kumar (seen at left) is quietly cooking up a storm at Soul Restaurant & Bar (he came over from Trader Vic’s) and he can cook with a magician’s wand. (“What did you see first: Duck or Rabbit?” is just one brain test he gives himself on Facebook!).

On a recent visit, we were treated by him to, among many mouthwatering treats, a medium Rib Eye Steak (300g) called the Australian Wagyu.

Just like Dubai, the steak was lavishly embroiled with a Marco Polo-esque twist: A Japanese cow by virtue of Australia. Only in Dubai, right?

The highest in the food chain among cows, a Wagyu commands a high price in Japan. But it is in Australia where it really attains the cash cow status, really. Aussies are the largest breeders outside of Japan.

And with a strong Aussie expat community in Dubai, the dish attains its holy status!

The meat was tender, even for a medium flame, but cured just right for the succulence that was about to follow with mashed potatoes and exotic spinach.

The restaurant offers an eclectic wine list, and you will never be wanting for the specials of the day.

Hotel restaurants can get a bum rap for being an extension of the breakfast buffet for a weary business traveler or jet-eyed lag but Soul Restaurant is a welcome respite — and a great breeding ground for the hungry stomach and the bounties thereafter!

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