Tuck into Moroccan cuisine at this gorgeous restaurant in Downtown Dubai

This fine-dining restaurant ensures an all-around Moroccan treat…

For a taste of Morocco without the need for a plane ticket, head to Bab Al Mansour – the city’s first restaurant specialising in Moroccan cuisine.

Bab Al Mansour is a monumental gate in the city of Meknes, Morocco and if you’ve visited the famous landmark, you will see the beautiful Arabic architecture reflected at this restaurant in Downtown Dubai.

The second you walk through the large wooden doors into the interiors, the breathtaking turquoise and gold interiors, stunning arches, mosaic-clad courtyards and marble fountains will instantly teleport you to the North African country.

The experience continues as you on the authentic menu where Moroccan styled dishes are paired with a modern twist, prepared using only organically sourced Moroccan ingredients and spices.

We kicked off our dining experience with a mixed platter of briouate (Dhs68). Hot savoury puff pastries were bought to our table and were stuffed with tasty minced kofta, shrimp and chicken.

For mains, the chef highly recommended the pastilla. We opted for chicken (Dhs95) where strips of chicken come wrapped in a Moroccan pie stuffed with crushed almonds. The eccentric component of this dish that left us curious is the icing sugar and cinnamon dusting on top. When it arrived it looked almost like a dessert until we cut into the crisp outer shell only to reveal shredded pieces of chicken inside. After tucking in, we were genuinely impressed and each bite after was a fresh burst of flavour.

For our second main, we ordered the Bab Al Mansour mixed grill (Dhs125) which arrived in a grill at the table. The dish is perfect to share with meat lovers and includes a variety of succulent meats such as skewered koftas, shish tawook and tedner lamb chops.

For desserts, we opted for the sweet pastilla with milk. This time around, the pastilla was definitely a sweet treat with the puff pastries stacked one on top of the other with milk, honey, rose water and cream with raspberry. Unlike the main dish ordered, the flavour that stood out was an overpowering corn flake taste – which is great if you’re a fan of the breakfast cereal.

To end our dining experience, we sipped on Moroccan tea which the waiter served to us the traditional Moroccan way by pouring the tea from a height. We skipped the shisha this time, but apart from other dishes on the menu we want to try, it gives us a great reason to return.

Bab Al Mansour, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Blvd, Downtown Dubai, Dubai. Tel: (0)4 350 9440. babalmansour.ae

Images: Bab Al Mansour