Restaurant Review: Al Sammach

Reviews is something that i wanted to do here for sometime: movies, restaurants, products ..etc. I think i will start with this sea food place I had lunch at yesterday.

My mom was in town this week and I wanted to take her to a nice sea food joint. I have been to the Fish Market at the Dubai Intercontinental Hotel which everyone says it’s the best place in town. Seriously, I have no clue what the hype was all about on that place. Fine, it is a good place to have a decent seafood meal. But it all ends when you get the bill for a not-so-exhilarating experience.

So I made a few phone calls and everyone recommended a seafood place called Al Sammach. In Emarati (or Khaleeji), Al Sammach means the person who deals in anything that has to do with fish: fishing, trading and even processing (cooking, preserving ..etc).

Located in the Beach Centre, a relatively small shopping centre that is one block away from Mercato mall on Jumeirah's beach road. So getting there and parking wasn't really a problem.

So, we got there and walked into the place with mom, mother in law and of course, wife and baby M. Seating area was divided between the actual restaurant and an open-air seating area in the middle of the mall. The outside seating area seamed more cozy with the natural day-light atmosphere. Though it was around 3pm, the place was relatively busy. Never the less, we were seated quickly. Water, bread and a pickle platter were immediately served while browsing the menu.

The menu was straight to the point. 5 or 6 choices for each category, making the ordering/selection task for indecisive people like myself, a much easier thing to do. Mom ordered the Hammour with Lemon butter sauce, wife asked for her favorite Mixed Sea food platter and mother-in-law requested the Fish 'n Chips. As for moi, I selected my own Fresh Hammour, about 1.5Kgs next to 1/2 Kgs of large white shrimps, Half grilled and half fried which I couldn’t resist not ordering.

Cold starters arrived quickly. The Fattoush was REALLY good. The use of good quality Debes Remman (Pomegranate molasis) was delightfully apparent. Hummos was OK, though it needed to be a bit more creamy and the portion wasn't as generous as its neighboring dish, the Fattoush. Cold vine rolled leaves were refreshing with hint of a red vinegar crisp to it.

Hot starters followed and i have to say, it was the best fried calamari I had in ages. You could feel the freshness of the squid. They weren't too chewy, nor too soft. The tenderness of the breaded fried calamari was close to perfection!

We also asked for the "seafood spring rolls". They came with a bowl of salty soy sauce. I think it would be better served with Sweet Chili, since the rolls were savory enough.

Now, this is where the ball was dropped a bit on the service. main courses were served gradually and as the plate were done, they would slide them in. Mom got her plate first and it looked pretty basic: 2 thick slices of white Hammour fillet swimming in a pool of lemon-butter sauce with fries on the side. I tasted it and it was a bit less zesty that I would've liked it. However, mom enjoyed her dish.

10 minutes later, a plate of grilled prawns landed and we literally ravished the plate. Each shrimp was individually seasoned with an aromatic paste of cumin, lemon and sweet paprika before the large prawns are thrown on a scorching grill.

Mother in law's Fish 'n Chips arrived and were prepared in a traditional, English style recipe. Nothing special about was about the plate. While me and my wife were still waiting for our plates, the 2nd half of the shrimps came cleaned, cut/spread in butterfly shape, breaded and fried to perfection. We dipped them in tartar sauce and the prawns were divine.

Surprisingly, my 1.5kgs fried Hammour arrived while my wife's Mixed Seafood platter is still MIA. My Hammour was very good. But i enjoyed it less cause of the delay of my wife's order.

We prompted a couple of waiters to the missing plate. About 10 minutes later, a agitated waiter (other then the one who took our order) came to our table saying that on the order slip in his hand, he can't find a Mixed Seafood platter and that he was sorry.

Fair enough, honest mistake. The Hammour was large enough for me and my wife. So, we didn't make a big deal out of it. And to be honest, it will definitely not stop us from eating there again. As for the bill, well i was surprised to see that it was only Dhs 250 for all that. I thought they gave us another table's bill, but it wasn't.

Bottom-line: I am adding Al Sammach to my favorite seafood joints in Dubai.