Go Japanese This Christmas

Pandering to the vagrancies of an Asian bazaar while keeping Dubai’s elitist ambiance in check is no mean feat, but the Sheraton Dubai Creek Hotel’s Japanese restaurant miraculously achieves that.

It’s a maze, really, to navigate our way around the never-ending gastronomical delights laid out at the delightful Creekside Restaurant. I’m not quite sure where to start, so I addle to protocol and start with the many soups on offer. The miso soup – in reverence to the Japanese setting – is done to perfection.

The salad and sushi bar is next, alluring with its heady mix of edamame and seafood salads from spotted grouper to Thai shrimp to Japanese octopus. There are many sushi and sashimi varieties, like spicy tuna maki and California roll, served with a never-ending flow of gari and wasabi, but it is the green dragon maki with mango and avocado that is especially fresh and delectable.

And this is just the beginning. The tempura station beckons with crunchy spring rolls, prawns and veggies served with tempura sauce. Next to this is the noodle station where we pander between the chicken and beef, or egg glass and rice noodles as they’re made live on a fiery wok.

But the centrepiece of this copious buffet is the teppanyaki cooking station.  We chose from the many varieties of meat. There’s a seafood station with a variety of fish ranging from fresh mussels to sea bream to cigali lobster and red mullet, shrimps, sardines and squids. This is beset with steaks of beef and chicken, as well as lovely satay.

Cooked live on the terrace with panoramic views of Al Muteena, we paired the scrumptious dish with fresh herbs and spicy sauces like mushroom, Thai chilli, teriyaki, lemon butter, of which the pepper corn and ginger were my personal favourites.

The hot food section is also at hand, if you dare, with dishes ranging from potato with dill to whole-roasted fish beurre blanc to Thai red curry seafood.

With almost no space for another bite, we still can’t resist the dessert. There are over twenty decadent varieties from pistachio cake to fruit tart to crème caramel to raspberry mousse and blueberry crunchy mousse cake. The date cake wins hands-down as its gooey chocolate melts onto my spoon.

While there’s never a dearth of eateries this festive season, if you’re looking for something to satiate both your appetite and taste buds, then head for the Creekside Restaurant in the heart of Old Dubai.