Zest at One & Only The Palm Dubai
Dubai; Well FooDiva was back at the new One & Only The Palm Dubai, this time to try out Zest, the all-day dining restaurant. For those in the know, you can tell I am building up to the finale; Stay and Yannick Aleno’s Michelin star fine dining experience.
It was Zest’s al fresco seating overlooking the infinity pool that really appealed to the romantic in me and my visitors. Having rocked up for an impromptu weekend lunch, the waiter asked if were in-house guests and upon my denial, asked us to wait while he checked availability. Honestly there was not a soul around, in or out – anyhow, he finally escorted us to a table. The menu is well thought through and divided into Asian, Middle Eastern and Western cuisine, as well as mezze and vegetarian sections. Gosh, where does one start? Thanks to the tourists in town, we settled upon a selection of Arabic mezze as appetisers; cheese sambousek, falafel, tabouleh and labneh with zaatar. The labneh was served as mini-balls coated in dried zaatar, whilst both the sambousek and the tabouleh were as per normal Arabian spec. The disappointment was the falafel, just way too overfried. The accompanying bread was a mix of very thin naan, and traditional almost Greek-like pitta – beautifully warmed.
For mains, we opted for tuna tataki, king crab california rolls, and an organic quinoa salad with fresh vegetables and sprouts. Portions were pretty small…thank goodness we’d had appetisers. Whilst presentation was stunning, my seared tuna lacked flavour despite the sprinkling of lime – echoed by my guests with their dishes. 
However, the side dish of steamed green asparagus was delicious – thick, juicy, al dente spears.
Despite the initial cold greeting, service was thorough and amiable throughout. You’d certainly choose to lunch or even dine at Zest for its stunning location. But whilst the menu is very comprehensive, the main courses did disappoint and they were expensive – there’s certainly room for improvement, One & Only.
Lunch per person including juices and water AED 214. Tel: +971 4 4401010. You will notice a new FooDiva score on my reviews (1-5 knives, with 5 denoting excellence in food, service and ambience).
I am heading to Kenya’s Masai for Christmas, so I’ll be back with plenty of meaty tales. Happy holidays FooDiva Friends!
A bientôt.
FooDiva. x
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Many thanks for the compliment Vincent! I would be delighted if you can include FooDiva on Petit Chef – have registered it on your site.
A bientot!
x