Old Asian favourites open in new locations

Here’s my confession: I’m a Wagamama groupie. So when we heard it was ramen month at the restaurant, I was the first to raise my chopsticks for dibs to the media invite. Fortunately, the restaurant at Golden Mile 1, Palm Jumeirah, didn’t disappoint. We started with fried squid (crunchy), a duck wrap (sweet and moist, and on a sliver of a flat bread) and prawn crackers, and went on to bowl-fulls of ramen. The idea behind the event was taken from the Japanese ubiquitous sight of customers lining up solo to enjoy the hot bowl of noodle soup — the nosh is a bit more complicated than that, but it’s as comforting as comfort food can get. They ended the night with a sweet Japanese curry on a bed of chicken katsu (deep fried chicken cutlet) with rice. They come with diagrams. The xiaolongbao dumplings I mean. Scoop onto a ceramic spoon. Punch a tiny hole with your chopstick and then eat whole — the soup will pour into your mouth, tantalising your taste buds. But besides this cool and unusual fare, there’s a large number of dimsums to try. The chicken and vegetable options are a bit too full of the green stuff for me, but the lamb ones were a resounding success. The meat bun, a sweet exterior filled will a tooth-exercising interior, was juicy and warm. The only oddball was the chilli chicken, which was a bit on the dry side. All in all the corner, with the new branch of the Taiwanese Michelin-star chain in Al Ghurair Centre, is a lovely place to hang out. And before leaving the venue, try out the chocolate-filled dumplings. Off to one side of Bay Avenue, Business Bay, lies Sushi Counter, a tiny orange-tinged nook in a bustling business hub. But it’s got neon. And food that lives up to the following expectations: freshly made, experimental, a dash of the old and with offers for a quick and affordable lunch with the colleges. While the roles come in rounds of six, there are single pieces of sushi to try — the beef tartare is exquisite. For those who like to mix it up, here’s a new offer, too: a salmon burrito, with avocado and cucumber and a whole lot of healthy stuff, and covered in a layer of crushed Cheetos. Think American, eat Japanese? Well it’s definitely worth a bite. Finish your meal with a sweet, warm chocolate cake.