SLIDER STATION

A talked-about new burger spot in Al Wasl

alk into Slider Station and you’ll think you’re in a patisserie as you pass a cabinet filled with cakes. But turn the corner and you’ll feel you’re in a Thai restaurant with floor-to-ceiling dark wood. Low lighting and chilled dance music give the impression of a cool bar. Next come the waiters, dressed in mechanics’ overalls, which suggests a burger shack, as do the paper napkins bearing sketches of spanners. The menus tell you you’re about to eat American tapas, but there’s a conveyor belt ferrying food, so maybe it’s a sushi place?

Goodness knows what happened in the meeting when Slider Station was created, but if you can get past the barrage of clashing concepts the food is superb. American tapas takes up one side of the cardboard menu: 28 dishes such as ribs, wings, salads and tacos. Turn over for sliders and burgers.

We tried the sliders, namely Dangerous

W(Dhs18), Midnight (Dhs18) and Tiger Shrimp Handgun (Dhs30). You get one mini burger per portion and it’s gone in three bites. The Dangerous contained buttermilk fried chicken and some nice jalapeño fire. The Midnight burger was made soggy by too much sauce but what we tasted before it disintegrated was very good. The shrimp slider came in a piece of black bread that curled around the filling and was enhanced by mango slaw. Sliders were served on a dish the size of a coaster and they splurged all over the place, which pretty much sums up the concept itself.

Galleria Mall, Al Wasl Road, Dubai, daily noon to midnight. Tel: (600) 544005. Taxi: Galleria Mall. sliderstation.com