Another seafood spot arrives in the city, but can it catch a break in the saturated DIFC dining scene?
rab Market is not an easy find. Located on the 15th floor of Emirates Financial Towers (the same building as 7 Elephants, not to be mistaken for Jumeirah Emirates Towers, the home of Hakkasan and La Cantine), you have to take two separate lifts up through the office towers to reach it.
Once you reach the restaurant, you’ll be welcomed into a cool, contemporary space, split into a lounge of high bar tables and a slightly more formal restaurant, with floor-to-ceiling windows that look out over Downtown Dubai and Burj Khalifa.
We find a booth in the centre of the restaurant, and can’t help but look enviously
Cat the window tables. The menu – which, you guessed it, heavily focuses on crab – has been created by chef Vladimir Mukhin, the brains behind Moscow’s White Rabbit restaurant, which is currently rated No 23 on the World’s 50 best restaurants list.
We slurp down half a dozen oysters (Dhs15 per piece), which slide effortlessly out of their shells, before tucking into an avocado and tomato bruschetta (Dhs37) and octopus carpaccio (Dhs105). The Kamchatka crab legs with lime aioli (priced at Dhs70 per 100g) are served in a white pepper sauce (there’s a selection of five signature sauces) and a vongole with garlic, chili and lemon (Dhs120). The crab flesh is meaty, flavourful and well-priced for a serving for two, while the vongole is a simple but filling dish that’s punchy thanks to the welcome kick of chili.
For dessert, try the mango panacotta (Dhs35). It’s light relief from the extensive menu of seafood, and complimented by a crunchy lychee granite.
The food is the real star of the show at Crab Market, and you can tell that the chefs left in charge truly know their stuff. Hopefully the tricky location doesn’t put Downtown dwellers off.
Tower, 15th Floor, Emirates Financial Towers, Dubai, Sun to Fri noon to 4pm, 7pm to midnight, Sat 7pm to midnight. Tel: (04) 5645525. Taxi: Emirates Financial Towers. crabmarket.com