More often than not, when an international fine-dining brand sets its sights on the UAE’s two main cities, Dubai tends to get the first taste. That might explain why there’s a genuine buzz around Asia de Cuba’s debut in Abu Dhabi, months before a mooted Dubai outpost.
The chain, founded in New York, has made the capital its third base – London was the second – and it could scarcely have picked a more appealing location for its continent-melding mix of Asian and Latin flavours. The Nation Riviera Beach Club has to be the city’s most quietly glamorous location.
The interior, which was almost deserted when we visited on a mild Sunday evening, gives off a colonial air, with its high roof and floor-to-ceiling windows framed by flowing cream curtains. Outside on the beach deck was where the clientele was at, despite somewhat windy April weather that threatened to replicate the sensation of Caribbean hurricane season.
If you disregard the salads, which we did, there are four main menu sections to choose from, each as distinct as the last: ceviches, small plates, wok (pan-cooked, Asian-slanted offerings) and entrées (in the North American sense, which means sizeable main courses, rather than between-course dishes in British parlance).
The intention is for diners to order several starters to share, so we did. The scallop ceviche with grapefruit, ají panca (a Peruvian chilli) and lime was exquisitely presented, as was the hamachi sashimi, its substantial fish morsels surrounded by mini rocoto capsicums and buried beneath a tasty Thai mango salad. From the small plates, the dumplings de enchiladas de cangrejo were passable parcels of soft-shell crab doused in a seafood ponzu. But the real winners were the casabe cakes – bite-sized crispy cassava-root flatbreads topped with tangy guava “BBQ” veal and onion mojo.
We decided that while all the entrées sounded delicious, there was nothing particularly outlandish on offer that a diner wouldn’t conceivably have tasted elsewhere (seared mushrooms/tuna, roasted chicken/lamb, black cod, Wagyu beef). So we instead made a double raid on the wok selections.
It took a bit of digging through the mojo duck confit to locate the rich waterbird flesh, at the foot of a mound of brown rice, orange, Thai basil and a poached egg, plus slivers of crispy duck skin.
The rice, however, was seriously fragrant and ended up overpowering just about everything else.
The veal vaca frita clawed back some lost ground, thankfully, with generous slabs of meat. Oblongs of maduros (sweet plantains) represented the Caribbean, alongside a globe-spanning assortment of yuca, mushrooms and Chinese broccoli.
Our sides joined the veal in being enthusiastically devoured: the Cuban rice-and-beans staple congri with Manchego broadly reminded us of a temptingly cheesy risotto, while the tostones (circular fried plantain fritters) provided added texture.
When it came to dessert-ordering time, one of several helpful – notably competent – waiters informed us that the Manchego tart was “trending”. We fired up our Twitter feed, but it transpired he was talking in a purely Asia de Cuba context.
All cheesed out, however, we opted for the Thai coconut and lemon grass flan with honeydew and caramel and the guava whipped cheesecake with coconut “tuile” biscuit base. The former won on taste; the latter triumphed visually, arranged as a four-storey wonder that we guiltily dismantled.
With one disappointment in particular, we weren’t totally blown away by the food as much as the elements, then.
Yet given the relative novelty of Cuban cuisine given an Asian makeover, the sheer culinary invention should be enough to ensure that Asia de Cuba maintains its burgeoning reputation as the city’s hottest go-to spot.
• A meal for two at Asia de Cuba, Nation Riviera Beach Club, St Regis Abu Dhabi, cost Dh764. For more information, call 02 699 3333. Reviewed meals are paid for by The National and conducted incognito
aworkman@thenational.ae
