Spaccanapoli: Monday evenings at Spaccanapoli are cheese and grape nights, and so what better place to begin our adventure than the Crowne Plaza’s cosy little Italian restaurant. The mood is right, the bread freshly baked and the cheeses all fine Italian imports. It’s a shame then about those other details that bring Spaccanapoli down. Let’s consider some of these:
Firstly, this joint suffers from very poor service. The staff are nice enough, when they take the time to come to your table, but it’s difficult to get hold of one. Lack of staff attention equals ill-informed diners. Basically, it would have been nice if someone had explained that the antipasti bar is also available as part of the cheese-deal. We found this out a little late, after all the good stuff was already gone. No matter. There is always cheese, and grapes, and walnuts and the various preserves that go along with it. Unfortunately, and here we arrive at one of their other shortcomings, the presentation is so poor, sparse and lacking in imagination, that you won’t feel inclined to explore or come back for seconds.
That said, Spaccanapoli have 12 different varieties of Italian cheese on offer, which they make an effort to change every week in a bid to keep things interesting. Watch out for the provolone -good stuff!
Dhs89 per person, includes freeflow of grape-based beverages, unlimited cheese and antipasti. Mondays from 6pm-10pm, at Spaccanapoli, Crowne Plaza, Al Markaziyah (02 616 6261).
Piano Lounge: Another of the town’s favourite cheese and grape nights is at the InterContinental’s Piano Lounge on Wednesdays. And we now know why it’s a favourite. Imagine a huge array of cheese, beautifully presented, with a cornucopia of grapes, figs and other goodies interspersed among the platters. Our advice is to keep your slices small because there is so much you’ll want to try, and one serving is never enough. You’ll find high quality specimens of all your standard favourites (like the killer goat cheese and roqefort) as well as a few odd balls which are guaranteed to keep the evening interesting.
Staff are attentive and very polite, but tend to undersell the fantastic treats on offer. Additionally, the setting is cosy, but the seating is a tad inappropriate for eating. Once you’re slumped into your little armchair you’ll find it’s impossible to lean back without getting covered in crumbs, and when you lean forward, the table is too high for comfort. The Piano Lounge was made for casual drinks or coffee, not dining. But with such a spectacular selection of cheese on offer, the discomfort is something you’ll easily be able to tolerate.
Dhs120 per person, includes freeflow grape-based beverages and unlimited cheese. Wednesdays from 6pm-9pm, at Piano Lounge, InterContinental (02 666 6888).
Jones the Grocer: The crown for king of the cheese-board, in our humble opinion, goes to Jones the Grocer, who serve their cheese (as it ought to be) on cheese boards. When you visit, try to get a table near the fromagerie, a great shrine dedicated to the stuff. Every time a member of staff opens the door to go in or out of the place, a pungent whiff emerges to assure you that a smell this bad can only mean great cheese. The best part about all this is that you don’t have to pay an arm and a leg to enjoy it. For a very reasonable price you can share (or personally devour) a board of three, five or seven items. Because we are greedy, we went for seven items. We picked four from a menu of soft, semi-hard/hard and blue cheese, and then sealed the deal with three items from the selection of antipasti, charcuterie and seafood on offer.
Now if this had been an article about the other tid bits we could go on and on about the bressaola and the salmon gravlax. But it’s not, so we won’t. Instead we’ll tell you how beautifully they complimented the cheese. We’ll also tell you that said cheese was exceptional. We like our blue cheese strong and tangy, and our brie earthy and slightly sweet. Just as well then that each item on our board was boasting a character so distinct from the others – these cheeses were robust, proud and confident. Crumbs were all that remained.
A seven item-cheeseboard is Dhs85. Jones the Grocer, Mamoura Building, B Ground Floor 06/07 Corner 4th Muroor & 15th Street (02 443 8762).
