Approaching the Armed Forces Officers Club for the first time is an experience. The building is one of our favourites in the city, atheistically this is one of the most eye-catching in the capital.
Stepping foot into Kennedy itself, the European restaurant buried deep within the heart of the club, we have a very similar feeling. Visually the dining room is stunning, a centrepiece which we believe is a model of a Da Vinci flying contraption hangs from the ceiling and paintings on all four walls are beautiful. The only let down is that we appear to be the only people in for dinner, tables are perfectly dressed for patrons who appear to have taken their custom elsewhere this evening.
We look at the menu, and it has the characteristics we like to see from a fine dining restaurant. Dishes look complex and inventive, we think to ourselves ‘If the chef can pull this off, this could be one of the city’s best restaurants.’
Eager to give Kennedy its chance to impress, we order the scallops with sweet potato mousseline (a creamy hollandaise sauce) and tomato consommé to start, and the homemade spaetzle (central European egg noodle or dumpling) and lamb shank cooked with rosemary jus for mains.
The starters arrive, and both look unusual to say the least. A wall of scallops sit in the middle of a bowl separating what appears to be tinned orange segments and a creamy foam. We assume the dish is supposed to be eaten as one, so we allow the two liquids to seep into each other as we take a bite. The scallops are well cooked and of a decent size, but as expected the foam (the sweet potato mousseline we assume, although we don’t taste sweet potato) and acidic fruit juice do not mix well. It isn’t totally unpleasant, it’s just a bizarre concept.
Unfortunately, the consommé isn’t without fault either. Camembert is presented in a bowl and the consommé is poured from a teapot onto it, unfortunately this instantly turns the consommé from being clear to cloudy, which is visually unappealing. The soup actually tastes fine, but the presentation needs reconsidering.
Our lamb arrives, and we are pleased to see it smothered in a rich, sticky sauce. This dish is far more appealing and the taste backs up the presentation – the meat is well cooked and the jus is punchy. The dish comes served with a potato gratin which is a star. Overall, we really like this dish.
Again, though, there are mistakes in the spaetzle. The dish looks far too rustic for its surroundings, we’re presented with what looks like a severely overcooked bowl of pasta. The flavours are decent, but the dish is too dry, especially for such a large portion.
We finish the evening with a portion of riz au lait (rice pudding), which is fantastic, a dish more than worthy of Kennedy’s exalted dining room. It’s light and creamy and accompanied by a superb rhubarb compote. We eat the whole thing and could easily manage a second helping.
If we had come to Kennedy and just eaten the lamb and riz au lait, we would have come away thoroughly praising the restaurant. Unfortunately, the other dishes we were served leave us thinking this restaurant has some more work to do in the kitchen.
The bill (for two):
Scallops Dhs65
Tomato consommé Dhs35
Spaetzle Dhs55
Braised lamb Dhs100
Riz au lait Dhs30
Total (excl. service) Dhs285
