A Fresh, Traditional, Plus Cultural Culinary Dubai And Emirati Experience; Seven Regions For Seven Sands
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Cuisine Style: Emirati
Average Price: د.إد
Overall Rating: 4/5
Dined in: August 2018
By Sean Overpeck (CFE)
**A full article and index glossary of restaurants, wines, recipes and travel for
Wine Dine and Play are in the pages section above, or by following these links:
Seven Sands Zomato rating:
Seven Sands Executive Chef:
Bassel Ibrahim
What is Emirati Cuisine a.k.a. Khaleeji (or lower Arab Peninsula)? The modern diet of the United Arab Emirates is cosmopolitan, featuring restaurants from all around the world, but many Middle Eastern and Asian cuisines. A lot of people confuse Levantine food or Arabic food as being Emirati/Khaleeji but due to harsh desert conditions, the traditional food of the UAE uses a lot of meat, grain, and dairy.
Seven Sands Serves this authentic style Emirati cuisine. Ten years ago trying to find Emirati food in Dubai was next to impossible, but today the demand is increasing, and this is where restaurants like Seven Sands and a handful of others are answering that call. So if you enjoy Arabic food, then travel down from the main city to the Dubai Marina and over to the beach to enjoy some Emirati inspired creations.
Seven Sands was the winner of the 2016 and 2017 What’s On Award for Best Middle Eastern Restaurant (Under AED 400). Seven Sands will take you on a cultural journey through the Seven Emirates. The United Arab Emirates is made up of seven regions, each with a variation in culture, tradition, and cuisine. The Chef at Seven Sands brings all the seven Emirates styles of food along with the rich heritage and values that unite this nation as a whole to your table for a complete tasting.
Menu:
- Hot and Cold Appetizers
- Salads
- Soups
- Manakish
- Fouga
- Chargrill
- Seafood
- Emirati Specialties
- Thereed
- Signature Dishes
- Side Orders
- Desserts
- The Emirati Culinary Experience
Seven Sands is in a stand-alone building across the street from the Sheraton Jumeirah Beach Resort, right next to the beach overlooking the Blue Waters Island where which will be home to Ain Dubai, the world's largest observation Ferris wheel still under construction as of August 2018. Up the road is the famed “Walk” on the Marina Beach filled with shops, hotels, and restaurants. From the second-floor dining room floor to ceiling windows you can also see Palm Island in the distance along with the Atlantis Hotel. When traveling to this area there are no signs to indicate the restaurant name, so while in the Taxi we drove around the area several times looking for it, until I finally gave up, paid the fair, and walked a short distance. The building is not directly on the main street, so I had to ask a few people where it was. I recommend they put out better signage near Al Mamsha Street and the circle to Al Sayorah Street.
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| Seven Sands / Ain Dubai |
Upon entering the restaurants' appearance was clean and very eclectic. Not a lot of chotskies or bunched up items. The restaurant is on two levels, with the second being the main dining room. The furniture and decor was very slick and modern, not something I was expecting in comparison to other Arab themed restaurants I had been to. I was there for a later lunch so besides one other group of people I had the restaurants second floor to myself, sitting on a banquet row with two-seater tables along the row. The menu had groupings of all Emirate classics, comforts, and favorites, so I decided to order the ‘Emirati Culinary Experience’ which was three courses starting with appetizers, main courses, and finishing with dessert. Each course would be served with small bowls with a tasting of many items, with each being six to eight bites.
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| Seven Sands Dining Room |
The tasting menu also came with a starter mocktail and ended with a choice of Karak Chai, Sulaimani Tea, or Arabic Coffee. As this building was stand alone and not attached to a hotel, to stay in compliance with Islamic Emirati law no alcohol was allowed to be served, but during this tasting, I tried a few mocktails and they were just like drinking the real thing. The tasting normally started with the Jabal Hafeet served with fresh basil, a sweet and sour mix, slices of cucumber, fresh basil leaves, and soda water, however, they were out of one of the key ingredients and allowed me to choose a replacement mocktail of my choice. I went with the blackberry cinnamon mojito served with fresh blackberries and a cinnamon stick garnish, lime wedge, fresh mint, and soda water. The drink was very fresh and crisp considering the very hot 102°f (38.89°c) and humid as hell outside. The cinnamon stick was cut straight from the branch not circular like you normally buy in stores.
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| Seven Sands/blackberry cinnamon mojito |
The appetizers (Mezzeh and Salattat) were presented with six small bowls and a side of fresh Arabic air bread, that was puffed up, and once cracked open releases hot air and deflates. The six selections included a green mango salad tossed with lemon juice, olive oil, and spring onions. This was my favorite of the tasting, though the mango could have been softer. This was followed with a lemon Bezar Salad (bee-zar) and Yact Cheese mix. Yact is an authentic Emirati cheese (cheese with Aseeda) mixed with ricotta cheese, walnuts, parsley, date syrup & olive oil. The Rocca leaves were placed with marinated sliced beetroot and lemon bezar, olive oil, all tossed in a pomegranate dressing. The next bowl had Hommous (hoo-moos), or hummus pureed with chickpea and sesame paste, flavored with tahini, salt, cumin, and lemon juice. The Moutabal (moo-ta-bell) is a grilled eggplant puree with garlic tahini sauce, flavored with yogurt and lemon juice. The final selection was a shark sambousa (sam-boo-saa). I have eaten shark at a few other Emirati restaurants in Dubai and it has been my least favorite dish, always too dry and lacking flavor. The chef’s presentation here having it stuffed with vegetables, and bezar (Bzar) spice, was a new variation to this dish, and with the sweet chili dipping sauce made it better than the previous times I tried. I will be honest though it still didn’t knock my socks off.
Bezar Spice:
¼ cups black peppercorns
¼ cumin seeds
¼ cups coriander seeds
1 tbsp. cloves
1 tbsp. green cardamom pods
3 dried chiles de Arbol, stemmed
2 sticks cinnamon, broken in half
1 whole nutmeg, broken into pieces
1½ tbsp. ground ginger
1 tbsp. ground turmeric
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| Seven Sands appetizers (Mezzeh and Salattat) |
Before the main course selections arrived I ordered a second mocktail called the cardamom mango mojito with fresh mango fruit, fresh cardamom, lime, mint leaves, Caribbean syrup (Falernum) and soda water. The Alwedam (Main Courses) consisted of four items that were in the same type of bowls as the appetizers though a bit bigger and had roughly ten to twelve bites to each. The course began with Chicken Fouga (foo-gaa) consisting of a breast and thigh biriyani style with yellow rice, lentils, and onion. Fouga is a traditional Emirati dish where selected spices and meats are cooked together with perfumed stock, and the chicken was perfectly cooked, tender and juicy. The second dish was the Aishu Lahem (aysh-oo-lah-ham) lamb flavored with heavy amounts of ginger, garlic, dried lime, saffron and served with a nice yogurt sauce. The lab sat on the same rice ingredients as the chicken. The third dish was Harees (har-rees) an Abu Dhabi homemade wheat and freshly shredded veal, blended to perfection and served soufflé style mixed with ghee. The dish was like a warm pudding, lightly seasoned, to bring out the natural flavors of the meat, with hints of sweetness from the cream. The final dish was a Fish Fouga; a traditional Emirati Jesh Um al Hala (Orange-spotted trevally fish) dish where selected spices and fish are cooked together with perfumed stock. The head remains attached with this dish and is lightly fried and served over rice with extra stock. The fish was flaky and had a medium flavor more to the mild.
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| Seven Sands / Fish Fouga |
Dessert:
The final course also called Helw (Desserts) which I enjoyed with the Emirati Karak Chai. The dish was served with four small desserts that were three to four bites starting with the Aseeda Bobar (a-see-dat baw-ber), a warm sweet pumpkin puree, flavored with cardamom, saffron and rose water, followed by the Seven Sands sticky date pudding, an aromatic date cake soaked in a rich toffee sauce that was to die for. This wonderful dessert was by far my personal favorite of the grouping. The nest dessert was also very good, a camel ice cream that had more body then a typical cows milk ice cream. The final selection was a chocolate/Saffron Legemat (lu-gai-mat), a popular Emirati sweet fried to order and drizzled with date syrup, white sesame seeds, and pistachios. I had tried this at several other Emirate restaurants in the past and though it is considering the national dessert of the Emirates, it never really impressed me.
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| Dessert platter at Seven Sands |
Please see these guidelines for Tipping in Restaurants and on following proper etiquette, customs, cultures, and avoiding assumptions when you dine out.
Other Noteworthy Emirati Articles and Restaurants similar to Seven Sands:
Emirati Cuisine: a.k.a. Khaleeji (or lower Arab Peninsula) Cuisine.
The modern diet of the United Arab Emirates is cosmopolitan, featuring dishes from many Middle Eastern and Asian cuisines. A lot of people confuse Levantine food as being Emirati/Khaleeji but due to harsh desert conditions, the traditional food of the UAE uses a lot of meat, grain, and dairy.
Aseelah A Modern Twist on Emirati Cuisine, at the Radisson Blu, Dubai Creek, Dubai, UAE
Al Fanar Restaurant and Café Authentic Emirati Cuisine, Festival City, Dubai, UAE
Asail AlSham Sweets “Mastic” ice-cream in Deira Dubai, UAE
Safar Restaurant Arabic and Emirati blended buffet at the Dubai International Airport (DXB), UAE
See the whole list by visiting “The Wine Dine and Play Article Glossary”
Other Dubai restaurants, and articles on Wine Dine and Play:
|
Stylish modern Spanish and global cuisine
Dubai Creek, Dubai, UAE
|
Relaxed bar and lounge with English cuisine
Deira, Dubai, UAE
|
Yemeni Cuisine featuring Mandi
Deira, Dubai, UAE
|
See the whole list by visiting “The Wine Dine and Play Article Glossary by country”
Final notes, review basics, observations, and more pictures:
Most reviews are subjective, depending on the writer; but they should also be responsible, and respectfully written, upholding the truth, and accurately conveying the experience to the best of the writer's knowledge, even if it includes metaphors the restaurant may not like to read about. My ratings are by the stars I award (from 0 to 5). The rating is calculated on a point accumulation of six separate factors based on individual experience. They include wine and other beverage selections, plate presentation, customer service, restaurant or café ambiance, food quality, and wow factor. To see more details of this rating list, read this article:
Overall from this experience and the score factors outlined in the ‘about page’ section, based on my individual experience and rating, I give Seven Sands a 4 out of 5 stars, meaning that they not only exceeded my expectations and were far above the average dining experience of most restaurants, but they were just outstanding.
Scores are detailed in the factor chart below:
Formula Factor Conclusions and Overall Ratings for Seven Sands
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Max Points Possible:
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Total Points Awarded:
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Total Points deducted:
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Ambiance
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11
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11
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0
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Food quality
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11
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10
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1
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Plate presentation
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12
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10
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2
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Customer service
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11
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7
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4
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Alcohol and other beverages
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0
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0
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0
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Total regular points awarded
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45
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38
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7
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Total percentage — less the Bonus
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0.844444444444444
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“Wow” factor BONUS
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5
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1
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0
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Total bonus percentage
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0.0222222222222222
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Total percentage and bonus for a final star rating
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0.866666666666667
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Stars Awarded (see chart below)
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0 - 5
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4
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**A full break down and explanation of the observations and point disbursement is available in the linked article above. To receive a detailed copy of your score, feel free to contact me at any time and I will provide it to you.**
***
Overall Star Rating:
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4 of 5 Stars:
87% Rating with 1 point “wow” bonus
An Outstanding Dining Experience
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Corkage fees:
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No alcohol is served at this restaurant
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Restaurant style:
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Conservative dining
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Cuisine Style at Seven Sands:
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Emirati
Allergen or dietary accommodations:
Gluten-free, Halal, Local, Pescatarian, Vegetarian Options
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Reservations:
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Not Required
Walk-Ins:
Accepted, but not guaranteed
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Dress code:
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Conservative to Smart casual attire
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Child policy:
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The Restaurants reviewed on this site may have a kids menu or cater to them; however, for full enjoyment of food and wine, it is recommended that kids not to be in attendance, unless they have been trained in proper etiquette.
If not then:
Hire a Babysitter!
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Seven Sands Experiences:
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Place for foodies, Contemporary, Modern, Trendy, Business parties, Good for special occasions, Scenic views, Upscale, and a Neighborhood Gem.
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Payments:
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Cash, Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express
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Parking:
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No parking is available in this area, however, you can valet at a hotel if you are a guest
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Wifi
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The restaurants reviewed on this site may have Wi-Fi, but do not require you to go online, because the excitement of the food and wine alone will keep you too entertained instead of checking your social media and emails.
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Noise level:
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Low
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Smoking:
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Seven Sands is a non-smoking restaurant, WARNING smoking patio
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Patio or terrace:
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Yes
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Food Prices
(excludes, alcohol, taxes & 20% gratuity’s)
$£€¥ - Under 50.00 (inexpensive)
$£€¥ x 2 - 51.00- 99.00 (moderate)
$£€¥ x 3 - Over 100.00 (pricey)
$£€¥ x 4 - Over 200.00 (expensive)
$£€¥ x 5 - Over 400.00 (very expensive)
**Currencies reflect the world’s major travelers, restaurant, or wine connoisseur’s**
Currency:
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Price
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Emirati Dirham (AED)
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د.إ
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United States Dollar (USD)
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$$
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Great Britain Pound Sterling (GBP)
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£££££
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Canadian Dollar (CAN)
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$$$
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Chinese Yuan (CNY)
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¥¥¥¥¥
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European Union (EUR)
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€€€€€
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Seven Sands:
Shop # 5102
The Beach
Jumeirah Beach Residence
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Contact Information:
Restaurant website:
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Maître d or host:
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+971 4 551 6652
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Online reservations
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Email Contact:
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Serving hours:
UAE standard Time
(GMT, Zulu, or UTC - BST Offset + 4:00)
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Sun-Wed
12:00 pm - 1:00 am
Thursday
12:00 pm - 21:00 am
Fri - Sat
9:00 am - 1:00 am
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Social Media
And
Accolades for Seven Sands:
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****
The worlds best restaurants is a subjective list of who is writing it and changes on a regular basis. The Wine Dine and Play best experiences are based on my highest rated stared restaurants, meaning that the visit was an outstanding or extraordinary experience. From cafés, chains, mom + pops, hole in the walls, to fine dining including a few Michelin spots. Visit the Top 100 page to see the entire list.
A few to tease you with…
|
An innovative and eclectic tasting menu
Ripponlea, Australia
|
Innovative East Meets West Menu
Cape Town, South Africa
|
Haute French Restaurant
Paris, France
(Now L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon)
|
Other Seven Sands Pictures:
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Seven Sands cardamom mango mojito
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| Arabic puff bread at Seven Sands |
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| Seven Sands mango salad |
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Seven Sands Chicken Fouga (foo-gaa)
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| Veal Harees (har-rees) at Seven Sands |
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| Seven Sands eggplant Moutabal (moo-ta-bell) |
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Emirati Karak Chai at Seven Sands
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| Chocolate/Saffron Legemat (lu-gai-mat) |
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Camel ice cream at Seven Sands
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| The Seven Sands sticky date pudding |
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| Coffee bar at Seven Sands |
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| Dining Room at Seven Sands |
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| Sand under the glass |
“Culinary perfection consists not in doing extraordinary things,
But in doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.”
-Angelique Arnauld (1591-1661)
Who is John Galt?
TTFN
