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| Thank you to Parv for all these pictures! |
Who would have thought that amongst a desert there are waterfront
markets? Yet, that’s exactly what you’ll find in Deira in Dubai – a sprawling
multi-wing facility where you can buy seafood from one area, vegetables and
spices from another, and even find restaurants to cook the seafood for you along
the waterfront.
It seemed like a novel idea and had us visiting Paluto
Restaurant by Chef Boy Logro (a celebrity chef from the Philippines) one
afternoon. In reality, the link to a well-known chef doesn’t seem like a
necessity for a place where customer purchase their own ingredients, fish
mongers clean it for them, and all the chefs do is cook it (either fried,
grilled, or in soup form) for AED25/kg. Aren’t we all our own chefs at this
point?
Patrons then wait around for an empty table and their food
to be prepared. There’s a hunting-and-gathering feel to the meal, except I
guess the hunting is fairly easy when it’s all laid out on ice and in tanks
amongst the stalls. It’s a part of the meal that we skipped, since we didn’t
visit the Waterfront Market early enough to source our own seafood.
Truth be told, I was glad we missed that part of the
experience as seeing things swim and wriggle before breaking bread is the least
of my desires. Plus, going after the general rush, meant there was no queue so
we could sit and enjoy drinks (the serve yourself fountain pop variety) while
we waited for the food preparation.
As the mixed seafood platters arrived – one tossed in lemon
herb and the other in a sweet chili (both AED149), we started salivating at the
combination of blue crabs, shrimp, and mussels. This was sure going to be a
messy lunch that had some reaching for the plastic gloves.
The two sauces were so different – the lemon herb a bit too
mild and needed more seasoning, while the sweet chili having a fiery heat that could
be too much for some. Of the two, the chili drew me in and had me spooning the
thick sauce over the unlimited rice that arrives with the meal. Still, the seafood
itself was mediocre; while the shrimp were nice, the crab wasn’t cleaned
properly (who leaves the gills on?) so there was a musky after taste and the
mussels no different from the frozen variety found in supermarkets.
Personally, I preferred the simpler varieties. The deep-fried
prawns (AED49 for 12) done with and without batter were delicious. A hot sweet
nugget that I could have had a dozen to myself.
Even the grilled fish (AED149 for a large size) had
potential… nice and meaty, but, sadly overcooked. The chili soy sauce on the
side helped flavour and hydrate the fish a bit.
Perhaps the most surprising was the vegetable Hakka noodles (AED29),
long chewy egg noodles tossed with julienned vegetables and enveloped in a
lovely wok hay. They were so good that we added another order.
With fresh seafood, it’s smart to remember that simple is best.
Dipped into hot oil or a faster lick on the grill is all you need. When in
doubt, just remember K.I.S.S. – keep it simple, stupid.
How To Find Them
Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Address: In the Waterfront Market (Al Khaleej Road)
Address: In the Waterfront Market (Al Khaleej Road)
Website: https://www.facebook.com/palutouae
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Gastro World's Grading System
- Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
- 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
- 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
- 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
- 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
- 10 - absolute perfection!
