WAKAME

Wakame
Wakame seems to be the current hot new “Talk of The town” venue for those seeking an Asian fine dining experience. I decided to find out what all the fuss was about?

Reservation:
I called them on +971 4 224 6663 to make a reservation. A hesitant, not confident, response on the other side of the call made me wonder if I should call back to confirm the reservation again. Fortunately, a reservation confirmation through SMS immediately followed my call putting my concern to rest.

Directions to the venue & parking:
While, the Sofitel Downtown Dubai is a prominent hotel on Sheikh Zayed Road, it was not as easy to actually get to the venue as imagined. My suggestion would be to head down on Sheikh Zayed Road in the direction of World Trade Centre and as you pass the 2nd interchange, look out for the signs for the hotel and follow them diligently. Once you get there, simply handover the car to valet. They may request you to stamp the ticket but the restaurant suggested otherwise.

Greeting & Seating:
Honestly, I am often intimidated by the pretentious hosts/hostesses at some of the high-end fine dining venues but my greeting at the reception was in fact the contrary. We were put at ease with a warm greeting and then were walked to our table for two.

Knowledge & Service of the server(s):
I generally refrain from dining at venues as soon as they open, as I believe that every new business operation requires time to settle down and smoothen out the initial difficulties. Wakame, although recently opened, has its processes in place and it appears that the management has put in the effort to cover all aspects of the dining experience when training their team.  This was clear through our experience of their flawless service. Our server was also very confident of her suggestions which we simply followed.

Our Order:
For appetizers, we ordered the prawn, scallop & mushroom siu mai, the salmon cream cheese & chili dim sum and a crispy rice small plate. My wife ordered a miso soup as well. We decided to try their sushi options and ordered the rock shrimp tempura and the spider maki instead of ordering a large plate for the main course. For desert, we ordered the chocolate fondant.

Courtesy extended during the meal:
From the time we entered the restaurant to the time we left, the service was impeccable. Upon being seated at our table we were promptly offered some water to start with and then the grape sommelier stopped by to let us know that we could speak to her for any suggestions. Soon after, the server came with our menus and offered us her recommendations. During the course of our meal, we were frequently asked if there was anything we needed.

Food Quality & Taste:
The food was what you would expect at a venue such as this one. High quality and delicious is the best way to summarize. I particularly enjoyed the salmon cheese dim sum, the rock shrimp sushi & the chocolate fondant desert.

Ambiance:
My wife considered it the perfect setting but I would have liked the lighting to be slightly dimmer. That is just my opinion, however.

Price:
The overall bill came to AED 410 including our meal order detailed above and a bottle of water.

Overall would I return?
Yes, I am curious to try out the other items on their menu.

Chef’s recommendations:
The following items were recommended:

Dim Sums: Butternut spinach feta & pinenut, salmon cream cheese and chilli.

Small Plates: beef yakitori, lobster taco, beef gyoza, crispy rice, prawn spring roll, wagyu sliders

Specialty Maki: Rock shrimp, volcano, snow crab truffle, spider.

Dessert: As we are chocolate fans, the chocolate fondant was suggested.

For more details for the venue Click Here.