Thiptara, Dubai

BACKGROUND It isn’t the case that there aren’t some great Thai restaurants in Dubai, but it’s a fair assumption to conclude that Thai food doesn’t have the same representation as steakhouses, Indian, French, Arabic and Mediterranean fare enjoy in the city. Thiptara, a Thai restaurant that has been on the culinary scene for a while now and is located in the Palace Downtown hotel, was recently closed for a four-month renovation. At the end of last year, it reopened with a new menu and refreshed look to the venue.

WHAT’S IT LIKE? When you enter the reception lobby of the hotel, take the lift down two floors and make your way through a lush green garden with a narrow path to the restaurant. It isn’t straightforward to locate the restaurant, but finding it as you navigate multiple paths is part of the charm.

THE VENUE When you enter the restaurant, you will notice muted lighting and interiors with dark tones. You can turn left for a more lounge setting area or right for a formal dining setup. Our advice: turn right and then continue walking out onto the alfresco overwater podium. You will find yourself seated on the Dubai Mall lake with

Hours

Sunday-Friday 6.30pm-2am; Saturdays 12.30pm-4pm; 6.30pm-2am

LOCATION

Palace Downtown, Downtown Dubai, Dubai

CONTACT

+971 4 428 7961; addresshotels.com the dancing fountain performance (it takes place every 30 minutes in the evening) unfolding less than 100 metres from your table. Also, you will enjoy magnificent unobstructed views of the Burj Khalifa while you eat your meal.

FOOD AND DRINK There is a sharing style set menu or an à la carte option in case you want to make your own selection. We chose the latter and ordered the Tom

Kha which is a comforting warm coconut milk soup with seafood. The mixed platter of starters consisted of four items, each of which was served with its own sauce. The excellent chicken satay was served with peanut sauce, crispy duck spring rolls paired with white vinegar, fish cakes with soy and vinegar (an item which was just added to the starters list as part of the refreshed menu) and vegetable dim sum with chilli sauce. For the mains, we ordered the Thai green curry that was aromatic and flavoursome with its sweet basil leaf, as well as Goong Mung Kurn which was stir fried lobsters with cashew nut which we asked to be done with a pepper sauce. The portion sizes are very generous, and each dish is plenty enough to be shared between two people. For dessert, we stuck to classic Thai favourites of sweet sticky rice with Thai yellow mango, as well as water chestnut with coconut ice cream.

SERVICE The menu is extensive and it can be di icult to make a choice – luckily the waitsta are on hand to o er excellent suggestions. Apart from their menu recommendations, they are keenly aware of the photo opportunities that dining against the Burj Khalifa presents. As a result, they are more than happy to step up and o er to take your table’s picture while you are dining.

VERDICT This is a restaurant that serves great Thai food and certainly ranks among the restaurants with the best Burj Khalifa views in the city. If you want a venue that impresses as much as the food does, head here.

Varun Godinho