The first thing you need to know about eating at a raw food restaurant is that the food is often cold. If you are lucky, it’s warm. This can be a bit freaky, considering it often looks quite like it should be hot.
The second thing is that it’s not going to be cheap. This is most definitely not fast food – raw chefs earn their salaries with their mind-boggling, flavour-layered creations. However, when the results are on a par with what I tasted recently at Bestro in The Dubai Mall’s Lafayette Gourmet (in Galeries Lafayette), I really don’t mind.
The third is that while I love eating healthy food, and as much raw food as I can, this experience might be a bit more of a leap for someone whose diet is more of the burgers-and-fries variety. But I would still urge everyone to try it.
I have been meaning to try Hayley Mac and Riath Hamed’s raw and vegan cafe Bestro since it opened in January, only finally managing to get there on a recent Thursday afternoon. I was immediately impressed by the friendly and welcoming staff: the food and beverage manager guided me through the menu and checked on every dish, while a server offered a Wi-Fi password and attentively doted throughout. I wanted for nothing.
Although I was advised to try the house speciality – spiralised courgette spaghetti made with local heirloom tomatoes – I was captivated by the idea of a vegetable curry with cauliflower “rice”. At the outset I intended to eat just half and save the rest of the generous portion to take home. But the dish was so amazing, bursting with goodness and incredibly more-ish, that not only did I totally forget I was eating something cold – not to mention all-vegetable – I ate every last bite.
I added a green juice, a generous pot of “Calm” tea at the end (which was very hot, just as it should be) and topped off the meal with the chocolate fondant. The dish was the only dessert available that early in the day and I loved it. Heavy on nuts and cocoa, with the inner “fondant” composed of a delicious and sweet white nut cream, it was amazing despite tasting and appearing so different from its baked counterpart.
Something else I loved? Free water, which was refilled frequently. My meal came to Dh129, which is pricey for lunch for one but not unreasonable, considering I left feeling perfectly full – and utterly virtuous.
Bestro, Lafayette Gourmet, Galeries Lafayette, The Dubai Mall is open daily from 10am to 10pm. Call 04 339 9933. www.facebook.com/BestroUAE
amcqueen@thenational.ae
