Saturday has long been the poorer weekend sibling to Friday’s brunch blowouts in the UAE, with far fewer food offers to tempt diners. The Ritz-Carlton in Abu Dhabi’s rather swish steakhouse The Forge has other ideas, however, with its new weekly Burster Tail promotion. That unusual name is a slightly unwieldy (sort of) portmanteau encompassing its three core elements: burger, lobster, cocktail.
In daylight hours, the restaurant felt a little less sit-up-straight than its evening incarnation (the musical accompaniment is interesting as well – at one point, we realised we’re listening to a lounge-trance version of Dr Dre). In keeping, the ordering process is kitschy fun: we were presented with a small tick-box menu card and a dinky pencil to select from four burger options (plus the “temperature” of rarity or otherwise), four lobster choices and a range of drinks. As the lack of plurals in Burster Tail might hint, you get one of each of the triumvirate – this isn’t an all-you-can-consume brunch-style deal.
After a tasty gratis tastebud warm-up of truffle-flavoured popcorn, both the burger and lobster arrived in tandem, with the latter dish sized as more of a side. Relatively speaking, at least: my lobster malai tikka (barbecued lobster with cream, cheese, coriander root and green chilli) wasn’t especially small, it’s just that the standout Latin burger was a beast.
A waiter came over to helpfully slide a holding stick into the quite considerable burger’s centre, skewering through layer upon layer of medium-cooked meat, roasted pepper, grilled onion, guacamole, chorizo, mozzarella and a fried egg. But despite valiant attempts to take things into our own hands, a knife and fork was eventually required to maintain a semblance of hungry dignity.
At Dh200 per person, it’s a nice way for uninitiated diners to experience one of the capital’s most sophisticated steakhouses without putting themselves in the poor house until next payday, too.
• The Burster Tail promotion costs Dh200 per person, including taxes, and runs every Saturday from noon to 2.30pm at The Forge, The Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi, Grand Canal, Abu Dhabi. For more information and reservations, call 02 818 8282.
aworkman@thenational.ae
