Looking at your friends’ Instagram photos of their European summer holidays while you’re stuck in the flaming hot UAE can be, let’s be admit it, pretty depressing. Pierchic’s “shellebration” of European seafood dishes isn’t quite that vacation in Santorini you’ve dreamed of, but this six-week long festival should go some way to assuaging that holiday envy.
Starting on July 22, the restaurant — perched over the blue, blue Dubai sea at the end of a pier — is serving a menu of classic dishes found on menus around European holiday hotspots. Each week will see a different dish, and what’s even more attractive about the idea are the prices: If you’ve never been to this most romantic of Dubai restaurants, now is the time, with one mains coming in at Dh150 (the Portuguese sardines, from August 7).
The festival starts with a trip to a Marseilles seafood market, serving bouillabaisse. A famous saffron-infused stew with red mullet, monkfish, John Dory, razor clams, mussels and langoustines, it’s served at the table in a tureen and ladled out. It’s Dh490 for two people.
tabloid! tried out the dishes at a preview, and while all are delicious renditions, there are a few that absolutely must not be missed: The Amalfi coast lobster spaghetti (Dh410 for two), heady with garlic and seafood, it made us feel like Sophia Loren. The fish and chips (Dh289 per person) is a posh rendition but no less tasty: The fish is crisp, the chips chunky and it’s dotted with tart slices of pickled onions. Finally, the Galician octopus (Dh495 for two): Chunks of tender, almost gelatinous octopus, the tentacles crisped, served with potatoes and paprika.
It ends on September 4; call 04-3665866.
If you can’t get enough of the Al Qasr hotel, where Pierchic is located, there’s a pretty good summer offer: Prices start at Dh2,222 for brunch for two at the hotel (which is Dh595 per person), a night’s stay, breakfast the next morning and a 2pm checkout. There’s also access to Wild Wadi Waterpark, Wi-Fi, beach and pool access and each guest gets a Dh200 voucher to use at the Talise Spa.
