MASTI COCKTAILS & CUISINE

MASTI

Place: Le Mer, Dubai
Price:
AED 250(Soft beverages)
AED 350 (House beverages)
AED 500 (Bubbly)
Timings: 1.00pm- 5.00pm

“Take your pleasure seriously.”

Charles Eames.

Masti is a brave attempt to produce an uber-chic modern Indian dining experience. The menu is designed as Indian inspired sharing dishes infused with a variety of global flavors (Indian Fusion in layman’s terms).

The restaurant is located in the newly launch Le Mer, the latest MERAS beachfront retail project in Jumeirah (very similar to The Beach- Dubai Marina). Masti is currently the only license venue, but only allowed to serve drinks on the second level. Luckily the second floor includes a beautiful outdoor terrace, providing a lovely setting to enjoy a sunny Friday afternoon.

For starters, we are served the following cold appetizers, to share (Unlimited)

Black Bass Ceviche- good flavors but I’ve had much better ceviche’s in town
Beef Carpaccio- both the beef and salsa are under seasoned
Hara Green Salad- the dressing needs work

Followed by the hot appetizers:

Bhatti Merguez – the boys enjoyed this one, the ladies not so much
Yellow pepper roasted fish- a tandoor style halibut, which I was not a fan of, but others like it
Burrata & Truffle Pizza- more of a flatbread than a pizza, and sadly underwhelming. Additionally does not fit into the ‘New India’ theme
Beetroot Croquette- my personal favorite dish of the day
Pulled Tandoori Chicken Bao- proved very popular at the table, the Bao was good and the chicken too

For Main course, you get to choose one of:

Whole Roast Baby Chicken- tender roasted chicken
Tamarind BBQ Beef Ribs- soft and flavorful beef ribs
Grilled Baby Squash- nobody ordered this so I cannot comment
Aji Amarillo-Tomato Ginger John Dory- the guests that ordered this complained that it is too spicy

Mains are served with 4 side dishes that were:

Smashed Roast Potatoes- my favorite out of the sides
Brussel Sprouts- not great
Flatbreads
Pulao

For Desserts these was a small buffet of small dishes to select from.

Overall the food served can be described as a Hit OR Miss experience. The food menu has many more interesting options such as: Gunpowder Scallops, Slow Cooked Octopus, Duck Kheema Crostini, Quail Eggs Kofta, Slow Cooked Lamb Croquettes, and Glazed Lamb Chops.

The Beverage options are as follows:

Beer: Kingfisher Draft
Wines: House Red/White
Spirits: (Gin, Rum, Vodka, Whiskey, Tequila).
Cocktails:
Baccardi 8 Old Fashioned- simple and nice, I would prefer if they make it with the greatly superior Takamaka Rum (which comes from the beautiful Seychelles)
Punch & Judi- Vodka based
Turmeric Tommy- Tequila based cocktail, was popular at the table
Gin & Tonic Station- served Bombay Sapphire gin with Fever Tree tonic (by the way, the quality of tonic water either makes or breaks the G&T). I later found out that Masti stocks over 60 brands of Gin, so hopefully they can serve guests something other than the mass produced Bombay Sapphire

It is nice to enjoy a brunch that puts in effort to make proper cocktails (Message to the majority of Brunches out there: mixing spirits with a canned mixer is not a f@cki*g cocktail!). We notice that they have hired some bartenders from the now closed Cocktail Kitchen (which made the best Cocktails in town).

At AED 350 (you end up paying AED 385 with VAT and Service) the brunch offers decent value for money. With some minor tweaks to the menu, and maybe adding more cocktail options (perhaps one for each spirit served) this brunch has the potential to become one of the best.

Rating:
Ambiance: 18/20.
Super cool upstairs terrace & bar. Good DJ that plays non-commercial stuff. Great option while the cool weather lasts.
Beverages: 18/20.
Great quality of cocktails, but more than 3 options needed. Points deducted due to limited beer options.
Food: 14/20.
Despite an interesting and creative menu, points deducted as too many dishes fail to impress. More consistency needed
Service: 15/20.
Friendly and very attentive staff. The speed of Drinks service speed was a major letdown. Mains were also delayed forever.
Value for Money: 15/20.
Priced at AED 385, the brunch offers acceptable value for money, given the high quality of cocktails and food.
Total: 80%