53 Dubai is named because of its location on the 53rd floor of the Sheraton Grand Hotel, but legend has it that the combination of the numbers 5 and 3 is a very powerful symbol of unrestrained creativity, progressive learning, great opportunities and great energy. Sounds like the perfect ingredients for dinner and a show!
Elevated high above the glittering cityscape on Sheik Zayed Road, 53 Dubai is one of the newest venues in the city offering a night out to remember with not just sumptuous food and daringly different cocktails but a performance to entertain you throughout the evening. Post-dinner and show, the venue turns into a nightclub where you can enjoy the sparkling views over the city through the floor-to-ceiling windows (incredible for Instagram photos!) but there is also a beautiful lounge bar just outside the main venue where you can relax, take in the views and enjoy a drink or two.
My companion and I began our evening in the lounge bar with a Bespoke Black Book favourite, the Espresso Martini made with dark rum instead of vodka, before moving on to another favourite, M the Minuty Grenache Blend, a beautifully light yet flavoursome rosé for the rest of the night.
So what food is on the menu at 53 Dubai? In short, an awful lot! With the show a few minutes from starting we were escorted to our table next to the floor-to-ceiling windows to give us time to look over the vast menu. Being very hungry from a day of bottomless brunching we decided to order plenty of food to try.
You know the food is going to be good when even the butter that goes with the complimentary bread is delicious. It took a lot of restraint to not ask for more bread to spread it all over. Thankfully the flow of food was perfectly timed and we were able to enjoy our first dish of the evening, Beef Carpaccio, which I have to say was probably the highlight of the whole meal. It was simply delicious and was elevated with kumquat confit, lemon and chives as well as black truffles and Comte foam.
The fresh Hamachi with smoked jalapenos was nice but was a bit lost in the amount of ponzu foam. Fortunately, the Kisu Tempura more than made up for this with its crispy coating and delicious black garlic mayo and dashi to dip it in.
There is lots of choices when it comes to things on a stick at 53, everything from mushrooms, salmon and beef but we went for the Ume Shiso made of juicy thicken thighs and Kawa Yakitori which was chicken wing skin, shallot and lemon. Both finger licking good. The fried calamari was comfort food at its best, a huge portion of baby squid with a house blend of chilli mayo to smother them in.
For our main course, we went for pure indulgence with a pan-seared Wagyu steak with Shiso Chimichurri and sweet chilli baby carrots and the 53 special, Lobster Pappardelle with Wasabi Lobster Bisque and crunchy asparagus. The steak didn’t quite live up to our expectations but the carrots were lovely and the lobster was thoroughly enjoyed. We also had to try the Kakigori dessert, simply because its description consisted of so many delicious-sounding things! Milk long shaved ice, mango peach compote, Japanese Matcha Sauce and Crystal Yuzu Leaves to name but a few. It was as tasty as it sounds and a sweet and refreshing end to a wonderful meal.
We only give honest reviews here at BBB so I have to say that the show was disappointing. More Butlins than Beyonce and not in the same league as some of the entertainment we had witnessed during our stay in Dubai. However as our experience was a few months ago, perhaps now they have upped their game to match with the lovely food and drinks we enjoyed.
To book your table and enjoy the breathtaking views and fabulous food click here.
53 Dubai
53rd Floor
Sheraton Grand Hotel
Sheikh Zayed Road
Trade Centre
Dubai
United Arab Emirates
