Asian restaurants are trending in Dubai at the moment, as there is an onslaught of new Asian restaurants opening every fortnight. Last week we visited the brand new Han Shi Fu.
It is a trendy new Asian fusion concept located in the Aloft City Centre Deira. Han Shi Fu is from the team behind the well-known dim sum restaurant chain Din Tai Fung.
The concept of Han Shi Fu according to their team:
Han Shi Fu offers a truly authentic and unique urban dining experience by mapping a culinary journey straight into the hearts of cities such as Taipei, Hong Kong, Shanghai, New York and Los Angeles; where execution of traditional dishes has transformed into an art and the trendy infusion of flavors elevated into an experience. One can expect excellent food with bold Asian flavors served alongside artfully crafted beverages.
Han Shi Fu is a spacious venue with several different dining areas and it also has a separate bar area. The Chinese-inspired interiors has been tastefully and elegantly crafted. It has a lively and inviting atmosphere.
Drinks
Billed as an Asian fusion gastropub and restaurant, the Mocktails which was served to us was not creative. We tried couple of their Mocktails which were okay, but not extraordinary. But we loved their homemade and super refreshing Boba Milk Tea.
Han Shi Fu’s a la carte menu offers great options but we were given a menu with dishes suggested by the chef and being vegetarians we hardly got any choice. So we did order couple of dishes from their a la carte menu.
Appetizer
We started with Seasoned Edamame which had steamed edamame seasoned with sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper. It was a delicious warm-up dish-simple yet so full of flavor.
Salad
We can never forget the incident that happened to us next. I had specifically told them that my partner and I are vegetarians and not to add any meat or seafood in any of our dish. And to our horror we were served Salad with strips of bacon and chicken. The young lady or manager came and apologized to us. This had never happened to us in UAE or any of the 45 countries that we have traveled till now.
Soup
Black Truffle Miso Soup was outstanding. It was light with a fine texture and packed with exquisite flavors. It was one of our favorite dishes at Han Shi Fu.
Dim Sum and Bao
Both the Crystal Leaf, Vegetable and Mushroom Dumpling and Mushroom Bao were good and done well.
Premium Yakitori
They have a separate premium yakitori menu where you can order yakitori by the skewer. We had the sweet-salty glazed King Oyster Mushroom Yakitori and it was utterly delicious.
Mains
Wok Charred Fresh Cauliflower with sweet soy sauce and a hint of black vinegar was another favorite of ours. It was crispy, addictive and absolutely tasty. A must-try dish.
Stir Fried Veggies had a medley of seasonal veggies. It was bland and lacking in flavor.
Fried Rice was very basic and in fact there was no salt in it.
Dessert
Their signature Schezuan Chili Chocolate Cake with Milk Tea Ice Cream was a treat. The subtle chili taste in the chocolate cake was fantastic and along with the milk tea ice cream, it was a double delight. The presentation and plating was top notch.
We also tried the cute-looking Panda Sesame Bao.
Final Thoughts
Our overall culinary experience was good. There were many hits and a few misses. But as a newly opened restaurant, hopefully they’ll get their act together. Their portion size is small and many of the dishes can’t be shared between two people. And I genuinely hope they will not make the mistake of serving meat to a vegetarian or a vegan diner again.
Phone: 04 526 0084
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