First of all, for non-Suits fans, Harvey Specter is a hot shot New York lawyer, often seen with glamours ladies or having business meetings in fancy and vibrant New York restaurants. The restaurants are usually skyrise, have a bar section, with open style kitchens and there is a buzz of music and conversation. This is what Mint Leaf of London in Emirates Financial Towers (not to be confused with Emirates Towers) in DIFC is like.

A mild Indian

Mint Leaf has two branches in London and opened in Dubai two years ago. It is a contemporary Indian restaurant, preferring to serve mild dishes, with the spicy versions on offer as well. This suited me perfectly as I don’t do to well with spicy food, however I do like Indian cuisine. 

The ambience

The place is hard to find. The building isn’t obvious for those that don’t frequent DIFC and when in the building, you need to be told what elevator and floor to get. It could be signposted better. Once inside, the open style kitchen is nice, but you also don’t want to walk into a kitchen. It’s a bit warm, so ventilation could be improved. Once seated, you are likely to get a table with a view – it’s shaped like half a circle with glass walls overlooking South facing Dubai. The music was pretty atmospheric and that swung is into a good mood. 

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The food

We went
for the set non-vegetarian menu. The starters, see below, were really
good, a nice selection of meat grills and tandoori options but could have
done with a bit more sauces. We had the sampler dish of: sunehre jheenge,
sarson salmon tikka, tandoori saunfiani cod, Lahori murgh tikka, gilafi
lamb seekh kebab and adraki lamb chops.

The mains were a typical Indian meal. We had a mixture of lamb,
chicken and duck dishes. They hit the spot. The deserts were
impressive, especially the home-made ice-cream. The overall meal structure of
starting with meat, followed by traditional Indian dishes and a fusion of
desserts is an attempt to mix east with west, and they managed to pull it
off well. 

The bar

We’d suggest sitting at the bar, either before or after your
meal, as the choices of mocktails, cocktails and cigars are pretty extensive. Mint
Leaf does a good job at being both a nice bar and a nice restaurant at the same
time.

When should one go?

Overall,
I would definitely go back to Mint Leaf mainly because it has a perfect mix of
food, views and atmosphere. Good restaurants are all about striking the right
balance and this place does it.

A cool time to check out the place would be…

– Ladies night on Monday: it’s all about live music
and three complimentary drinks for ladies plus 30% off food and drinks.

OR

– Weekend brunch: A six-course à la carte menu offered on
Fridays and Saturdays from 1pm to 4.30pm at AED 195 (non-alcoholic), AED
320 (house beverages) and AED 370 (bubbly).

Note: the healthy options available include fisherman’s prawns (black tiger prawns
with lemongrass, kaffir lime and garlic) and masaledaar bharwan mirch (roasted
bell pepper bursting with diced beetroot, squash, sweet potatoes, peas, quinoa
and paneer).