No restaurant of note really enjoys being compared to their competitors but when considering Dubai’s roster of modern izakaya-style Japanese restaurants, it quickly becomes clear that there is more that unites than divides them.
Visit Nobu, Zuma, Okku, Kitsune or for that matter, the newest kid on the contemporary Japanese cuisine block, Mirai and you are guaranteed a sophisticated, mood-lit interior, accented with clever Japanese touches and designed with Chinese Fengshui principals in mind, a head chef who has worked in either London or Sydney and a menu that includes rock shrimp tempura, soft-shell crab and a ‘signature dish’ involving Black Cod wrapped in one aromatic leaf or another, served with a miso, a citrus-miso or a black bean and miso sauce.
Each boasts a passionate sommelier with interesting facial hair, simply itching to guide you through the exhaustive list of sakes, shochus, genmais and daiginjos or, for the less adventurous, to help pair your meal with the perfect Syrah or Chardonnay. In true Dubai style, they all attract a Rainbow Nation of diners, few, if any of whom are likely to be Japanese – the expatriate Nihonjin community tends to favour the far less fashionable surroundings but ultimately more recognisably Japanese food at old favourites like the Kisaku at the Al Khaleej Palace or the Yakitori House at the Ascott Hotel. Finally, you can be sure that the cross-cultural culinary ride, from sumptuous start to delicious denouement, will titillate your taste buds and lighten your wallet. Japanese cuisine, modern or traditional, does not come cheaply in Dubai.
Even when it comes to comparing the two undisputed kings of Dubai’s Nouveau Izakaya crop, the Monarch Hotel’s Okku and the Dubai International Financial Centre’s outpost of the London franchise, Zuma, it is the similarities that are most striking. Both are claimed by adherents as the trendiest place in town and without wishing to detract from the menu, these reputations owe as much to the presence of in-house DJs and sumptuous décor as they do to the actual menu. That said, the menus at both Zuma and Okku are imaginative, daring even, a fusion of Japanese, Arab, French and South American flavours that make the much more tame cross-cultural collaborations offered elsewhere (and yes Nobu, we do mean you) look frumpy.
Because Dubai was a little late in jumping on the Japanese bandwagon, ‘contemporary’ Japanese food (the term ‘fusion’, though accurate, is widely eschewed) is still very fashionable. While similar restaurants in Europe or the United States have lost cutting edge status and consequently their more fickle customers to newer and more modish tastes, Zuma and Okku continue to attract a very Beautiful Crowd of well-heeled professionals, Eastern European models (usually with an especially well-heeled professional in tow), Gucci-clad domestic celebutants and consequently, smatterings of fresh-in-from-somewhere-fabulous See and Be-seensters.
There are subtle differences between the two audiences. On the whole, Okku tends to attract a more glamorous, society crowd, Dubai’s Chatterati, while Zuma, especially by day, attracts such a heavily pinstriped, slick-backed hair crowd, that you’d be forgiven at times for thinking that you’d just teleported from the DIFC to the Square Mile.
Interestingly, each restaurant’s respective crowd is fiercely loyal to its establishment of choice. So much so, that it wouldn’t be surprising if Zuma’s adherents were responsible for the pervasive but unfounded rumour that the staff at Okku is pushy or that staunch Okku-ites were responsible for the equally baseless slander that the service at Zuma is glacially slow.
Food-wise, both menus are more alike than either might like to admit. That said, the ubiquitous Black Cod and Rock Shrimp dishes aside, each has its particular moments of glory. At Okku, at least until Chef Yu’s new menu is launched next year, it’s the Yellowfin Carpaccio in a ponzu-infused dipping sauce and the truly decadent foie gras wrapped in a sliver of Wagyu beef while at Zuma it’s the crispy fried squid with a tangy green chilli and lime dressing and the wonderfully creamy salmon and tuna tartare with caviar that are unmissable.
In a nod towards tradition, both restaurants offer a comprehensive range of sushi and sashimi. The fish is well-prepared and thoughtfully presented and unlike many other ‘Japanese’ restaurants in the region, neither appears to use frozen fish, an act of culinary philistinism on par with passing Velveeta off as Cheddar Cheese. Still, anyone who familiar with the sophistication brought to sushi in Japan, will be slightly disappointed.
For visual drama, Zuma has a slight lead. It’s a sprawling double height space with a long sushi counter and smart, formal dining area on the ground floor and a more lounge-oriented dining area upstairs by the walk-in wine cellar and the beautiful sake bar, decorated with antique wood and rows of backlit sake bottles. Okku is much smaller. In contrast to the expansive Masters-of-the-Universe feel at Zuma, where every conversation sounds like it is shouted, Okku is much more cosy, an intimate space that is better for long conversations than for clinching your next merger. The bar, with its tanks of black light-lit jellyfish is separated from the dining area by a gently pulsing fibre optic wall, while the private dining areas upstairs, strongly reminiscent of the Tatami rooms at kaiseki-ryori restaurants in Japan, can either be opened onto the action below, or closed to create hermetic cocoons of self-contained indulgence.
So where does that leave this quest for the coolest? As you would expect from a world-class establishment – an appellation both Okku and Zuma deserve – the service is excellent, the food is prepared to exacting standards, the ambiance is relaxing and the experience encourages repeat visits. As both restaurants have much to recommend them, your decision will likely depend on whether you and your dining partner are looking for an intimate experience or something more club-like.
Me? As a life-long disciple of the ‘never eat Japanese food outside of Japan’ school of thought, I’m ambivalent. By Dubai standards, both Okku and Zuma offer value for money and both are immensely enjoyable experiences in their own right but if you ask me, I’d rather off save up and treat myself to a modern Itamae sushi experience at Kojyu next time I’m passing through Ginza.
CONTACT DETAILS
Okku
Monarch Hotel,
Sheikh Zayed Road,
Dubai, UAE
Tel: +971 4 501 8777
Zuma
DIFC,
Sheikh Zayed Road,
Dubai, UAE
Tel: +971 4 425 5660
