Dinner in Dubai: Point & Eat, Barracuda Seafood Restaurant

A few nights ago, Lara took me to Barracuda – a popular fish restaurant in Jumeirah 3, Dubai. It is owned by an Egyptian and is established on the concept of ‘selecting’ your own seafood.

It reminds me very much of selecting catfish in some Nigerian restaurants, popularly known as Point & Kill. Except in this case, the fish (and other seafood) is all fresh but dead, and sitting on ice.

Here is how it works:

You select your seafood, it gets weighed and then ‘costed’. You then say how you want it prepared. In our case, we went for sea bream and red snapper – we chose to have one fried and the other grilled.

When we sat down, while waiting for the fish to come, a waitress and waiter came round with a tray load of ‘mezze‘ – dips and salads and the like, all freshly made and to take our order.

We selected a variety – hummus, a delightful tomato salad, swimming in juices and flavoured with garlic and parsley and olive oil, a yogurt-tahini and parsley dip, and a sauce of calamari and vegetables.

Of course, pita bread was in full force – both fresh and toasted.

Lara ordered rice and we feasted on this till the first batch arrived – the fried fish.

It was served on a platter, lightly battered and beautifully cooked – the fish was soft, and juicy and not a minute overcooked. We enjoyed this with some spiced shortgrain rice and the mezze – I loved it.

We talked and laughed and drank – I, perfectly-made mint tea and Lara, a soft drink.

The sea bream arrived ‘butterflied and spread with wonderful herby and tomatoey sauces.

We devoured this too…almost :).

I loved it – the freedom to choose what you want, and the simple but flavourful combinations, not to mention the excellent service.

A big thank you to Lara, for showing me some of what Dubai has to offer.[wpurp-searchable-recipe]Dinner in Dubai: Point & Eat, Barracuda Seafood Restaurant – – – [/wpurp-searchable-recipe]