SUSHISAMBA Dubai: I Got This One Wrong

SUSHISAMBA aggregates Dubai’s greatest hits. Panoramic views of an iconic city’s signature skyline: check. Theatrically-dramatic decor heavy with mood: check. Exaggerated, oversized light fixtures: check. Asian-ish menu: check. Walls decadently frothing foliage like a grown-up Rainforest Cafe, but made David LaChappelle-level sexy.

Mrs EatGoSee and I settle into our chairs slack-jawed at the views. Last time, I caught the night view, but this sunset viewing presents the city descending into twilight then lighting up. It justifies an early 6.30PM booking. Book early (in the hour, and a week or so ahead), but be prepared to forgo 250 dhs per person for cancelling within 24 hours of your reservation. Ay? Maybe THIS is why SUSHISAMBA is Dubai’s busiest restaurant? You literally cannot afford to not eat here.



SUSHISAMBA’s menu split across three pages highlighting sushi, robata, seviches and more.

I grip the menu like a familiar lover, all excited about what we did last time. The impossibly tender, crimson lacquered lamb chops glistening with Peruvian aji panca and studded with sesame was so good, I knawed it straight off the bone a la Fred Flinstone (155 dhs). Could we politely share the sea bream seviche wallowing in green chilli and panca oil popping with salty cancha corn (55 dhs)? I advise her to skip the suspiciously-sweet eggplant robata in white miso skewers (42 dhs). I came here for a good time; we don’t need those tonight. Also, I call it aubergine, so there’s that. Mrs EatGoSee mercifully overlooks the black cod in white miso (180 dhs); have we not seen enough of this dish Dubai? We gloss over the roasted cauliflower wading in a huacatay-rich, ocopa sauce as we eat plenty of cauliflower something at home all in an effort to eat less meat (78 dhs). The gutsy grass-fed short ribs with chimichurri that I munched through last time is not ordered as Mrs EatGoSee does not want red meat (196 dhs).

Let’s get this out the way now. SUSHISAMBA offers a largely small plates menu. Some dishes are pricier than I would like but – with their powers combined – the bill takes on a life of its own. Small dishes do not fill you, so you order more and so ascends the bill. So just hope someone else is paying.


SUSHISAMBA’s lamb chops (first); the tuna seviche (second).

SUSHISAMBA’s aubergine (first), roasted cauliflower (second).

SUSHISAMBA Dubai’s food and cocktails mostly lands

Brisk pisco sours (65 dhs) and chilled corcovado cocktail (80 dhs) arrive before our starters. Four yellowtail tuna taquitos delight: encased in shatteringly crisp shells laced with sweet avocado, white miso and a jolt of fresh lime (50 dhs for two). Our tuna seviche, coated in yet more aji panca and lime, thrums with spice and some crunch from a non-descript monochrome wafer (77 dhs). The white miso-drenched Chilean sea bass robata skewers are so good, I loosen a belt notch and remorselessly order a second round (95 dhs for two). A phalanx of Bahia maki rolls – our favourite of the maki rolls we tried – brim with tuna, shrimp tempura and jumbo crab, avocado and – you guessed it – spicy aji panca (99 dhs). We later sink a tablespoon through a sticky-sweet, caramelised baby pineapple layered with coconut creme brulee and coconut sorbet (68 dhs). Mrs EatGoSee and I politely fight, laying claim to mouthfuls; passive-aggressively scavenging in that way couples do when sharing.


SUSHISAMBA’s yellowtail taquitos (first); sea bass robata skewers (second).

SUSHISAMBA’s Bahia Samba Maki Rolls (first), Pineapple dessert with coconut sorbet (second).

Not everything delights. Some dishes land without impact. The otoro nigiri which, lovely and fatty, but feels plain, unseasoned and lacking the finesse and imagination of at The Experience by Reif Othman. I expected more for 95 dhs for two nigiri. The asevichado maki rolls are flavourless stodge pucks; a sharp contrast to other SUSHISAMBA maki rolls (78 dhs). The Samba Dubai maki rolls are mysteriously sweet and too much is happening with lobster, mango and whatever is “aji honey truffle” (150 dhs).


SUSHISAMBA’s otoro tuna nigiri (first); Samba Rolls with lobster and more (second).

Would I Come Back to SUSHISAMBA Dubai?

SUSHISAMBA Dubai presents nothing truly new. More or less, Dubai’s seen this before. Still, SUSHISAMBA Dubai is an all-rounder offering something for everyone: fun for groups, good for couples, out-of-towners visiting, corporate entertaining, ladies’ night out and lads looking for ladies on a night out. Joy is in high supply – something you can never guarantee.

SUSHISAMBA Dubai, 2 Samba makis, 4 robata skewers, 2 nigiri, 1 ceviche, 1 dessert, 2 cocktails, 1 bottle of white wine, 1 large still bottled water: 1425 dhs (excl. taxes and service). SUSHISAMBA Dubai, Level 51, St. Regis, The Palm Jumeirah, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Menu, aperitivos and small plates: 7 – 92 dhs, raw and seviches: 48 – 400 dhs, tiraditos: 78 – 110 dhs, robata: 42 – 950 dhs, clay pots: 68 – 180 dhs, sushi rolls classic & “Samba Rolls”: 25 – 188 dhs, nigiri and sashimi: 20 – 159 dhs, sides: 18 – 55 dhs. For more information, visitSushisamba’s Website here or call +97145821555.