Sonamu - Korean BBQ
From the outside, The Asiana Hotel is a tranquil paradise set amongst the citys bustling and historical district of Deira. On the inside, you will find an all-encompassing foodie fun fair, with 5 Asian themed restaurants, a Korean style barbeque on the rooftop, a lobby lounge, a bar and 3 storey, a 10,000 sq. ft nightclub, but that is for another review …for now, onto Sonamu.
The Food
The waiter starts by switching on our Grill which is sat in the centre of our table, sunken to give the faux impression of being sat on the floor. He then arms us with a pair of scissors, chop sticks and a set of tongs…you have the option of cooking the meal yourself, or having your server help you….we decided on the former…this dinner was going to be "interactive."
The meal starts with sharing bowls of tasty Banchan; Kimchi, onion salad, turnip and mushroom pickles and Korean seasoned vegetable Namul, served along with Mustard, Wasabi Soy Sauce, and Sesame oil with salt & pepper. We were also given a bowl of Somjam sauce which looked similar to a peanut sauce, but was packed with meat enhancing flavor. If that wasn't enough of a starter, we were also given a seafood pancake and a tofu salad (which remained largely untouched in favour of the plateful or raw meat which had mysteriously appeared at our table whilst concentrating on the Kimchi)
I can only describe the meat-gasm which followed as one of the most pleasurable food experiences I have ever had. The Galbi beef and chicken had a great savory-sweet flavor which comes from the soy-sugar asian pear marinade, and the Australian marbled beef sirloin, Ribeye, Brisket and Thin sliced rib meat were all melt in your mouth delicious and fun to cook to your liking and cut yourself with the shears. Once one platter is finished, the waiter keeps coming with more raw meat until your stomach is beaten into submission.
As if to taunt us, once we had finally given up on the delicious BBQ meats, our waiter brought over a delightful cold noodle soup which resembled a sweet bloody mary, and a hot seafood soup which was hot, sour, spicy and soulful all at the same time. These are the times I wish for a bottomless stomach.
My stomach performed a minor miracle in stretching to the soups, but dessert was one trick too far, and I had to take my partners word for how the ice cream, chocolate volcano and Korean rice cake tasted, but they certainly looked lovely!
The Drink
As is our custom, we like to check out the wine selection as you can generally suss out the quality of the brunch you are about to Savour by the quality of the Sauvignon they serve. On this occasion it was a Semillion-Chardonnay by De Bertoli (DB). Other than the beer (Hite from Korea or Amstel) the selection was limited to that, juices or Soju, which we tend to drink in shot form. The waiters are quick with refills and are also not scared to deliver an entire bottle of wine and Soju on the announcement of last orders.
The Atmosphere
This is a semi casual, almost business like venue and the crowd ranges from mostly couples on dates to large groups of Asian businessmen. The background pan music adds to the atmosphere and you could genuinely get lost in the flavours and senses of asia.
Overall
Who could resist the multiple sensory pleasures of Korean barbecue: the spicy, salty flavors and the combination of textures and temperatures (crisp lettuce juxtaposed with succulent grilled meat and fish), not to mention the hands-on fun of grilling and cutting the meat itself, then going through a pile of lettuce leaves, wrapping your own individual little barbecue "sandwiches" and popping them into your mouth after a quick dip in the assortment of sauces.
Although the drinks selection was limited, who could argue with the value for money because of the sheer quality and selection of food available for 199 AED across 5 hours.
