The new panda in town

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The new panda in town

It's more like a hangout, than a fast food place.

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Published: Fri 17 Jul 2015, 3:53 PM

Last updated: Tue 21 Jul 2015, 11:23 AM

Kuai promises no-additive, no-MSG quick Chinese food in a trendy Boxpark venue... and delivers
Good Chinese food in Dubai is not particularly easy to come by. Great Chinese is harder still, and it mostly comes down to the lack of a large Chinese diaspora in the form of a bustling China Town (I don't think Dragon Mart counts). Most of the Chinese expats in Dubai swear by China Sea, the inconspicuous old place in Deira where family style tables are constantly brimming with delicious Chinese delicacies doing the rounds on Lazy Susans. And for good reason: it's authentic, quick, run by Chinese families and oh so satisfyingly delicious.
So naturally, we were particularly chuffed when we heard that a young Chinese chef is bringing Chinese street food to Dubai, in a more upscale and contemporary setting in a new part of town - the Boxpark.
Kuai (translation: fast), located on Al Wasl Road, is by no means your traditional Chinese restaurant adorned with red lanterns and banners. On the contrary, it has a giant colourful graffiti mural of a giant panda and red 'cages' overhead that house light bulbs and form the better part of an industrial layout, much like the trendier places in town, not to mention the other Boxpark stores. It's more like a hangout, than a fast food place.
Of course, being Ramadan, it was a bit quiet, prompting a scoff by one of the wait staff at the notion that we had called earlier. After we were seated, another member of the staff came to hand out menus - a simple 8.27"x11.7" affair; no Manchurian this or Schezwan that - and take our drinks order. He took my dining companion's and left without even looking in my direction. Her watermelon and lychee mocktail arrived shortly after, giving me a chance to sneak in a bubble milk tea order, lest he run away again. But he stayed long enough for us to also order the house specialties - Sticky Lotus Rice, Lychee Prawn Toast, Salt & Pepper Squid - and a Crispy Duck Salad.
The lotus rice was the top pick, flavoured with soy sauce and red beans (the same stuff that's in halo-halo) for a bit of sweetness, wrapped in a lotus leaf and steamed. It almost reminds me of scrumptious Taiwanese eel rice - sans the eel, of course. The prawn toast tasted bland to me, and the duck salad was a bit stale, perhaps pre-made and sitting around. We've definitely had better. The squid was good, despite having a little too much batter. It was fresh, well-seasoned and with a slight hint of spice from finely diced peppers and chillies.
The new panda in town
The new panda in town
The new panda in townRound two comprised of more house specialties - Dried Chilli Shrimp and Black Pepper Beef - and an order of Wok Fried Gai Lan and Stir Fried Noodles over a hushed conver-sation about the people seated a table down from us, asking the waiter about 'gravy items'. Shudder. Our beef arrived and made us wonder why on earth you'd want 'gravy items' when you've got beef this good. It was tender, juicy and just plain delicious. The shrimps were even better, fried with plenty of fiery dried red chillies, cashew nuts and spring onions. The noodles were the perfect accompaniment - simple lo mein (fatter, home-style noodles) with Chinese cabbage - along with the Gai Lan, or Chinese broccoli stems. A nice, balanced, tasty meal devoid of MSG or other additives, something the restaurant proudly advertises. The portion sizes are a bit small, but that's relative, mostly because we're so used to seeing giant portions everywhere we go.
For dessert, Kuai has quite a few intriguing things to choose from. We tried the Mango Sago and the Honey Cake. Both were delicious, especially the former, with tart bits of mango in a sweet mango pulp. My date said the cake was heady sweet, but I thought it was one of the better cake-like desserts I've had at restaurants like Kuai. Do try the teas as well, they're rather good. And they give you fortune cookies with your bill! Of course, this is an entirely American concoction, but the fortunes are Kuai-zy hilarious.
Dubai needs more places like Kuai. Sure, there are a few kinks to iron out: the service could be better, for starters, and I'd personally like to see more things like the Sticky Lotus Rice on the menu instead of things like Chinese Fattoush or Curry Prawn, because fusion/multi-cuisine places are a dime a dozen in Dubai - particularly Chinese-influenced ones - but there are so few places that serve great Vietnamese, Korean or even real Chinese food. Hopefully, Kuai will be one of those few in the years to come.
rohit@khaleejtimes.com


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