A special fox

The new Silver Fox Café at Citywalk might just be the bees knees for prime USDA meat

The classic American steakhouse is a thing of beauty, especially if they can pull off ingredients like a porterhouse steak sourced from the top two per cent of Prime USDA beef. 
Silver Fox does just that, proudly stating it in their concise and wonderfully crafted menu that shows off some of the finest ingredients available from the Western hemisphere.

The restaurant is conveniently loca-ted at Citywalk, the junction of Al Wasl and Al Safa Road and can be accessed from Sheikh Zayed road, and is a decent 15-minute walk from the Burj Khalifa Metro Station, although you would be pushing it in the 
escalating heat. The premises is impressively spacious, with at least 270 covers easily accommodated and the staff are all at the top of their game — critical in pulling off the fine dining atmosphere that the restaurant effortlessly exudes. The soft lighting and polished brass fittings, the subtle bits of wood and chic layout give the restaurant a very inviting buzz. Pity then, that there wasn’t a soul, bar my friend and I, at a table, being waited on hand and foot by an army of courteous staff.

A clue for the scene might be hidden in that concise, one-page menu. Sure, Silver Fox prides itself on the finest ingredients and delivers on that proud promise, but at great finery comes great cost. An average meal is not something you can frequent, making Silver Fox a place for very special occasions — a steak dinner for two with a starter and dessert will easily run up a bill in excess of Dh500; a pretty penny to pay for a not-so-special-occasion.

We ordered the Crabcake St Francis along with the Calamari for starters and tried the Silver Fox salad while we waited. While the calamari was perfectly cooked — not 
rubbery or raw — inside their little breaded packages, the crabcakes seemed more pasty than they needed to be. The crabmeat was fresh, but here began our biggest gripe with Silver Fox — execution. With such an impressive array of ingredients on offer, like Atlantic Salmon, which we tried, and Chilean sea bass in the seafood section, and cuts like Prime Rib and New York Strips, there’s little you need to do to make these ingredients shine. One of those little things you do have to do is cook them to perfection and starting with the salmon — which wasn’t moist and flaky, but dry — and the New York Strip, which was rare in the middle — it’s sad when such wonderfully elegant culinary treats are subject to poor execution. It’s even more disappointing when the sides, the glazes and sauces are all wonderful, but the star on the plate isn’t.

I honestly believe Silver Fox has huge potential and can be the premier American steakhouse establishment in this growing metropolis. Classic American steakhouses are hard to pull off, even in the US, and this being Silver Fox’s first venture outside the US, there’s a higher standard to conform to.

The location is nigh perfect — especially with the cigar lounge and outdoor rooftop area with stunning views of the Burj Khalifa — the ingredients are top notch and the ambience and staff are stellar. We hope that in the summer months to come, the menu stays the same, but the execution improves along with some slightly more not-so-
special-occasion pricing. Then we’ll have an American steakhouse to celebrate — Dubai’s very own wonderfully shiny Silver Fox. - rohit@khaleejtimes.com

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What we liked: The location, service, décor, ambience and upcoming additions to the dining experience

What we didn’t like: Pricing and execution of dishes Cost for 2: Dh500 (excluding drinks)

Contact: Silver Fox, Citywalk, Avenue Mall, junction of Al Wasl and Al Safa, Dubai, Tel: 04-3450254

• Food and Dining