NONYA: Pan-Asian restaurant with a view to thrill

The proof of the pudding might be in its eating, but for a restaurant to pass muster it takes more than just delicious food whipped up by a tempestuous chef in a busy kitchen on any given day. We say tempestuous, because all good chefs are temperamental divas behind the stove, according to popular folklore!

What makes a newbie restaurant stand out among the crowd, is of course great food combined with a standout ambiance and service that makes you feel like you are meeting a long lost relative who insists on piling your plate high with the most delectable dishes. And suffice to say the new Pan-Asian restaurant Nonya at the Taj Jumeirah Lakes Towers ticks all the boxes.

As the lift whooshes us up to the 44th floor, we make our way across a sleek restaurant floor and opt to dine al fresco with a spectacular bird’s eye view of a city on the move with its trademark towers offering up an exhilarating background to our night out.

Nonya serves up Pan-Asian dishes with a heavy thrust on Peranakan cuisine and the menu is seemingly simple and uncomplicated yet makes you pour over it for a while to get your head around new combinations and flavours.

The Truffle Crispy Lotus Stem was among the first recommendations from our super warm and helpful server Henny and the fried lotus stem in a sticky honey chilli sauce with Szechuan pepper shavings was crunchy with a slightly overpowering sweet flavour that had us chewing the cud for a while.

The Soft Shell Chilli Crab was all that it promised to be with just a hint of spice that made it appealing to all taste buds.

Our money though would be on the Prawn Maki, a string of rolls with a generous heaping of panko crumbs and fish roe on top, easily among the best we have eaten.

What Nonya offers up is an eclectic selection of dishes each one of which stands out and by not limiting itself to one region, it is able to serve up a palate pleasing menu for everyone.

The Assam Prawns - wok fried tiger prawns in a thick tamarind paste was a wow-inducing dish for seafood lovers, though we’d have loved to have more of the gravy alongside the Khao Pad - deliciously flavoured jasmine rice studded generously with edamame, bean sprouts and mushroom that could well be eaten on its own.

The trio of moschi ice-cream (our all time favourite) complimented the meal with the deliciously tart yuzu lemon offset by the richness of the chocolate and the freshness of the mango.

The Dark Chocolate Fondant served alongside a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and nouganline and sesame biscuit took the meal to another level. By this time the dipping temperatures, despite the electric heaters around, had made us hanker for warmth and we bid adieu promising to be back soon.

Nonya is open at the Taj Jumeirah Lakes Towers. Average price for a meal for two is Dh700

• Dubai