CREATIVE MIX: KULTURE HOUSE DUBAI
Restaurants in Dubai are really thinking outside the box right now – well, they kind of have to with the abundant options on every corner. And Kulture House is re-writing the rules on what it means to dine out in Dubai. So, a place where you can have fine food and purchase fair trade products? Sign us up…
If it wasn’t for La Mer, there wouldn’t be much reason to trek to this particular side of Jumeirah – a side that pretty much feels like you’re on the outer layers of Port Rashid. But with the addition of Kulture House, a compartmentalised café, florist and boutique (with conscious, fair trade fashion) the incentive to set up camp for several hours is strong.
If we were to characterise the look of Kulture House (which is in fact a sprawling bungalow) we would define it as Morocco and Sweden’s first-born child. There’s a slew of mosaic tiling, bags of colour and clean lines in the furniture. Between cosy tables for two and railway sleeper tables, it’s an accommodating space for intimate catch ups or bigger rendezvous’.
The café menu is in keeping with the eclectic space, in that there are items that satisfy your everyday cravings (Avocado on Toast) and items that stir curiosity (Beetroot Falafel).
We started off with the Herb Omelette which isn’t as provincial as its title suggests. In fact, it’s got a sophisticated brie filling with (yes) herbs and potato chips tucked into the medium-cooked eggs –that’s how we like it. Obviously, the best bites are where the brie is fully loaded and the potato chips are an endearing touch texture wise. The Summer Burrata salad saw a long plate of fried corn, pumpkin puree with balsamic glaze hugging a perfect sphere of burrata cheese. We wouldn’t have paired any of these ingredients together ourselves but a forkful of all the layers proved deliciously unexpected.
Moving onto the mains, we smashed the Kulture Burger and Crispy Chicken Burger like we were at a drive through. We’d rate the angus beef patty so much so, that it needs to be on a top burger destination in Dubai list – while the chicken was so pure white, it resembled Crest toothpaste. And like with any memorable eatery, both burgers were doused in special sauce. We don’t even want to know what it is, we’ll just keep coming back for it. All the while we dunked our herby French fries in the blue cheese sauce and nibbled on sticks of Fried Corn Sticks (spicy aioli and feta cheese) which were so moreish we wanted the whole cob.
When our waiter, Ravinder, cleared our plates, he suggested we have his “best seller” for dessert: Cardamom Spice Cake with cream cheese sauce (…we know) and then, because we’re gluttons, we also got the Persian Nights Rice Pudding, consisting of saffron infused rice topped with pistachio brittle and date sauce. The former is the ultimate cheat day cake, thanks in large part to the cream cheese sauce which is as indulgent as it sounds, while the latter will sit perfectly for anyone who loves exotic and powered up ingredients. In all, the menu packs a punch with options far and wide.
And finally, if there’s one thing that will get us back to Kulture House besides the high-quality comfort food, it’s the free valet parking. It will mean everything to you on a hot summer’s day…
GO: Located at 106, beach road (opposite Beach Centre), open daily from 9am to 6pm. Follow @kulturehousedubai on instagram for all the latest.
