Long Yin
The city's best dim sum...
Back when enterprising Cantonese innkeepers started doling out snacks to weary travellers on the Silk Road, who would have thought that centuries later dim sum sustenance would be sought on Dubai’s own route of international trade and intrepid explorers – the Airport Road? Yet on Friday lunchtimes, among the many Chinese diners, you’ll find hapless tourists clumsily picking up slippery snack-sized portions with chopsticks at Long Yin.
After nosily scouting out what nearby diners were enjoying, we ordered the imaginatively-titled set menus, A and B. Our fried cuttlefish with cinnamon powder tasted as interesting as it sounded – a trio of chewy slivers which resisted rubberiness and were dusted with spice, but a dense duo of lard-laden balls filled with goo – the glutinous prawn dumplings – wouldn’t be ordered again. The ever popular prawn balls with crab meat came out on top. These deliciously crunchy golden parcels were especially good dipped in the sweet chilli sauce, which was squeezed between the bamboo baskets and plates that covered the entire table. The steamed selection fared slightlybetter than their fried cousins. The prawn balls were fresh, hot and stuffed with quality ingredients, while the quail egg dumplings were a perfect combination of soft egg and meat surrounded by a light, neon green pastry.
Porcelain statues of bearded emperors, a comically small wooden bridge over a pond of coi carp, and a soundtrack of bamboo flutes, as well as the interior designer’s palette of reds and gold with acres of dark wood all give Long Yin a cosy, copycat feel of restaurants you’d imagine finding in the People’s Republic. The restaurant may have succumbed to stereotypes, but the dim sum is the real deal.
Long Yin, Le Meridien Dubai (04 702 2325). Taxi: Le Meridien Dubai, Garhoud. Set menu dim sum served 12.30pm-2.45pm Fridays, priced Dhs88 per person. All major credit cards accepted.