It seems like hardly a week goes by without another grand opening of a contemporary Japanese restaurant. They've been springing up across Dubai with all the ubiquity of surgical face masks in Mexico City. In fact, the past nine months will probably go down in the UAE's gastronomic history as some kind of epidemic of modern, sophisticated and splashy Japanese fusion restaurants, the likes of which the Middle East had never witnessed before.
So many of these places have materialised recently that fears of a backlash may well be justified. Over the next 12 credit-crunched months, people may turn their backs on these ultra-trendy swank-pits and return to more traditional, friendly-neighbourhood Japanese restaurants like Bentoya Kitchen. So I decided to visit the long-established eatery off Sheikh Zayed Road to check out what could be the tundra-cool Japanese dining trend of tomorrow.
The first thing you notice about Bentoya Kitchen is the people. They're not here to flaunt their Giorgio Armani suits or Fendi handbags, that's for sure. And they haven't shown up to wear sunglasses indoors and pout moodily across the restaurant. These weirdos have actually come here to eat. As we walked through the door, people were merrily chomping on slices of sashimi or noisily slurping their way through bowls of nabeyaki udon soup. And not one of them was fiddling around with a BlackBerry. The outrage.
We were guided past the decidedly functional sushi bar to the upstairs dining area. Quite distinctly apart from the Japanese restaurants we've visited lately, there were no pulsing jellyfish in eerily glowing aquaria (Okku), no swooping abaca-panelled ceilings (Nobu) and thankfully no plastic pipes churning out dry ice (Kitsune). The room was simple, uncluttered and tidy, and would have been almost bare had it not been for the hanging cloth dividers separating each table. Quite obviously, I thought, if anything was going to stand out at Bentoya Kitchen it was going to be the food.
The tuna salad was as sumptuous as it was simple. It consisted of thickly cut pieces of raw fish, thinly sliced tomatoes and cucumber marinated in a citrus dressing. But the tuna (not the endangered bluefin variety) was extremely fresh, its flesh dense and packed with flavour. Then came the Dubai maki reverse, which crammed even more smooth tuna pieces alongside hunks of salmon and crisp cucumber in tightly packed, tobiko-dotted rolls drizzled in a spicy chilli mayonnaise. But the highlight of the starters was the unakyu maki reverse, which yielded tender, sticky and smoky morsels of marinated barbecued eel with yet more fresh slices of cucumber.
Then came an interesting twist. Bentoya Kitchen has long been patronised by Japanese expatriates because of its traditional take on Japanese food. There is no rock shrimp ceviche here. That's chiefly because rock shrimp ceviche is a contemporary Japanese fusion recipe drawing on Latin American influences, invented in the West by Nobu Matsuhisa. But I did find omu hayashi rice, a fusion dish with western origins made popular over the course of generations in Japan.
It consists of a fluffy omelette parcel of fried rice and chicken pieces slathered in a rich brown demi-glace sauce with shredded beef, onions and peas. It's a bit like the Japanese version of Hungarian goulash, but with an omelette thrown in for good measure. And it proves that the Japanese were experimenting with fusion cooking long before Nobu Matsuhisa learnt how to boil an egg. Omu hayashi rice has occupied a special place in Japanese food culture for long enough to stir cravings in expatriate Japanese people thousands of miles from home. Here they were, enjoying their yohshoku or western-style food, which is now part and parcel of the Japanese menu. And after practically wallowing in its comforting richness I could see why. The portion was huge, easily big enough for two, but it was accompanied by a bowl of tamago soup, which contained yet more thick omelette in a thin clear broth. And all for Dh55.
We finished with the most refreshing green tea I'd had in ages, and the most refreshing bill I'd seen in ages - a snip at just over Dh150 for two people. But I also felt invigorated by the unpretentious decor, the honest vibe, the sense of tradition and the simple yet devastatingly effective food. If this was what we can look forward to when the contemporary Japanese restaurant backlash begins, then I would raise a china teacup here and now to the future of Japan's culinary past.
Sheikh Zayed Road area, 04 343 0222. Average price for a meal for two: Dh100-150.
Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
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Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl
Power: 153hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 200Nm at 4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Price: Dh99,000
On sale: now
FINAL SCORES
Fujairah 130 for 8 in 20 overs
(Sandy Sandeep 29, Hamdan Tahir 26 no, Umair Ali 2-15)
Sharjah 131 for 8 in 19.3 overs
(Kashif Daud 51, Umair Ali 20, Rohan Mustafa 2-17, Sabir Rao 2-26)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
