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A Cypriot restaurant in the Dubai Marine Beach Resort and Spa may not sound like the hot new ticket, but we were shocked to discover it was fully booked, despite still being in its soft launch stage. It’s the first time I’ve had to book another night since the opening of Nobu at Atlantis. Yia Yia was either very small, or very good.
It wasn’t small. Spread out over two levels, the decor looks like a set from the Mama Mia musical, although appealing.
Yia Yia’s strapline on the menu is ‘the food of love’, and like tempestuous romances from the South Med, dancing and plate throwing are encouraged.
The mikro mezze for two is fine Cypriot food; the village salad doused in olive oil and laden with chunks of subtly sharp feta cheese and tasty tomatoes is spot on.
As is the warm doughy bread dipped into tzatziki or a mild salmon-coloured taramosalata - the latter, perfectly balanced.
The koupepia (stuffed vine leaves) were adequate if unexciting, but both grilled halloumi and the keftedes - beef meat balls with cinnamon, mint and parsley - were crunchy on the outside and moist within, like a savoury chocolate brownie.
Naturally lamb had to be on the agenda and the lamb tavas is said to have made Da Vinci fall in love with Cyprus when he tasted it in Lefkara, so I opted for this with potatoes and tomatoes stewed in olive oil and onions. It was big, hearty and a fine celebration of food from that part of the world.
My partner also scored well with her giant grilled prawns cooked in wine, garlic and butter.
The garlic meant she wasn’t a joy to be around afterwards, but she didn’t care. Portions were not small, and we barely made a dent in the side dishes.
Mind you, we needn’t have bothered saving ourselves for dessert.
The list of sweets on the menu came with no description so we took a chance and ordered a selection.
While the castor-sugar dusted almond biscuits were suitably crumbly, they veered on the dry side while the other two deep fried pastries were parched and limp.
The mains were more than enough and though. It was close to midnight when we left, and although the traditional plate throwing hadn’t yet begun, the restaurant was still busy and the singers and guitar players were in full swing.
A meal for two with two glasses of wine cost dhs440
Source: "7 days", 11 February 2010
http://www.7days.ae/storydetails.php?id=90440&title=Yia%20Yia |
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