The Grill

What: Like the name says – grilled foods

Where:Jumeirah Himalayas Hotel, 1MF, 1108 Meihua Lu, near Fangdian Lu. Tel: 4364 7555

Why: For the Middle Eastern dip buffet alone

Looming large outside the Shanghai New International Expo Centre, the Jumeirah Himalayas Hotel is designed to bring in business travellers, and their F&B outlets stay the course. Surprisingly, there’s nary a Middle Eastern option amongst the dining options, but The Grill, the hotel’s boutique steakhouse, tries to play up the hotel’s UAE birthright.

Serving up a rather petite steak menu with just three cuts of Australian Wagyu 9+ and the same Black Angus options, The Grill shies away from its steakhouse designation. What it lacks in meat variety it makes up for in appetisers and sides. Order any main course and get unlimited access to the antipasto buffet. Sitting pretty in the dining room’s marble island, the buffet offers your basic DIY lettuce salads, marinated vegetables and a collection of dips. Jumeirah might not have imported a full-on Middle Eastern restaurant, but they did bring their baba ghanoush, hummus and beet spreads, and their mouhammara, a spicy pepper dip with walnuts and breadcrumbs, was the buffet showstopper.

In true steakhouse fashion, a creamy Caesar, complete with hard-boiled quail eggs, strips of baked prosciutto and miniature chicken breasts (charbroiled, of course), started the a la carte dishes, but not all the appetisers toed the traditional line. The roasted diver scallops came with a prawn sausage; the texture and flavour of which is momentarily stunning to the palate, but then transcends into pure enjoyment.

For mains, we split into surf and turf options, only for the former diner to sigh wistfully with orderer’s remorse. The petite Boston Lobster was slightly overcooked and the sweetness of the meat suffered for it, but the Wagyu 9+ ribeye was one well-marbled cut of meat. An espresso crème brûlée finished the meal – a good dessert, but not great – it lacked any of the crunchy burnt top layer.

Only opening last month, Jumeirah still has room for improvement. If only they’d add more Middle Eastern flair to their menu…