Yalumba – Le Meridien Dubai

Happy New Year!!!

Before the year ended, I told hubby that we should go out at least once a month and do a proper ‘date’. You know – just us.
Other couple might be doing it regularly and this date thing is usual for them but not us.

We always go out as family. There might be few occasions that Gibson and I will eat together but it was usually after some parent-teacher meeting, or we did some errand and just decided to eat afterwards. Nothing planned. We ate not to date but to fill our hunger.

This year will be different.
We will eat to fill our hearts.

Choz.

I have few ideas in selecting our restaurant every month:

  1. Should be somewhere we never dined before
  2. We don’t like clubs or anywhere with blasting music. Lounges are fine.
  3. Price is not an issue. We can go to quirky and inexpensive restaurants or those 5-star fancy ones as long as the reviews are good.
  4. Use the Entertainer vouchers as often as possible.

I honestly didn’t plan ahead for our January date night. The initial arrangement was I will go home first, change then Gibson and I will go together to The China Club in Radisson Blu Hotel in Dubai Creek. We wanted to try their yum cha.

But I got stuck in the office and left quite later than planned. If I go home then I’ll get stuck in weekend traffic and we will end up eating dinner at 9pm. Not a good start for a first date.

So before I moved my car out of the building, I made a quick search of restaurants in the Entertainer app. I think I am searching by location first and then started looking for restaurants by hotel location. Yalumba popped out.

A quick search in Zomato shows good reviews.

From the time I went inside my car until the time I called Yalumba for reservation, it’s done within 7-8 minutes.
That’s what you call efficiency, baby.

Since I came straight from the office, my casual outfit is too casual for a proper date.

Yalumba - Le Meridien Dubai

Good thing I have my jacket with me and had a quick trip to the hotel’s bathroom (although Gibson said it’s no way quick) to freshen up.
I re-applied my make-up, spice up my hairdo and just project! Aura!

Yalumba - Le Meridien Dubai

I’m so ready to party!!! I mean to eat.

I read several articles saying that Yalumba is back! And I’m like where have they been?
Well, apparently, this restaurant is an institution in Dubai for serving good buffet for 10 years now. Wow!
We stayed in Le Meridien before and dined in some restaurants in this hotel but I don’t recall seeing Yalumba. It’s never in my radar. Although Gibson had been here with his colleagues.

The newly renvamped Yalumba restaurantFullSizeRender 233

Gibson said it totally looked different from the last time he was hereFullSizeRender 239Yalumba - Le Meridien DubaiYalumba - Le Meridien Dubai

I have no comparison from the old look but the new lay-out is very laid back, rustic and plenty of wood. We initially requested for outside seating but aside from the fact that it’s cold outside, their outdoor area look too dim and boring.
Indoors is where the action is!

My handsome date for the night.
Yalumba - Le Meridien Dubai

For the price of the buffet which is AED 159 per person which includes softdrinks, water and fruit juices, the spread is truly extensive. The quality and taste are also very good.

Let’s start with the appetizers

They have extensive salad bars, cold cuts section, cheese section, mezzes and bread area
Yalumba - Le Meridien Dubai
Yalumba - Le Meridien Dubai
Yalumba - Le Meridien Dubai
Yalumba - Le Meridien Dubai

Your seafood fix will truly be satisfied
Yalumba - Le Meridien Dubai
Yalumba - Le Meridien Dubai

Sushi and shashimi
Yalumba - Le Meridien Dubai

Salmon here, there and everywhere!
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Yalumba - Le Meridien Dubai

Carnivores will also be happy

Roasted lamb and beef
Yalumba - Le Meridien Dubai
Yalumba - Le Meridien Dubai

If you want grilled skewers, choices are many – chicken, beef, mussels, hammour, cuttlefish, prawns.
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For someone like me who loves Chinese, you’ll be glad of their offerings for you. If only they serve pecking duck.

4 different dimsums
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They also have live cooking stations – pasta and stir fried noodles but I’m too full to even request for a plate. Although I requested the chef for a bowl of noodle soup and he obliged. Thank you chef!
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Soup for the night is crab based.
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There are several hot dishes as well – Indian dishes, Continental, Arabic.
Yalumba - Le Meridien Dubai

And the desert station will make your sweet tooth jumping for joy.
Yalumba - Le Meridien Dubai

What’s a desert station without a chocolate fountain?
Yalumba - Le Meridien Dubai

The only desert that I can take last night, Cheese ice cream sprinkled with pinipig crunch 🙂
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“Should it be this cheese cake, or that, or the one behind?”
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After more than 2 hours of eating, we had to throw the white towel. Enough!

The best part of the experience? We only paid AED 159 thanks to the Entertainer voucher’s buy one get one offer.
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It was a good night. We didn’t use our mobile phones except when we were taking photos and that’s it.
We just talked about things – important and non-important stuff. Which is the purpose of this date.
To just reconnect and enjoy each other’s company.

I encourage you to plan something similar with your partner. Let’s declare 2017 as Year of Romance!

Check back here from time to time to see where we have dined throughout the year and I’ll share with you our experiences. Have a good weekend!

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One comment

  1. Caesar says:

    Every Wednesday from 07:00 PM to 10:00 PM. Take a wild Wednesday night walk-about at Yalumba! Unleash your inner-Aussie and let s go walk-about to Yalumba! AED 99 per person All-you-can-eat Aussie BBQ AED 25 each pint of Fosters

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