Vibrant colours, chirpy people, latin jazz I love them all. Yes! Here’s presenting Spirito the newest go-to-restaurant in Dubai. I was invited to sample this super fun and quirky restaurant-cum-lounge last weekend. Located on the 9th floor of Media One Hotel, this Brazilian eatery features the best of South American street fare.
Upon our arrival we were gently directed to the dining area of the restaurant. Spirito Lounge & Kitchen is divided into multiple sections thereby offering guests the option to choose their dining experience. So you’ve got the dedicated bar area, followed by the dining area and the lounge section. The vibrant colours at the restaurant are very inviting and reflect a sense of happiness around the restaurant.
Unlike other restaurants where you arrive and keep waiting for the servers to approach you or you hunt them down, the staff at Spirito were like angels. Well not literally but in their mannerisms and hospitable attitude. Vikky welcomed us first and then we had a lovely chat with Timmy as well. Both of them found my friend and me interesting and they were very chatty so we surrendered our orders unto them. South American food has strong influences of Europe, African and Amerindians and thus it reflected in this restaurants staff and food too.
We took Timmy’s suggestion and decided to sample the ‘Lambari Frito’ (fried white bait), ‘Camaro Alho’ (smoked chilli prawns), ‘Quibe Cabra (beef croquettes with mint, lime and coriander) and finally the ‘Pao De Queijo (Brazilian honey cheese puffs). Food tastes best when shared; hence we decided to gather an assortment of the restaurants best appetizers. I relished the ‘Pao De Queijo’, they looked gorgeous (golden coloured buns) and they tasted even better than expected.
Now it was time to test Vikky’s suggestion for our mains, so my friend and I opted to order in two main courses, as they are served in portions good to be shared. I am not a meat lover as mentioned earlier in my blog posts, but there is something about ‘Lobo’ (Black Angus steak, coco and chilli rub with spiced polenta fries) that I knew I would absolutely love. Hence I decided to go with the ‘Lobo’ and my friend pointed towards the ‘Vatapa De Camarao (Cajun shrimps with cashew nuts and coconut stew). In the midst of the entire merry making we missed out on our drinks, so we took up Timmy’s suggestion again and tried some Acai Mojito cocktails, Sangria etc. We’re fans of the Acai Mojito and ended up ordering two or three of these each before the night ended.
Let’s face it South American seafood curries are to die for. And having tasted something similar in one of my explorations, I knew that the ‘Vatapa De Camarao’ would be brilliant. Our expectations were building up just like our appetite. My favourite ‘Lobo’ came in just on time and looked sumptuous. Finely chopped slices of meat were garnished and seasonal flavours were used to enhance our taste buds, the steak was accompanied by fresh polenta fries. And then came the ‘Vatapa De Camarao’ she was the star of the night, plump Cajun prawns roasted in cashew nuts and served alongside some tempting coconut stew was outstanding. This dish is best accompanied by plain rice, but we didn’t include it this night.
We thought we’d already consumed a lot and were about to skip the desserts. But then came Olga the lovely restaurant manager who was equally empathetic towards us but insisted we tried some favorites before we call it a night. She got us small portions of the desserts which were all delightful, however my friend and I thought the Brazilian Bon-Bon cake was to die for. Before I miss this part, one of the unique and delicious drinks I’ve ever tasted would be the ‘Expresso Martini’, yes as strange as it sounds but Brazil produces some of the most amazing coffee beans and thus the result of using coffee in cocktails is an innovative approach from the brand. Also, for those of you planning an fun-filled evening at Spirito, here’s the catch – Spirito is offering a 50% discount all month of August as part of its inauguratory program.
Join the Samba party at Spirito Dubai and meet me on my next culinary adventure.
Feel free to share your thoughts/ comments on this post below. And do keep me posted with anything new wherever you are. I’d love to hear from you.
Disclaimer: My friend and I were invited to sample food at the restaurant. SPIRITO did not advise us about anything. Pictures were shot on my iPhone 6 and Fujifilm AX-1. Do credit the writer/ photographer should you want to share the images
