A staggering 95% of my newsletter readers (many of you on here too 😜) voted for my new header-style format that I had proposed for my restaurant reviews, which actually brings great joy to the organisational freak in me 😉

It’s now become de rigueur for every restaurant to boast about its so-called “concept.” A word I am also guilty of using time and time again - and hence the first header of my restaurant reviews moving forward. The FT’s restaurant critic @timhayward makes a sarcastic dig in a recent London restaurant review that warrants a giggle.

Onto this month’s review. @threecutsdxb is a new licensed steakhouse perched atop Rooftop West, Nakheel Mall. In a world where Google mapping is the norm, who cares whether it’s the west or east side of the rooftop? How does that help us with directions? Does anyone use their smart phone compass app, or even know they have one? Anyhow, digressing. We’ll come on to the challenges of this location a little later on.

I should have known by simply looking at the restaurant’s Instagram that a strapline of “FOOD. COMMUNITY. MUSIC” would guarantee a booming playlist, albeit a nostalgic one - especially given the upper case font. But they did reduce the volume upon my request. Another content-worthy discussion point.

The restaurant’s name is a nod to the three steak cuts on the menu - striploin, tenderloin and ribeye. Cuts that are also incorporated into the t-bone and tomahawk. The waiter does not explain “the concept.” A good thing, in my book. It’s self-explanatory. The only time I don’t mind storytelling is for a tasting menu concept, and even then, the less said, the better, so I can enjoy my food whilst still warm. Unless it’s the 14-seater by @gaggan_anand Only then will I happily soak up both the storytelling…and the music.

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Do you like a restaurant’s “concept” explained to you in person on arrival? Or does a synopsis on the website and menu suffice? #UAERestaurantsUnite Less