Meet JBR’s Brand Spanking New Gastro Pub
You know what JBR has been missing? Which niche outlet has been noticeably absent during the call of the register? A gastro pub. A place that manages to marry a fiercely good menu with somewhere you can feel like you’ve truly escaped from a long week at work.
Enter JB’s, at the Amwaj Rotana: the new, and most definitely coolest kid, in school. Luckily for Lovin Dubai, we were given a first look and taste of the place before the official launch today.
Here’s everything you need to know…
PB’s fish & chips, like regular fish & chips, but really really yummy
It’s a masterclass in attention to detail; leaving the menu aside for one moment; the place is wrapped in a stripped back, subtly curved, well-appointed warm hug of a welcome. Balancing gestures of bare brickwork and wrought iron art-noveau aesthetics with a sincerely delightful outdoor space, that feels like it’s been live-transplanted straight from a Brooklyn roof garden. It’s an intelligently crafted oasis of ‘yeah, that’s what we’ve been missing’.
From certain angles, you could almost feel like you were dining in Hogwarts
I always find that the restrooms are a great testing ground for just how far a venue will go in their quest for identity and quality. Faux copper cisterns and faux, but genuinely hilarious, chalk-board scribblings on the walls, each individual touch has been painstakingly poured over.
Pro Tip: Don’t look at the time on a week night
The food. Well look, the menu is ambitious, and the selection is intensely varied. Surely that’s the catch. Nope. A thousand times nope. If anything it’s the biggest reason to not play truant. James Hitchens; the head master chef, has definitely passed all requisite exams.
The exquisite charcuterie sharing platters: A (AED 95-160).
The signature burger with mouth-watering veneers of brisket and a liberally drizzled deeply satisfying smokey sauce: A+ (AED 70).
Mediterranean tapas dishes: A (AED 35-95).
Gastro innovative salad options: A* (AED 55-70).
The ‘Strawberry Yum’ sundae: distinction with honours (at 65 Dizzers, not the lowest costing dessert, but I defy you to try and finish it despite how insanely delicious it may be).
The character of the menu exists in perfect synchronicity with it’s surroundings: food that is made for sharing, but like teacher’s test answer sheet: in reality, far too good to share.
Burger: good, brisket: good, pickles on the side: goooooood
The Strawberry Yum. No further explanation required.
Ever been offered a meter long sausage? Well now is your opportunity. The team here have several different flavours to tempt you with. The lamb merguez is beyond description and genuinely one of the best examples of Moroccan food you can sample outside of a specifically Moroccan restaurant in Dubai.
House Signatue Cut; beef and roasted bone marrow
And, yes, they have a ladies night: Wednesday, where the female alumni are privy to an array of gratuitous gratuities. Tuesdays are cheese and grape night (double PE session the next day). And they do a long late breakfast on Fridays and Saturdays for those taking advantage of a non-school night. Friday also plays host to ‘Retrofest’ a gradual retrospective of all the best music from decades past.
For those interested in the specifics of the confiscated cupboards of the staff room, there is cask-aged grape on tap (as well as an impressive glass-faced cloakroom containing a truly humbling selection of vine juice), a choice of 11 different draught hops, and many more craft bottles. The signature cocktails are similarly decadent: barrel-infused ingredients and garnished with prescient precision. It doesn’t matter if it’s a sports day either. The staff are committed to providing multiple big-screens covering all major sporting events.
Okay, Okay, one more, but this definitely is the last one
JB’s gets a glowing report card from me. The dog has eaten all of your excuses not to visit and my enduring conclusion is that this place will be an absolute tick in all boxes for regulars and tourists alike. Go now, so you can tell everybody that you knew this place when it first opened.
Find JB’s at the Amwaj Rotana on JBR
More info: www.rotana.com/jbs
to book: +971 (0) 44282 000
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