Expectations can be a funny old thing when critiquing restaurants. With scant prior knowledge of The Foundry’s architecture, claims that it “quite literally transforms” from an all-day dining spot into a stylish steakhouse by night had us chuckling – not for the first time in the history of the written word, had somebody misunderstood the definition of “literally”. How wrong we were.
The Foundry, which is perched on the mezzanine of the new Southern Sun hotel, majors on interior design that’s genuinely quite remarkable. Three large tables form impressive “islands” in a water feature at the front of the restaurant, while huge, sliding copper partitions can be moved by staff to alter the entire layout of the main dining area’s front walls.
Once inside that dining area, the wonder continues. Most eye-catching is the eclectic array of hanging lighting, from huge bulbous shades to more delicate numbers, and The Foundry’s pièce de résistance: a row of cylindrical, floor-to-ceiling copper dividers. At first, they appear to be superfluous wall-mounted design features – but the doors rotate backwards to display ingenious semicircular private dining tables for two that can either open out into the restaurant or be fully closed again for complete seclusion.
At this juncture, we thought, the food could be mediocre and we’d still be infatuated. Frustratingly, that was almost exactly what happened with our starters. The signature frito misto, with garlic aioli and organic salad, was niftily embellished by miniatures of balsamic vinegar and olive oil, yet the passable battered assorted seafood didn’t feel like a notable catch.
My dining partner, meanwhile, was a little perplexed by the tasting of handcrafted burrata (burrata supposedly being mozzarella and cream). Our waiter intimated that it contained some form of beef, which proved patently untrue, while it was hard to glean whether the buffalo mozzarella had actually been transformed into burrata. In short, Dh70 for a fairly bland salad left us feeling a touch cheesed off.
Gladly, come the mains, steak was The Foundry’s business – and business was good.
My 400g entrecôte was a hulking success of bone-in, grass-fed, 21-day dry-aged Irish meat – tender yet with the full-bodied mettle you would hope for from such a manly monster. My chosen sides (Madagascar pepper sauce and steak fries) kept things traditional, albeit the latter comprising an oddly sparse trio of chunky, potato-wedge-sized morsels.
On the menu’s American section, only after ordering were we informed that the last Angus cowboy steak has ridden out of town in the belly of a previous customer (a couple of our first-choice sides and sauces were also unavailable). Instead, my dining partner saddled up for a similarly grain-fed, 300g USDA prime tenderloin, with truffle potato mash and signature steak sauce. The circular steak sat modestly at the centre of a large plate, but what it lacked in volume was more than made up for in density and flavour. The real boon, though, was the cutlery: you select your steak knife from a choice of six handles (I opted for rosewood).
A relatively meagre five-item dessert range provided quality over quantity: the deconstructed cheesecake was a fancy take on the pudding staple, with cylinders of cake standing opposite a crumbly disc of Graham cracker base and a Rorschach test-style helping of forest berry compote. The berry and fruit minestrone with yogurt ice cream was a similarly half-healthy, half-indulgent proposition.
For a four-star hotel’s restaurant, The Foundry is at the top end of the price range. While the food only just warrants the outlay, the conversation-worthy interior design alone is sufficient reason to demand a visit.
• A meal for two at The Foundry, Southern Sun, Abu Dhabi, costs Dh825. Call 02 818 4888. Reviewed meals are paid for by The National and conducted incognito
aworkman@thenational.ae
