Sample unusual bites at Dubai restaurant The Hide

The Hide at Jumeirah Al Qasr. Courtesy The Hide

The Hide serves up more than the usual steakhouse fillet. The restaurant, which opened last week in Jumeirah Al Qasr in Dubai, focuses on forgotten cuts of meat – those loaded with fat, but also with flavour, and the menu is filled with unusual bites.

Among the appetisers, for example, you’ll find oxtail soup and crispy calf’s tongue. For mains, there are confit fried chicken legs; braised beef cheeks; and a selection of forgotten cuts that include flat iron steak, flank steak and hanger steak.

Concept development chef Nick Cuadrado is especially proud of the dry-aged beef from the Spanish mountains.

“We travelled to Spain to hand-select the beef for the dry-aged cabinet,” he says. “The cows are incredibly lean, as they graze daily on the sloping mountains. These cattle live between seven and 12 years. It totally changed my beliefs about how young beef is supposed to be best.”

Even the side dishes have unusually interesting elements. The OMG onion rings, for example, come with confit duck and mozzarella curd, while the baked potato is served with duck fat and smoked butter.

“Each dish is served in a unique way,” Cuadrado says. “The dry-aged beef comes atop your own personal stove, the DIY veal tartare comes with a mini bottle of Bloody Mary’s tonic and spice grinder to mix as you choose, and the tenderloin steak comes on a board with jus served from a bull’s horn.”

• The Hide replaces MJ’s Steakhouse in Al Qasr Hotel, Madinat Jumeirah. Call 04 432 3232 to book a table