Dubai: Korean BBQ Brunch at Namu

When Trine was in Dubai, we met with Pia, Peter and Meg for Korean BBQ Brunch at Namu. I had dined at Namu before, so I knew that their Korean food is good, but I had never tried their BBQ Brunch, which I think they launched earlier this year.

Namu is located on one of the upper floors inside V Hotel in Habtoor city, so you have a really nice view of the new Business Bay Creek even though there is not a lot to see yet as this part of Dubai is still a work in progress.

The BBQ Brunch is a set menu so we did not have to worry about what to order, as different dishes just arrived in a steady flow to our table. First we had edamame, kimbap (Korean maki rolls), fried squid, and a salad, and then it was time for the barbecue.

The meat and fish were grilled in the kitchen, not at the table, which is good if you are going out after dinner and do not want your clothes to smell like Korean BBQ Brunch. Though one of the things I really like about Korean barbecue is that you sit around the table and grill your own meat while building up an appetite from the enticing smell from the grill (you can read my blog post about Sonamu if you want to know more about the concept). Though all the food was tasty, and we had more than what we could finish.

After a while we all started wondering why there was not any kimchi, so we asked the waiter and he told us that kimchi was not included in the Korean BBQ menu. We said that we would happily pay extra, if we could just get that kimchi, but the waiter told us he had asked the kitchen and that Namu does not serve kimchi at all on Korean BBQ Brunch. We thought that was very strange (how can you not serve kimchi at a Korean restaurant?!?) so we kept on complaining about the kimchi situation and finally they brought out the kimchi. A big thanks to our waiter, whom I think played a big role in communicating the urgency of the kimchi situation to the kitchen.

Namu, V Hotel, Habtoor City, Dubai