Keep it Simple: I would go again but only for the room and location. There was nothing special about the food. Then again, I don't think we cared. Enjoyable night. Good concept.
Sanafir is gorgeous. My friend who is an architectural design student really liked it as well. The room itself is guy and girl accessible not overly feminine as the touches of morocco would lead you to believe. It's actually the perfect place for a girl's night out as they have these enormous booths which are made to resemble moroccan tents. The Restaurant is upscale Casual, but it does have a dress code, so no shorts.
Our server was really nice, but it seemed as though she was a little jittery and rehearsed. Word of warning, this is "that kind" of fine dining restaurant, so put the napkin on your lap straight away, or else your server will have to awkwardly snatch your napkin from the table and place it on your lap. (I think its probably in their server manual to do this) My friend also noticed that the server directed any information at him... because he's a guy? It didn't bother me, but it bothered him.
I ordered a Khira coctail ( $9 sapphire gin, muddled cucumber,cardamon, fresh lime, ginger beer) and my friend went for a Pinot Gris. The drink service was a little slow, and we weren't offered any water. Which was a little off-putting.
We decided to go for the trio tapas plates, which is a protein done three ways. My friend went for the chicken and prawn, and I went for the Calamari and Beef. There is so much diversity on the menu, which is nice as I never know what to order. We also ordered a side of naan bread, which we thought was an appetizer, but it ended up coming with the meal. Word of caution. If you don't like sharing, you are in trouble. The food comes out when it comes out. So if you want your food warm and don't want to be rude by eating it in front of your entree-less dining partner(s), just share it.
The Calamari Trio came out first. The herb breaded calamari (closest) was tough and a little sad (aka not crispy) the flavours were good, but it was also a little cold. The grilled calamari was nice, (farthest) but there was only a little piece. The real star was the Spicy Salt and Pepper Calamari. (middle) If you have ever been to Sandbar, its a little like their Wok Squid (sooo good). It was warm, cruchy, a touch salty (but I like Salt so it worked).
The rest of the food came next. The Beef Tapas Trio was a little bit of a let down. The Hand Rolled Oxtail Ravioli had good flavor, but was a little hard, and once again cold. The Garam Marsala Short ribs were tasty, but I hardly remember them, I do remember the veggie side being excellent, almost a bit like mom's pot roast. The Balgarbi ribs had the same flavour as Maui Ribs, which is never a bad thing. They were good, but I would have appreciated a little more fat and thicker piece of meat. (the salad it came with could have been a little more refreshing, but perhaps this was because my tastebuds were on cumin overload.)
The Chicken Trio came with a butter chicken, kabobs and drunken chicken served with pickled cucumber. Not really spectacular, I'd skip it. Everything tasted like Chicken. The pickled cucumber was nice.
The Prawn Trio consisted of a prawn salad roll, (which was tough and didnt taste like prawn), a Kanafa wrapped Tiger Prawn with lemongrass watercress creme fraiche, and a vindaloo prawn. The real standout was the Kanafa Prawn, it was moist, delicious and had the most amazing texture. I would order the Kanafa Prawns again.
The Naan Bread was a great value. It was really large and presented very beautifully. However, it was very oily and salted with a heavy hand. The Total Bill Came to $81.47, but don't be fooled the food only cost about $34.00, the rest we spent in booze. Yay for Tapa's Tuesday.
All in all, I've had better butter chicken elsewhere, better vindaloo elsewhere, better curries elsewhere, better asian food elsewhere, all from restaurants that specialize in that type of cuisine. Nothing was bad, but only the Kanafa Prawn and the Spicy Salt and Pepper Calamari really caught my tastebuds.
In the future, I think I would go for their $19.00/pp platter because they have Korean Baby Back Ribs, Punjabi Style Butter, Spicy Salt And Pepper Calamari ,Kanafa Wrapped Tiger Prawns, Goat Cheese Stuffed Lamb Kibbeh House Fried Rice bbq pork.
Oh and if you are looking. There are a lot of really good looking older men/ younger men that go here in groups. Just Saying.
