Luncheon at The Lodge

I received e-mail and flyers about The Lodge for about three years before I actually called and asked where it was. It is located in Al Nasr Leisureland. Al Nasr is a place of European Football fields, tennis courts, a play area (with water park) for children, an ice skating ring, and a large number of restaurants, including Indian (chef trained in Mumbai), Thai (chef trained in Mumbai), Chinese (chef trained in Mumbai), and Goan (chef trained in Goa). Of these, only The Lodge, the Chinese, the Club, and the Indian are open for lunch, but only the Lodge has the €5.50 luncheon special.

Lunch in The Lodge consists of three European-style courses, with a remarkable lack of kebab, curry, and tabouleh. First course is a choice of a soup or one of two salads, which change daily (today, the soup was cauliflower, the salads were chicken or apple-celery). Main course usually has a fish (today, Provençal), a chicken, a beef (today, Wellington), and a vegetarian dish (today, Canneloni Florentine). Desert generally has a choice of fresh fruit, ice cream, a streudel, and something chocolate.

The diners quite enjoyed the soup, salad, and Wellington, though our two Brits were disappointed when they saw that some of the dishes came with chips, while the Wellington was served with steamed vegetables. The canneloni was not quite as tasty as the Wellington, being rather bland. The streudels were served warm, with an artistic decoration of white sauce streaked with strawberry icing.

Lunch also includes a free drink of wine, beer, something stronger, or freshly squeezed juice.

After 3 p.m., a glass of wine is the usual Dubai €3.30, so the price of the luncheon special is quite remarkable.