My blog is an online diary of sorts, and while I’m not as regular on it as I’d like to be, I do try to make it a point to talk and write about places that my readers are especially keen on getting more details for. While I’ve been talking about this place for years, I still get a lot of questions about it, perhaps because it’s one of the very few places I continue to frequent even after years, as it’s one of the very few places that has consistently stayed on top of quality. Waka Dubai at The Oberoi, ladies and gentlemen. It just keeps getting better and better.
It’s not unusual for me to visit Waka regularly, because despite the excess of new restaurants popping up every other day, sometimes, after a long week at work I just want a reliable, delicious meal that will not disappoint, with a side of good vibes. The last time I went by with some friends was for the Waka Del Mercado night, when one can enjoy live latin music, and I tried their new menu, because Roberto wants to ensure that diners never get bored. I low-key wanted to happy-cry from how the food never ceases to impress me.
Here’s what we had this time around and I think you should too!
Not a new menu item but a steady favorite: the Wakamole. If you don’t like the taste of liquid smoke, then you should pass on this, but if it is your thing, you’re going to absolutely love this. If you don’t like guac as it is, then you’re probably a serial killer and need to lose my number.
Truffle porcon ceviche with seabags, scallops, porcon mushroom powder, coconut gel and shavings of fresh truffle. This was such a sweeping hit all across our table, it had us swooning and longing for more!
Le Causa Le Lucca: named after Chef Roberto’s adorable son! Smoked chicken causawith mashed Peruvian potatoes, ahi Amarillo, crispy quinoa chalaquita and squid ink paper! This was the ultimate ashes potato dish you could dream of in your wildest dreams!
Chicken anticucho with yakitori sauce, with roasted potatoes and rococo dip. Not bad, but dwarfed in comparison to the other dishes.
Another ceviche which sadly I can’t remember the name of, but like every single ceviche on the Waka menu, it was lipsmackingly delicious. Perfectly umami with all the right notes of citrus, salt, spice and textural contrasts, Waka win at ceviches.
A great option for vegans but not one of my favorites as I’m a seafood lover, these quinoa sliders weren’t the favorite course of the night but that’s only because the bar was set so high.
Ok ok ok. Prepare to be mindBLOWN. Melty Loche rice with Japanese scallops and crispy fried calamari. Think of like fiery hot Cheetos flavored cheesy rice, but without being so firey hot. I also can’t applaud enough how the dishes on Waka’s menu always have a component of textural contrast that prevent the dishes from being monotonous. This was the ultimate comfort dish, right up there with La Causa De Lucca, and a welcome addition to the menu that never gets boring!
Last but not the least, a hearty plate of spare ribs marinated in a Cantonese rub, served with a kimchi slaw. I’m not a big meat-eater, so I let my husband enjoy my rib too, and I decided to go for more of the Loche melty rice!
A new addition to the Waka dessert menu, these “tomatoes” were actually made of mousse and watermelon jelly, and while this might have been a clever dessert for an tomato themed menu, it felt slightly disjointed and a bit of a misfit in Waka’s menu.
Thankfully, the next dessert was on-point! Made with lacuma ice-cream, it had a luscious dulce de leech flavor to it an the berries cut through it like a knife through butter. If you know, you’ll know, that this tasted a lot like Pakistani kulfi, but without the cardamom, and I loved it.
