The meat company, MeatCo. is a high end, fine dining South African cuisine that serves great gourmet burgers and steaks. The restaurant looks over the calm and tranquil waterways of Souk Madinat Jumeirah.

The experience begins as soon as you enter the restaurant. The reception desk is located right opposite the entrance where you will be greeted and taken to your table. A couple of steps lead you to a restaurant designed in an urban style with dark walls, dim lights and hardwood floors. Deep comfy brown leather chairs around square or round wooden tables make for the perfect homely experience. An open kitchen lets you see your food being prepared in full view.

The outdoor terrace lined with wooden chairs and tables gives spectacular views of the Arabian Gulf, in particular the famous Burj Al Arab hotel.

Once seated, you are offered fresh warm bread on a wooden board made in their in-house bakery, accompanied with a side of butter. The menu has a wide selection of dishes but to make the most of the dining experience, I would highly recommend that you ask the waiter to suggest their favorite dishes.

The cheesy garlic bread is a great choice for an appetizer. It is made with a crisp baked French baguette with homemade garlic, parsley butter and topped with a cheddar cheese crust.

I also recommend the bruschetta. It comes with two slices of toasted farmhouse bread, one topped with basil pesto and tomato and the other is topped with garlic prawns and truffle pesto. For something with fewer carbs, try the Crab tart made with marinated fresh crab meat on avocado, tomato and cucumber salsa.

For those who like sharing meals, try the mezze platter for two. It comes with rib meat and mushroom vol-au-vent, grilled lobster tails, pan fried prawns, lamb cutlets and local burrata cheese. For salads, try the quinoa salad made with a combination of quinoa, chickpeas, apples, fresh herbs, currants, peanuts, cucumbers, feta cheese tossed in yoghurt and lemon dressing and topped with sliced avocado.

For the juicy part of the meal, the steaks, the restaurant uses different kinds of beef from Argentina, the US, New Zealand and Australia. The menu offers several kinds of meat with different cuts that suit every taste. First you get to choose your favorite kind such as Fillet, Rib-eye, T-Bone, Rump or Sirloin. Then you can add your favorite side dishes, such as two small lobster tails, pan seared Foie Gras, two grilled jumbo prawns and much more.

I highly recommend that you try the newly added item on the menu, the Black Marble 9+ Wagyu Beef steak from the award-winning breeders of the Australian continent. This 250-gram Stripolin steak comes perfectly grilled and topped with shaved black truffle Carpaccio. It is served with a side of potatoes and thick mushroom sauce. This dish is everything you would want in a steak for it is moist, flavorful and virtually melts in your mouth.

Another great option is the Barbeque Beef Short Australian Ribs that is braised for three hours then grilled with the restaurant’s home-made BBQ sauce. It is served with the diner’s choice of mashed potatoes, chips or baked potatoes. If you are looking for a different kind of meat, try the venison cutlets. They are three pieces if grilled venison cutlets, a white sweet potato mash, mushroom and truffle pesto, blackberry and juniper jus.

I have heard so many people talking about their burgers so finally I had to try them. Knowing The MeatCo’s specialty is in Wagyu beef, I tried this in a burger. The restaurant’s burger is a superb 100 percent pure beef burger, seasoned, basted and flame-grilled. It is served with fresh greens, onion, tomato, pink sauce and a side of potato chips and onion rings. This 200g Wagyu beef is heavenly; every bite melts in your mouth and explodes with flavors.

Not much into meats? The menu also offers a selection of seafood dishes and chicken. The Local lobster is a great choice if you want something from under the sea. It is made with 800 grams of lobster. You can have it either grilled, mornay or thermidor with garlic sauce and green beans. The whole butter-flied chicken is also great. It’s made with flame-grilled spatchcock chicken, marinated and basted with the restaurant’s unique peri-peri or chef’s special herbs and spices.

The best part of the meal comes at the end with dessert. For sharing, try the MeatCo. Dessert tasting platter, made with the chef’s selection of five small deserts that you can share and have with coffee. If you are like me and believe in having your own dessert, try the traditional South African Malva pudding. Believe me, you will want to have this even of you are really full, and will thank me for it later. It is made with warm homemade apricot pudding completely covered with warm caramel sauce. It is served with crème anglaise, apricot coulls and vanilla ice cream on the side.

The Meat Company is a great place to celebrate a birthday. It’s such a joy seeing the staff using authentic African drums while dancing and singing in their language. You will find many people taking photos and videos on their smart phones to document this festive moment.

Expect to pay: SR 220-260

Opening hours: 12:00 p.m. to 12:00 am.

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Email: [email protected]