Sanafir Restaurant and Lounge

[~cayenne~]

I would like to think that EG is as much for professional critics as the average diner/home cook with a passion for food.

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Absolutely! Excellent statement.

[LordBalthazar]

For the life of me, I couldn't understand a lot of the negative reviews Sanafir was receiving on this forum. I had gone twice - once only weeks after it opened, and again a month later - and had a wonderful experience both times. In fact, the only thing that detracted from the dinner was the less than inspired fruity dessert selection. Overall, I had a great time in both instances - so much so, that I included Sanafir on my short list of "Restaurants to check out" which I provide to the occasional guest to the city.

Last night, however, was a completely different story. The dishes were a far cry from the ones I enjoyed only months ago. Flavorless, overcooked beef short rib. Lobster risotto with a consistency akin to papier mache. The only highlight was, and remains, the oxtail capelleti with the black truffle cream sauce. At the very least, the desserts remained consistent, still as uninspired as the first time I visited.

All in all, an outright disaster.

[Malik]

I went by Sanafir on Saturday night, we were meeting friends that were already seated at a table. But the bouncer at the door decided that nobody else could go into the restaurant, even if you had seats ready for you at a table. He said that a liquor inspector had just walked in, so he didn't want it to get too crowded inside. Anyways, after about a ten minute wait outside, we gave up and our friends came out to go sowewhere else...

[wildebeest]

I went by Sanafir on Saturday night, we were meeting friends that were already seated at a table.  But the bouncer at the door decided that nobody else could go into the restaurant, even if you had seats ready for you at a table.  He said that a liquor inspector had just walked in, so he didn't want it to get too crowded inside.  Anyways, after about a ten minute wait outside, we gave up and our friends came out to go sowewhere else...

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That poses a good question. Is Sanafir a lounge/club or is it a restaurant?

Edited September 9, 2006 by wildebeest (log)

[Malik]

That poses a good question. Is Sanafir a lounge/club or is it a restaurant?

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I would guess it's more like a club/lounge on weekends, and hopefully more restaurant like on weekdays.

[Global]

I decided to add to this topic instead of make a new thread because i wanted to comment on the last post as well as write my review.

Is Sanafir a lounge or a restaurant? I think they try to do both and it doesn't quite work.

I was there with a large group of girls a couple weeks ago and although the food i had was really good, the whole experience was much less pleasing.

We had a reservation for 9pm on a saturday night, only after being told that if we took a 7pm reservation we would be asked to leave by 9pm. By the way we made the reservation six weeks prior to the date.

We arrived at 9pm and the place was packed, I don't think any fire marshal would be happy to have seen the amount of people in there!!

We were told our table wasn't ready yet and that we could wait at the bar, but there were so many people that we were literally backed up against the booths behind the bar. We could see that one of the big booths aleady have their bill on the table and were completely finished their drinks but the management was not making any moves to get them out of there. After complaining to the manager he did buy us a round of drinks, which was nice. After another half an hour and another complaint, he said "what do you want me to do, i already bought you a round of drinks" Nice. Finally at 10pm we were able to sit down.

Our waitress was ok until we told her we didn't want to order the group platter which was "recommended". Then she left the table and sent the manager over to try and talk us into the platter. Two of my friends had ordered the platter before and said there was not enough food for everyone, and it is more than twice the price if you order separately. The manager was visibly ticked off at us which was very unprofessional.

When the food finally came, of course it was all staggered, the first plate came at 1045pm and the last plate at 1145pm. This is really annoying when you are eating with other people.

I had the trio of tuna, it was fantastic, everything tasted great and i thought it was very inventive.

They did give us a dessert platter on the house after dinner, it was HUGE, almost a little too big! Nice gesture though i guess.

My opinion is that Sanafir should either choose to be a restaurant or a bar, not both. I hope they choose to be a bar so the chef can start something his or her own, because the food that i had was fantastic!

Thanks for listening!