Bday Dinner @ MJ’s Steakhouse Al-Qasr, Madinat Jumeirah

i wanted steak for my birthday. full stop. it’s either that, or itallian food at naked chef jamie oliver’s restaurant in dubai festival city. i still want steak.

so mr. khairul took me to al-qasr hotel at madinat jumeirah to dine at ‘MJ’s steakhouse’, said to be one of the finest steakhouses around. so exciting!

MJ’s steakhouse is situated inside the beautiful and elegant al-qasr hotel. ‘al-qasr’ means ‘palace’ and the design of the whole hotel building tries to emulate a sheikh’s summer home! gorgeous, with wind-towers and all!

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MJ’s steakhouse is dimly lit and so romantic. the only ruckus comes from the busy open-style kitchen. otherwise it’s really a lovely setting for my romantic birthday dinner. hihi.

it has somewhat a sensual, gothic setting – with the use of black and red. a little plain without much decor, but classy. i love the high ceiling and high chairs – bold and spacious. i love the abstract painting on the wall too.

we were seated at one secluded corner – quiet, private, alone. perfectly romantic!

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after we placed our order, the waitress came to our table offering a box of fine knives to choose from; which took us by surprise!

only afterwards i read somewhere that the signature of MJ’s restaurant is ‘choose your own steak knife’! this was definitely a first for me! i chose the most unique design, while mr. khairul picked the most plain.

i really didn’t mind, and maybe choosing your own steak knife is totally unnecessary as it doesn’t affect the food you’re going to eat – if it’s bad, it’s bad, if it’s good, it’s good – but it was just fun having someone open a big box filled with steak knives, waiting for you to pick one that you wanna use.

i felt a little pampered – and that’s SO fine on my birthday! hihi.

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i got myself the wagyu beef fillet. ‘wagyu’ literally means japanese cow – bred to perfection, thus making the steak from this breed of cow a real delight. my steak felt slightly burnt but it seemed that this was ‘supposed’ to happen when you order a medium fillet steak. hmm.

but when you talk about texture – oh, my it was the best. juicy, tender – what other adjectives? i’m out of words. delicious.

mr. khairul took the angus beef (scotland beef) t-bone steak. equally delicious, sweetly marinated to perfection. this was a winning choice.

the best (although a small part of the dish) part was that the sauces were complimentary – and they gave 4 of them! most steakhouse charges for extra steak sauce, but here at MJ’s, they came with the dishes. mushroom sauce, black pepper and sour cream – FOC!

…oh, and i have to mention their mashed potato. absolutely creamy and just so tasty!

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after we’re done devouring our steak, mr. khairul surprised me with a sweet birthday treat – no, not a birthday CAKE, but a birthday creme brulee! hihi.

crème brûlée is a dessert consisting of a rich custard base topped with a contrasting layer of hard caramel that’s purposely burnt. it is normally served cold.

it was just the perfect end to a lovely birthday dinner. just us, dipping our spoon cracking the creme brulee from that one plate. it was sweet, it was cooling, it was yummy!

overall, a delicious dinner with very attentive staff in a calm, romantic setting. thank you so much to my honey cookiedough for the beautiful evening.

but wait – he said the evening is not over yet!

after dinner we drove back home, quickly changed into a more lepak clothings, and went out again to continue on the second phase of my birthday celebration! it was so exciting! where did we go? next posting!

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enjoy the pictures of the beautiful al-qasr hotel, madinat jumeirah. lawanya!