Alfie’s Dubai restaurant

Where: Alfie’s Emirates Towers Boulevard. Call 04- Don’t miss: Cornish crab, steak, rhubarb crumble Atmosphere: You can take your dad — it’s fashionably masculine. Decor: Leather easy chairs, Empire-era cartoons Rating 3.5 An important part of sustainable food, we are told, is nose-to-tail eating, as our forefathers once did. Rather than eat just those prime juicy chicken breasts and fillet of beef, we need to rediscover all those other fun bits of the animal that are otherwise wasted. Alfie’s recreates this style of eating with items that were once mainstays of the British dinner table -- from the highest classes (grilled rib of beef) to the not-so-elevated ones (rabbit pie). The restaurant is the latest international outpost of dunhill’s expansion into dining, named after the quintessentially British brand’s founder Alfred. It’s terribly British, in that it follows the London trend for historical nose-to-tail eating, but I fear that trend may not have quite reached the British masses. Does anyone in England, apart from those who eat at offal pioneer Fergus Henderson’s St John’s restaurant, eat marrowbones anymore? Well, they should give it a try, if dinner at Alfie’s is anything to go by. It’s an exploration of tastes that you may not have come across before, or may have forgotten, but certainly worth a look. Then again, there are also classics if you’re not feeling experimental — the fish and chips (Dh125) is delicious, flaky, sweet fish in a crisp but not heavy batter. The triple-fried chips are not what you’ll find at your local chippy, but then again, we are in very chic surroundings. That grilled rib of beef (Dh180), also with chips, is very, very tasty, juicy and cooked medium as requested. It tastes like the beef was aged — rich and flavourful. Starters are seafood oriented, wonderfully so. I’ll be back to try the potted shrimps on rye bread (Dh85) because I couldn’t pass up the Cornish dressed crab (Dh125). It’s served English-style: cold, with the meat picked out, mixed with a light mayo, and packed back into the shell, which we wiped clean with the very good bread and butter. I wish they would mix in some of the tasty brown meat too, though. The one fail of the evening was my roast wood pigeon (Dh130). I had it medium, as the chef recommends, accoring to the waitress, but it was rather unpleasantly underdone, the meat dark burgundy and jelly-ish, while the outside was strangely crunchy. The bubble and squeak (crushed potatoes and vegetables) and smooth chicken liver pate on toast was nice, though. British do desserts simply, and, with some bias, I think that’s usually better than frou-frou French patisseries with pretty mousses and icings. Apple and rhubarb crumble (Dh40) doesn’t need much dressing up -- the tart and sweet fruit have a happy marriage under the crisp crumble topping. -- well, some thick custard wouldn’t have been amiss. I hope it’s there when I head back to try the beef burger topped with marrow that’s on the bar menu.