Sep 2010
In this issue:
New orientalism
Dubai’s Okku restaurant is now harvesting the awards, which is a notable coup for Jordanian co-owner Ramzy Abdul-Majeed
Issue: Nov, 2009
Jordanian entrepreneur Ramzy Abdul-Majeed seems to have something approaching a Midas touch. The man who brought Blackberry to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and Oundle School to Dubai, is also behind Time Out Dubai’s Best Restaurant 2009, the contemporary Japanese eatery Okku. “It’s a new concept really,” Ramzy told us during a week-long break in Amman. “It’s not a traditional Japanese restaurant, nor is it a sushi bar; it’s much more of a luxurious fine dining experience with Asian food.”
It’s hardly surprising Okku is scooping up awards all over the place; the elegantly brooding interior, which is set over three floors, is the work of the same company who put together the Buddha Bar design, and features a spectacularly-lit 8-metre-long “jellyquarium”. The food is prepared by chefs who have served Madonna, George Clooney, Bill Clinton and Denzel Washington, with signature dishes including yellow fin tuna, carpaccio, wagyu beef, prawn tempura, black cod and foie gras sushi.
Working with co-founder Markus Thesleff, who developed London’s uber-hip Pangaea, the pair opened their restaurant in the five-star Monarch Hotel, which has possibly the most prestigious address in Arabia: Number One Sheikh Zayed Road. “We have a new tagline for the place,” says Ramzy. “We’re branding it ‘Love Food, Love Life, Love Okku’ and we think this reflects what we’ve created: a new standard in Japanese dining.”
