Zor : A bit of Uzbek @ The Pointe, Palm Jumeirah

When was the last time you tried an absolutely new cuisine? That will be us, just last week when we went to Zor in The Pointe to review the venue over dinner. Excited, as we had never really tried Uzbek or Russian cuisine in a restaurant before. Always fun to try something new, isn’t it?

Let’s start with – where is Zor?

Zor is situated in the west side of The Pointe, facing the fountains. As such – you would be parking in the …..drum roll….west parking.

Note that you get complimentary 3 hours parking with a receipt of 100AED, and you will have to pay for parking after that.

Can we bring the kids to Zor?

Of course you can.

Love that it is right by the ramps as well so bring the scooters so the little ones can zip around before and after food, or in front of you on the boardwalk. They do have a kids menu too and an activity booklet to keep them occupied.

Moscow Gastronomy Week

It was Moscow Gastronomy Week when we were there, and we had the opportunity to try a special menu that was put together by legendary chef Maksim Tarusin, as well as a signature dessert by Evgeny Vikentev.

Every dish that was presented to us was new, and interesting. Loved the Pozharskaya cutlet – this was a breaded ground chicken – juicy and tender inside. The other dish was a pastry with salmon with hard-boiled egg within – called Kulebyaka. The one we were most curious about was definitely the porcini mushroom cheesecake – which did get quite a bit of attention when I posted it on my stories – not with the most favourable responses ha ha. Mushroom ? Cheesecake ? Surprisingly good – you could taste the mushroom within the cheesecake but it was subtle – so it did still taste like a ‘dessert’. If that made any sense at all 😉

What about Zor’s cuisine?

We had to try something from Zor’s own menu so we asked for a few recommendations.

The traditional Uzbek dish – the ‘Osh’ (80 AED) is a must-try if you have never had it. This is braised lamb meat, garlic, burned onion with lazar rice – an Uzbek variety of long-grain white rice. As we are completely ignorant of Uzbek cuisine, it did somewhat reminded us of the Arabic rice dishes served with lamb – just different.

We also got to try their pumpkin manti (45 AED) – this was steamed dumplings with pumpkin within, cooked with onions, coriander, served with sour cream. Next time we will return to try their other savoury dumplings – they did have lamb and salmon dumplings too.

Have a browse through Zor’s menu here.

Pumpkin Manti (45 AED) | Zor’s “Osh” (80 AED)

How was the overall vibe at Zor?

We were there on a Thursday early afternoon – around 4:30pm or so, just before sunset. Perfect time to go in the winter as it’s cool enough for the little ones to scoot around in the daylight, and then you stay and watch the sky turn purple and pink and orange. Around 6:00pm the fountains start, and it’s just so beautiful.

There were families seated outside on the terrace too. To highlight that their upstairs area is for adults-only as they do serve shisha there.

Is Zor licensed?

Yes – they do serve drinks – just not in their ground floor terrace. So if you were there with the little ones – you could still sit indoors on the ground floor and have a few.

I got to try just one cocktail that evening – this was their Garden Martini, which I will happily return to have a few more. All cocktails are priced at 60 AED.

Garden Martini (Gin, Elderflower Cordial) – 60 AED

Things that could be better

Suggest for all staff to be properly briefed on the menu, and what to recommend, particularly for guests who have never had Uzbek cuisine before. Not everyone who goes there will be of Russian background (like us), so it would be good if the staff was much more knowledgeable than us 😉

Overall Thoughts

Go to Zor if you would like to try something different – a bit of Uzbek cuisine in a beautiful spot in the Palm. Bring the kids if you wish and sit downstairs, overlooking the fountains. Otherwise, go for a date or an evening out with friends – have a few drinks indoors or in their upstairs terrace. Do not forget to try their Osh!