The words ‘international’ and ‘buffet’ are enough to strike fear in many a local gourmand’s stomach. While it should stand for many types of delicious dishes, it’s a rarity that a restaurant can pull off such extremes as traditional sushi served next to authentic pizza, for example. Indeed, the term is more often coined when a hotel’s all-day dining establishment doesn’t really know what to serve, and so decides to put out just about everything the kitchen can muster. In that respect, no guest can complain about the food served – at the end of the day, there will truly be ‘something for everyone’ – but at the same time, no dish stands out. Something can be tasty, but immediately forgettable, after all.
It’s a dining dilemma that haunts some of the UAE’s largest restaurants, and a challenge that Jumeirah Emirates Tower’s Mundo restaurant tackles head-on. While it does appear to serve one random cuisine next to the other, each dish is authentic and not what you’d expect. Mexican tamales sit aside Macau Portuguese chicken, for example, a far cry from the tacos and stir fry you’d find elsewhere. Throw in food from far-flung places like Malaysia, New Orleans and Spain, and you’ll find Mundo serves truly global food that’s unlike its contemporaries.
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