Food Blog | La Cantine du Faubourg | Emirates Towers | Dubai

I’ve been trying a lot of business lunches around Dubai, and you really don’t want to miss this one. I honestly think that this is perhaps the most bang for your buck (most value-for-money) business lunch that I’ve tried so far, so definitely check it out!

It is none other than La du Faubourg! This is a superb French eatery located at Emirates Tower serving up delicious food at a reasonable price! I came here with my parents, ordering 3 business lunches among the 3 of us, here’s what we got!

Where It Is

It is located at Emirates Towers - located fairly near DIFC. It’s probably easiest to valet your car and redeem your valet ticket after the meal.

It is located on the Ground Floor behind the door beside the bakery Madeleine et Marcel - which is also a very neat bakery serving up delicious Parisian desserts, so you might want to take a look at their offerings.

Address: 1st floor, Emirates Towers Hotel, Trade Centre 2 - Dubai (It really is on the Ground Floor, just that that’s their stated address on Google)

 

Operating Hours:

Monday - Thursday: 12pm - 2am
Friday: 12pm - 3am
Saturday: 12pm - 5pm, 7pm - 3am
Sunday: 12pm - 5pm, 7pm - 2am

What it Costs

The meal for the 3 of us came up to AED429.87 (with VAT5% & a municipality fee).

Each of their business lunch sets costs AED110 and comes with an appetizer and a main. If you choose to add a dessert, you have to pay an additional AED20 and if you want their “Wine of the Week”, you have to add AED40.

You can click here to take a look at their full business lunch menu.

We had 3 business lunch sets (AED110), 2 desserts (AED20), and one bottle of water (AED33). The municipality fee came up to AED26.87.

One thing I will say is that the business lunch menu isn’t as big as others I’ve tried (this isn’t really criticism because of how great I think the food tastes overall). They have 4 starters, 4 mains, and 2 dessert options - this. is why although I came in a party of 3, we only ordered 2 desserts.

How it Tastes

A short summary of how I felt the food tastes: wonderful, each dish has its own quirks and is very unique/distinctive.

First of all, the bread. They go around with a selection of bread for you to select. You aren’t limited to choosing one piece of bread, so I see it more as a sustainability thing - that food doesn’t go to waste. Too often there is a bread platter in the middle which goes to waste/you have to force yourself to finish. Some people may see it as stingy, I see it as sustainable (you can take pretty much as much as you want anyways).

We had the following appetizers:

Chilean seabass ceviche, green apple & coconut milk
Sliced veal loin, green beans, capers & tonnato sauce
Green Provence asparagus, crispy poached egg & parmesan cheese

The other dish we could have ordered is the grilled watermelon with cheese dish that we weren’t that keen on.

I would say that the Chilean seabass cerviche dish definitely stood out for me. Usually, cerviche is so-so for me, but this one actually really packs a lot of flavour. There is a bit of acidity and a lot of rich flavours coming out from the small broth accompanying the seabass. The seabass itself is also really soft and so, so delicious, so I think that this is a really nice combination.

My second favourite is the crispy poached egg with asparagus and cheese. This is maybe more because I love fried & crispy food items, and the egg is perfectly cooked, making a delicious dish. The cheese also adds a depth of flavour to this dish (I think of it very similarly to a Scotch Egg minus the usual sweetness).

The veal loin dish may be last in my rankings, but it is by no means disappointing. This is a dish that has a lot of garnishes that compliment the veal loin very well - bringing a level of acidity and complexity to the flavours. Only the lowest ranked dish because I think the other two are really good, rather than me thinking this is a poor dish.

Next up, the mains!

We had the following mains to share:

Seared codfish, cauliflower purée & zucchini ribbons
Roasted duck breast, turmeric glazed carrot & caramelized hazelnut
Grilled tenderloin, creamy spinach & sauttéed mushrooms

We opted against ordering the Tagliatelle because we thought that pasta is a bit more ‘ordinary’ compared to the 3 we selected.

These 3 are SERIOUSLY hard for me to pick a favourite from. They all have their unique quirks about them that make them so different but tasty all the same. I would describe the three as creamy (codfish), sweet (duck breast) & savoury (grilled tenderloin).

I think my dad would say that I probably enjoyed the codfish the most. I am in LOVE with that cauliflower puree. I’ve had quite a lot of different cauliflower purees, and this one is seriously GOOD. Really creamy combination with lots of flavour - and I really like it because it actually elevates the dish as a whole and makes it complete. The codfish, cauliflower puree and the zucchini all work together to make a super delicious main course.

The grilled tenderloin is the more classic option - and what I would recommend for those who are picky eaters. Big piece of tenderloin with a delicious creamed spinach on the side. I’m personally a BIG FAN of creamy spinach and this one is a really good rendition of it too. This one is a bit more on the salty side - I’m a fan of it, but just keep that in mind if this is something you’re mindful of.

Last, but not least, the roasted duck breast. As again, keeping with the theme of the food I’ve had at La Cantine, a wonderful combination of flavours that works really cohesively in a dish together. There’s a lot going on in this dish with the duck, the carrot, the hazelnut and the assortment of sauces, but it just works so well together! The one thing that sticks out for me for this dish is the sweetness, which is this dish’s unique point!

For the desserts, we had the following:

Wild berry crumble topped with brûléed mascarpone meringue
Salted chocolate and hazelnut frangipane tart & caramel ice cream

As again, I have nothing but adoration for the food here. That wild berry crumble looks like such a simple dish, like seriously. But when you slowly dig in and mix the dish up and eat it together, that’s when you will realise how delicious it really is. As again, wonderful combination of flavours that work so well together - which I can’t help but commend.

The salted chocolate and hazelnut frangipane tart is good on its own and with the caramel ice cream as well. Good, but I would say that their wild berry crumble really knocked my socks off because I haven’t had many dessert dishes like it.

Star Rating

9/10. Service was great as well! I would say that this is up there alongside my favourite business lunch offerings in Dubai, and it really helps that this is insane value-for-money. AED130 (with dessert) for absolutely wonderful food is hard to beat anywhere. I would say only Ce La Vi can compete for that title with La Cantine du Faubourg for me right now.