Third time's a charm at Distrikt?
I’m not prone to get excited about places that don’t spell their names properly, and no I’m not old fashioned - it’s just that gimmicks like that (that used be cool in say the 90’s) are pretty much played out. Anyhoo.
That said, I did like the idea of what was formally the Asian District which morphed into the rather forgettable Food District - which is now the recently launched Social Distrikt. That’s a lot of ‘districts’. So, can this district make it work third time around?
First up, it’s big space and just like it’s predecessors an ambitious culinary play. This time around the concept is commercially decentralized with individual operators all getting a kitchen within the venue which describes itself as one giant social gathering. It’s a place where you can kick back and enjoy a pint and play a game of pool, check out some art, listen to some cool beats and even buy records in the downstairs record store. All of which makes this food hall slightly more than just a place to grab some bar snacks. It’s an interesting concept that is sure to attract it’s fair share of hipsters.
Of course a destination like this is going to have an industrial look and this version is of the bric-a-brac variety with bookshelves of ornaments and splashes of seemingly mandatory street art spread across both levels of the venue with plenty of Edison bulbs in tow. Sigh.
Outside, you’ll find a variety of couches and individual table arrangements randomly spread along the entire upper deck that are punctuated by bursts of greenery courtesy of scattered planters, all with commanding views of Atlantis and the fountains.
One of the other unique aspects of the Distrikt, is that you can order and pay directly from your table. (More on that later). Sounds good in some ways, particularly if say you find yourself in a group of the before-mentioned hipsters having a few drinks and want to order as you go and try a few different options from the line up without the need for splitting the bill 4 pints in to the evening. Oh and the line up includes some much loved names like:
(In no particular order)
Pinsanity, Vigilante, Luca, Couqley, Japang, Circle Cafe, Zaroob, Rock House Sliders, Go Greek and Ichiban Sushi. There’s some heavy hitters on that list, from which we ordered a few things like .....
The Beef Doner Pita (AED 41) from Go Greek, I’ve had millions of these things and this one was good but nothing to write home about. Moving on.
We grabbed the Chicken Katsu Sando from Japango and this was easily our lunchtime star and great value for money at 32 Dirhams. The chicken was tender on the inside and the crispy crumbed batter on the outside of the katsu fillets exactly as you want it and perfectly seasoned with a dusting of sriracha, while the small side of pickled ginger really added some extra zest to it - when combined each bite was an explosion of flavor. The side of slaw was also excellent.
Next up came two Burgers from Rock House Sliders which were the Original Rocker (AED 17) and the Kick My Boss (AED 19) both of which were great with juicy patties and soft buns and you can imagine that these will make perfect bar snacks for when the night drags on without breaking the budget.
We also tried the Baja Tacos from Vigilante (AED 37 for 2). They looked good and tasted pretty good (not as good as our favorite taco joint), alas, the choice of crispy tacos was not good one, it lead to the filling spraying out everywhere and it becoming a very messy thing to eat losing half the taco’s contents along the way - more serviettes please! This would be especially unwelcome for any punter on a date night. We also tried the Vigilante Fajita Bombs (AED 33) which were an interesting prospect offering shredded chicken with a spicy mix of jalapenos, cheese and sweet corn into a two bite deep fried ball of flavor. It was pretty heavy on the pimento but the dipping sauce cut through a little and they weren’t too bad at all.
Now back to that innovative ordering system and being straight up about it, we made our order and paid for it with no issues at all, regrettably (unbeknown to us) it got lost in cyber space and so we sat and waited.
And waited.
And waited some more, with no one bothering to check up on our table until after 40 minutes we politely checked on the progress of our food. Finally realizing the issue, the already busy and somewhat confused service staff swung into action and belatedly the dishes arrived, with an apology and to the manager’s credit a complimentary slider as well. Some work needed there that we’ll put down to opening jitters but it wasn’t ideal.
Bottom Line:
I really like the Social Distrikt concept because a Food Hall & Bar at the Pointe is a good idea. In fact it makes perfect sense and with a solid line up working the kitchens (and the price point pretty reasonable for the licensed venue) - it should work. However, at this early stage the ambition and the execution are not quite matched.
Also is should be noted they get major kudos for being dog friendly.
Let’s see how it evolves.
