Top 6 Fine Dining Restaurants in Doha: #5 Gordon Ramsay Doha

If, like me, you think that food is an important element of romance then Gordon Ramsay Doha will certainly get your pulse racing and your blood pumping.

Tucked away at the back of the St. Regis hotel is the entrance to both of Gordon's delicious Doha-based dining establishments. Whenever we head in that direction it is usually to the relaxed and friendly Opal, where fun cocktails and juicy burgers are consumed at pace on the pretty little terrace overlooking the sparkling Persian Gulf. But not this time. For it was Mr Sunshine-To-Be's thirtieth, an occasion which called for somewhere a little more serious and grown up. This time we were heading to Gordon Ramsay Doha.

The friendly staff greeted us at the entrance, and guided us to two huge double doors which were swung wide to allow us to enter. Being the inquisitive nosey person I am, I'd always wondered what was behind them before, and now I knew. Bathed in dappled low lighting, with high ceilings and an air of a 17th Century English manor house, the interior of the restaurant is so different to the usual Doha restaurant that it took me a while to get my bearings.

We were seated at our table for two (both on the same side of the curved table, which I thought was a really nice touch), and our culinary adventure began.

Two Kir Royales were brought to our table first, which were a refreshing accompaniment to the amuse-bouche and canapés which quickly followed.

We selected our menu choices, and while we waited, we enjoyed a taste of our chosen wine, a Bouchard Aine & Fils Côtes du Rhône which was rather delicious, and Rich opened a few cards.

Having enjoyed a rather large selection of plump rolls from the basket that we were offered, we decided to skip our starter and go straight for mains.

Milk fed veal tenderloin with smoked potato puree, wild mushrooms and veal jus for him.

And pan fried red mullet with provencal vegetables, tomato concasse and herb oil for me.

Both dishes were completely 'stand out' for us both for different reasons - for Rich because the smoky taste of the veal was so delicately balanced against the other flavours on his plate, and for me, because my dish was as dreamy to look at as it was to eat. 

Let's have one more look, shall we? 

Such a perfect little piece of art and by far the prettiest and daintiest plate of food I have ever eaten. Many thanks to Mr S-to-be for being my photographer's assistant by providing the lighting! 

Now, don't you find that when your main course is amazing, you sometimes find your dessert to be a little lacking in comparison? Luckily for us, this wasn't the case.

Beautiful art work was replaced with an innovative melting chocolate dome pudding.

Delicate flavours were replaced by vibrant and contrasting tastes and textures (and a touch more art).

We wiped our plates clean and set off for a very exciting trip to celebrate Mr S-to-be's 30th birthday the way that all big occasions should be celebrated (you can read about what we got up to here).

Several days later, we were still talking about that meal at Gordon Ramsay.

 

The details:

St. Regis Doha
West Bay
Doha, 14435 

Qatar

 

Phone: +974 4446 0105