Officially, Nanking is a Chinese restaurant. It takes its name from the capital of China’s Jiangsu Province, and, for the avoidance of doubt, the sign above the door reads: ‘Chinese Restaurant’. ‘What a nice-looking Chinese,’ I remarked to my dining partner as we crossed Nanking’s threshold, taking in the dark wooden floor, the quirky alligator-textured wallpaper, and the kitchen, in its snazzy, glassy bubble at the centre. I had been royally duped, however.
Although Nanking is jolly nice, a cursory glance at its menu reveals that the culinary collar does not match the cuffs. Granted, there are nods to the big C: the succulent spring rolls and deep-fried butterfly prawns of our starter platter, for example. But the majority of main courses (gado gado, ayam kodok…) hail from Indonesia. It’s strange that a restaurant would seek to disguise its nationality thus. Is there some weird stigma attached to being Indonesian in the UAE, we wondered? Certainly, out-and-proud Indonesian restaurants in Dubai are rare – or rather they’re there, but in disguise: Nanking is a gastronomic drag queen.
If the London Estuary banter affected by Jamie Oliver and Guy Ritchie is ‘mockney’, then perhaps Nanking’s signature dish – vegetarian duck stamped from processed wheat gluten – might legitimately be termed ‘muck’. Whatever you call it, this intriguing doppelganger is far from common: flavoursome and impossibly succulent. Like the Gucci handbags of Karama, it looks like the real thing, but is somehow more impressive for its brazen fakery. It appears in various guises, from mock duck kecap (with sweet soy sauce and garlic) to gingery ‘muck’ pangang, and the menu is all the better for it. Alongside our dim sum, we shared a mock duck lada kiring starter, with peppers and a sweet soy sauce. It was so good that, when our waiter revealed that Nanking’s chefs are experimenting with mock fish (mish?), complete with faux scales and little fishy eyes, I practically swooned.
Unfortunately I had to make do with the original for now. My sweet and sour fish main was tasty enough, but the thick sauce was so gloopy that it was virtually indistinguishable from my friend’s stringy house beef, pepper and onion hotplate. ‘Where’s the beef?’ he quipped, with a flicker of sadness.
Underwhelmed by our meaty mains as we were, the high quality of starters, coupled with some fine desserts – fried ice cream bombe with almonds for me; the noun-tastic ‘vanilla ice cream whole nuts fudge two scoops’ for my friend – hinted that we had simply chosen badly. Neighbouring tables devoured variations on the Indonesian national dish nasi goreng (fried rice) with boundless enthusiasm, and you’ve got to love any restaurant that cares enough to proffer doggy bags with a broad smile.
A return visit is in order: whatever its origins, we sincerely hope that Nanking is going places.
Al Mutlaq building, opposite BurJuman Centre (04 396 6388). Open Sat-Thu 12 noon-2.45pm, 7pm-11.45pm; Fri 1.30pm-2.45pm. All major credit cards accepted.
The bill(for two)
2x Mineral water Dhs8
Mock duck lada kiring Dhs24
Nanking non veg platter Dhs42
Soya chilli beef Dhs28
Ikan asam manis Dhs34
Fried ice cream Dhs18
Vanilla ice cream whole nuts fudge two scoops Dhs10
Kiwi and carrot juice Dhs12
Total(including service) Dhs194
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