Have you eaten flowers before? More and more restaurants are using these to garnish dishes to add and enhance the flavor.
During my recent visit at Capital Grill, I was so intrigued to find edible flowers in my dishes. They look so pretty in the presentation but also wonderful to taste. Imported from France, these babies are a whopping $0.5 -3 US dollars each flower! These flowers are fragile and needs to be consumed soon after picking. As well, they are grown organically. I enjoyed two types of edible flowers at Capital Grill with my dishes. I found that the Gem Marigold aka Tangerine flowers give off a mild citrus flavor and scent, while the Pansy violet flowers are grassy and a bit sweet.
You can find retailers online if you wish to grow your own edible flowers. It’s perfect for adding the pop of color to breakfast dishes like yogurts and oatmeal. Be sure to read on further for the dishes we ordered at Capital Grill and photos of how they garnish using edible flowers.
Capital Grill, Dusit Thani, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Welcome
My husband and I were invited to Capital Grill at Dusit Thani to try out their newly launched menu on a quiet Sunday evening. They set the restaurant in a dim romantic setting. They have red rose centerpieces at every table with a dim table light. The restaurant features a lounge area at the side where you can sit comfortable to have drinks and chat. We sat in the main area at tables looking onwards to a large bright open kitchen.
Athurokale Duminda, the restaurant manager, made really great recommendations for us and attended to us really well. He was the one initially who had informed me about the tangerine flowers and its background.
Starters
We started off with half dozen of Kelly Oysters, shucked to order. I enjoyed all the garnishes they had chosen to serve the oysters with – lime gel, green apple, edible flowers. Perfect combinations that kick your taste buds into first gear. In retrospect, I really should not have asked for Tabasco sauce.
Next we ordered the must-try seared scallops. It was a chef recommended selection as this is a crowd favorite. They do change their menu at least twice a year but seared scallops are a classic at Capital Grill. I found it to come in a pretty small portion since it came in 3 pieces only. However, it was cooked to perfect and my husband enjoyed it a lot, he almost wanted to eat all 3. The pumpkin puree it came with was amazing.
Mains
For our mains I ordered the Australian Wagyu tenderloin cooked to medium rare and my husband opted for the Master Kobe Beef tenderloin cooked to rare. A part from a wide variety of signature cuts, they also serve other mains such as lobster and cod. Those were my runner-up options.
With my Wagyu steak, I chose to pair it with the mushroom steak sauce and my husband opted for the port wine reduction. I actually enjoyed his sauce a lot more and surprisingly the Pommery mustard sauce was my favorite. It was quite spicy but gave it a nice kick I was not used to tasting with my steak. My steak was cooked to medium rare as requested and was presented elegantly. I asked for sautéed mushrooms for my sides and my husband asked for the baked potato. The baked potato could use a bit more work on the presentation. It tasted more boiled than baked. I love it when the skin is crispy and there are more toppings on it, possibly chives and some bacon bits would add a bit more color to it.
I expected my husbands Master Kobe Beef Tenderloin to be really amazing, sort of like melt in your mouth amazing but I found it to be a bit chewy. Nonetheless, he enjoyed it thoroughly but I am not sure if it warrants the pricetag of 599 dhs a portion.
Dessert
Finally dessert time arrived and I had already knew what I wanted to order from browsing the Instagram photos online. The flowerpot was my first pick and we also opted for a strawberry cheesecake. The flowerpot came as I expected, looking beautifully like a garden. It was tiramisu topped with edible flowers. It looked so pretty and tasted so wonderfully too!
