Walking into Sugar Factory was like walking into candy land! The US celebrity hotspot recently opened their doors in the UAE and I volunteered to check out their branch at Dubai Festival City.
The entrance of the restaurant, is a cute candy shop, with the sweetest things on offer. Think all kinds of jelly beans, and yummy candy power and lollipops, they had it all covered. Through the candy shop, we entered the main restaurant- and the rest of this article is testimony to a great (albeit high calorie) foodie experience.
Please note: this review is not meant for the faint hearted!
Upon entering the chic eat out, we were really impressed with the décor. Imagine black and white interiors with pops of candy colour! We were immediately welcomed by the polite staff, who made sure they didn’t waste a second handing us their drinks menu. Having seen images of their quirky drinks on social media before, I was surprised to find out they menu was even more elaborate, spanning across a whole 8 pages or so! After going through everything, including the milkshakes, I settled on the Lollipop Passion Goblet, which was a crazy mix of coconut, pineapple, and orange juices, with whirly candy lollipops decorating it, giving me a sugar rush that lasted days! (Make sure you get your hands on one of these bad boys!). The interesting part however, was the dry ice that made the drink totally Instagram worthy!
Being an American Brasserie, we knew what to expect from the food, but boy were we in for a bigger surprise! They started us off on the Bao Bun Sliders, which were 3 crisped buns, filled individually with sriracha chicken, beef teriyaki and buffalo chicken. We enjoyed the bao buns and just as it was sinking in, they brought to the table a big chicken and cheese doughnut. Expect the Americans to turn a dessert, into an absolutely satisfying, deep fried- doughnut of goodness! The last starter was the chips on fish (and no, that wasn’t a typo). They concept of this one was different to the regular fish and chips! What arrived was a beautifully decorated plate of mustard flavoured potato crusted white fish, served with truffle mayo and tartar sauce!
Chips on Fish
Understandably so, we were stuffed by the time we finished with the starters but were lured into giving the main course a try too. The entrees were a cube steak gratin, which was loin steak and toasted bread- tossed in homemade seasoning and creamy mushroom sauce. I wasn’t a big fan of this one; especially since I prefer my steak well done- but because of the nature of the cut of meat; this one couldn’t be made that way. The second entrée however, won my vote! The braised lamb shank both looked and tasted divine with wasabi mashed potato as the perfect accompaniment.
Braised Lamb Shank
And, again! When we were almost ready to wrap up and leave, they offered us the dessert menu. We chose to go with the caramel butter pudding, which honestly was the star of the evening (no surprises there)! Dream of a warm caramel sponge doused in butterscotch sauce! Yes, we were in dessert heaven, I told you didn’t I?
All in all it was a fun experience, but I’ll definitely plan my next visit a while later. After all, it’s going to take that much time burning off all that food!
INFO: Dubai Festival City, 04 284 3456
Note: This review was first done by me for the Masala! Magazine, Dubai.
A'Cuppa K 