We seemed to have had a W Hotel themed weekend after spending Thursday Happy Hour and Friday Brunch in Spice Market and then going to Market by Jean Georges for lunch on Saturday. The express lunch at Market is great value at 98 QR for 3 courses and there is a good choice of dishes for each course to suit the majority of people. I like the design of Market, its bright and modern with clever use of dividers to break up space. It was a bit odd however that they filled all the tables in one section and it felt a little cramped, it would have been nice to be more spaced out as the restaurant wasn’t full.We quickly placed our orders and were given a lovely basket of warm, fresh bread. I think a good bread basket is the sign of a good meal to come and we soon finished it. Luckily our starters arrived before we could devour any more.
My tomato and mozzarella salad with basil and balsamic was a good size, the mozzarella was thick and creamy and it was well seasoned. I did find a couple of the tomatoes slightly under ripe, they were a bit hard. Greg ordered the calamari with lemon harissa dip and it was delicious. The calamari was crispy, not too oily and the dip had a lovely kick to it.
As this is an express lunch service was swift, our plates were quickly tidied away in preparation for our mains arriving. Whilst we were waiting the server came and explained the new ‘ Supper Club’ menu being offered every day ( except Friday) 3 courses for 100QR 5pm – 7pm and the ‘ Gin o Clock’ offering unlimited Gin Sunday – Thursday 5pm – 7pm for 120QR. These promotions sounds great and I am sure we will be back to try it out! Soon our mains courses arrived. My salmon with mash was light, fresh and cooked perfectly and the mash was creamy and not too heavy, the shredded sprouts gave texture. Greg’s cheeseburger was huge…… really huge. It was the kind of burger you need to cut in half before you tuck in! He had asked for it medium rare but the middle was a little too rare for him so he left a little bit but other than that it was delicious.
We were feeling rather full by this point and probably wouldn’t have ordered dessert if it wasn’t included in the lunch offer. My salted caramel ice cream sundae with popcorn was lovely though I would have liked the ice cream to be a little saltier – it was a huge serving but I battled through and finished it. Greg ordered the banana cake with ice cream and as he was so full already he found it a little heavy and did not finish it all (the latte he ordered probably didn’t help!)
Overall we really enjoyed our lunch, as I said its excellent value for money when you consider the quality and portion size. It is particularly good if you are in a hurry as service is prompt but not rushed. The bill came to 280QR for 2 express lunches, a bottle of water, a latte and a tip. Highly recommended – just make sure you’re hungry and have no plans to eat later in the day!
Eat. Sleep. Repeat 