Fishy Business
Seafood restaurants are one of the region’s most popular concepts, with a large presence on the Middle East F&B scene. Ben Watts dives into the industry to find out what makes a successful seafood offering and what fishy problems a kitchen must overcome
Luxury seafood comes in different shapes and sizes, but many customers in the Middle East are unaware of the full range available across the region.
Chefs and suppliers, however, are working hard to keep this market afloat and at the forefront of region’s F&B market.
The seafood scene
“Luxury seafood is an exciting market — it’s unique,” asserts Classic Fine Foods general manager Thomas Leroy.
“We’re getting many fish in fresh and some frozen, but our job is to go to the source, so we talk to the producer. This means we can be very close to the demand of the market and to the quality of the product.”
The size of the region’s seafood market and the geographical location of many Middle Eastern resorts, upon the shores of the Gulf, mean demand is as strong as ever.
Radisson Blu Hotel, Kuwait City, executive chef Daniel Mayor comments: “As the Arabian Peninsula is surrounded by the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Indian Ocean and Red Sea, seafood is understandably popular.
“Kuwait is famous for the quality of its local shrimps and this forms a large part of the country’s culinary tradition.
“Another factor is the image of luxury carried by certain seafood — items such as lobster, oysters and caviar are popular, especially as the Gulf region has higher buying-power than other regions in this respect. So these products are more in demand here than in some other regions.”
Local or international
Purchasing seafood locally benefits both the environment and often a kitchen’s budget; however it also limits the extent of a restaurant’s offering.
Coral Beach Resort Sharjah executive chef Edgar Razon is a fan of buying local. “We purchase from local markets every two days and always purchase locally,” he explains.
Arjaan Dubai sous chef Azmat Malik adds: “I think seafood restaurants are such a popular concept across the region, because it is the choice of the local community here, because of the large and fresh variety of seafood products available in this region.
“Our big concern is in providing the best tastes and the perfect service — by doing this with our seafood offering we are confident that our guests will remain loyal to us.”
Radisson Blu’s Mayor says he will go further afield for some supplies, but maintains a healthy mix of suppliers in his restaurants.
“Due to our guest mix, we use local and international seafood from all around the world — from Canadian crab, Norwegian smoked salmon, Kuwaiti red snapper and Chinese dry fish to green lips mussels from New Zealand,” he notes.
“For a large kitchen operation it is better to buy from a global or regional retailer to ensure that the selection of seafood requested is readily available when required, but a small restaurant might be fine working with a daily menu based on available fresh products each day.”
Supplier Classic Fine Foods is one of the firms importing large numbers of seafood from distant places, especially French shellfish, to the region’s market; it is done, however, with a distinctly local flavour.
Classic Fine Foods’ Leroy explains: “We can provide all the information for the customer that they want — we can provide the name of the boat that the fish was caught by and this is important, because it’s part of the story, part of the magic and part of the theory of the fish — it’s all about passion when it comes to seafood.”
Clearwater also offers kitchens a full seafood solution. “We employ a consulting chef who provides assistance to caterers, airlines, restaurants and other food service operators,” explains director of marketing Holly Reardon.
“Over the past five years our chef has assisted a number of airline and hotel caterers in the Middle East, with technical suggestions and a variety of full menu solutions.”
Some importers have, however, noticed problems — especially when ordering seafood from Asia.
“Tuna is a problem here as most people use colour-enhanced loin from the Phillipines and Indonesia, which is gas-flushed with carbon monoxide to give it a cherry-red look,” comments Wet Fish Trading managing director Mark Allan, who also notes financial losses are common in the seafood import market.
“I was supplying whole fish from Sri Lanka to a restaurant in Dubai, but you stand to lose money, so I stopped as it’s not fair to either party,” states Allan, who cites cost as a major obstacle in the supply of some items.
Despite this, Allan asserts that larger suppliers can often get it wrong despite having larger purses to play with.
“Large suppliers tend to stock a large range, but are not necessarily knowledgeable or interested in what they sell,” he claims.
“They stock bulk and supply to the lowest common denominator; smaller companies like ours have established a market presence by being consistent, pro-active and passionate about our offering.”
At Le Méridien Dubai’s long-established Sea Food Market, the presence of live fish swimming in tanks is more than a mere spectacle.
“This helps us to supply the freshest fish we can, but we also have a supplier who delivers twice a day,” says the restaurant manager Stanley Marquez.
“People are always looking for something fresh, so the quality of seafood that you have and the variety as well is important.
“Some of the guests are not totally convinced when they see the fish; they want to buy what they know, therefore if we haven’t got whatever they ask for in stock or on the menu, we recommend a similar fish.”
Sea Food Market head chef Nim Fat Kwai notes: “When we started the Sea Food Market we were one of a kind in Dubai; now almost every hotel has a seafood restaurant.
Economic bonus
With the economic situation playing on the mind of industry professionals, it appears many buyers are looking toward traditional concepts and local suppliers who can provide fresh, quality produce — and the price of luxury is not as high as some would imagine, according to Classic Fine Foods’ Leroy.
“With seafood, high quality doesn’t always mean expensive; it means more difficult to get — such as a product like oysters that takes time to mature,” he explains.
“Oysters are in fact doing very well in the Middle East region.”
Wet Fish Trading’s Allan agrees with Leroy.
“The prices are never the same from one day to the next in the seafood market,” he asserts.
“However imported fish prices have been cheaper in the last six months than at anytime in the last ten years.”
Luxury seafood, especially local products, aree within easy reach of the region’s restaurants.
And with luxury seafood prices as reasonable as they are, the Middle East should certainly expect to see more menus including something fishy over the course of the next few months.
Tsarskaya oysters
Classic Fine Foods general manager Thomas Leroy claims oysters are a popular item in Dubai’s restaurants at the moment. Tsarskaya oysters from the northern shores of France are named after the wife of a former Russian Tsar who had a particular penchant for this variety.
Classic Fine Foods
Tel: +971 6 534 4554
Email: info@classicfinefoods.ae
Web: www.classicfinefoods.com
Dover Sole
Wet Fish Trading managing director Mark Allan claims one of his clients will only buy Dover Soles from his firm, because he “particularly likes the quality of a particular fish from a certain region”.
Wet Fish Trading
Tel: +971 4 885 2692
Email: jacky@wetfishuae.com
Web: www.wetfishuae.com
Split Lobster
Clearwater says it Nova Scotia Prime Split Lobster is an excellent way to introduce new, cost-effective entrées. This product saves on storage space and production costs; it is great for surf n’ turf or banquets.
Clearwater
Tel: +44 1753 858 188
Web: www.clearwater.ca