Overload of Japanese outlets in Dubai?

Nozomi restaurant, launched on December 1 at the Habtoor Grand.

 Highlighting the regional trend for Japanese cuisine once again, London restaurant Nozomi has made its Middle East debut this month.

The restaurant, which offers a selection of modern Japanese food, opened its doors at the Habtoor Grand Hotel in Dubai Marina on December 1.

Nozomi founder Marios George said the outlet’s aim was to “re-introduce the much forgotten pleasures of dining, not just eating".

In an interview with Time Out Dubai last week, George explained that the restaurant would “mirror” the original in London.

“If you refer back to the London business, 90% of our clientele is international anyway, and neatly divided between Europe and the Middle East. What we do here will be a mirror of what we do in London.”

George went on to say he believed the Nozomi concept would still stand out from the crowd, despite the recent influx of high-quality Japanese restaurants into Dubai.

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“We all do contemporary Japanese cuisine, and we all interpret it in a similar fashion. And a lot of chefs that work for me and the other companies have been in and out of the same kitchens,” he admitted.

“The real difference is that we don’t focus on food so much as the dining and lifestyle experience.

“People who dine at Nozomi make a big effort to dress correctly; they want to see like-minded people. Our restaurant has a club feel to it — it’s a night out. It’s not just about arriving for dinner, paying the bill and moving on to somewhere else.”

Commenting on whether such an ambience might already be present in any of Dubai’s other Japanese outlets, George said: “I’m not too confident to talk about Okku. I visited and wasn’t too impressed.

“Zuma I have respect for; it’s a major player.

“It’s curious to see how they’ve converted from being mainly a restaurant at the London location to becoming a half-restaurant, half-bar here in Dubai. I think they’ve taken a small leaf out of Nozomi’s book.”