The last time we delved into the world of Nikkei cuisine in Dubai it was pretty much a disaster. With that debacle well and truly behind us, we’ve been keen to sample the new breed of this Japanese fusion that the city has to offer. 

Enter Clay. 

Situated at what is essentially the base of Ain Dubai and taking up an entire upper floor in Bluewaters, Clay has taken on the ambitious challenge of representing Nikkei style Japanese food in an atmospheric, upscale dining destination.

Once you’ve negotiated the ornate, illuminated spiral staircase you’ll land into a voluminous dining space that’s made up of a variety of areas that seamlessly blend into one another. It’s here you’ll find a sushi bar, an outdoor terrace over looking the big wheel as well as a series of booths for intimate group dining experiences as well as another large bar centered towards the back of the restaurant where your expertly curated cocktails will be prepared.

The luxe interiors are dark and moody with antique undertones which is a deft nod towards the historical nature of the origins of Nikkei cuisine. Through the center of the space there’s an elaborate series of hanging discs that act as a diffuser allowing different pockets of the restaurant to be seen, most notably the fire from each of the kitchens as it flares up and catches the eye. At dinner time it’s a bustling dining room with a bouncy Latin infused house soundtrack courtesy of a DJ who’s clearly in tune to his craft and knows how to provide a great vibe and an upbeat ambiance.

Once seated at a marble topped table, you’ll find the custom made Clay embossed plates and gold and blue Cutipol cutlery appealing to your luxe sensibilities. The attention to detail throughout is noted and well appreciated. So too, the quick run down of the concept from our waiter. 

Clay’s menu is extensive and broken down into nibbles, salads and cevice’s before expanding into either traditional or new style sashimi and sushi offerings. From there you can dabble with larger plates like yakitori and grills as well as tempura all the way up to some mains that include some pretty significant wagyu options. To be honest the Nibbles all sound amazing and we could have easily just grazed on them, with things like tacos, wagyu pizzas, padron peppers and bao’s it was hard not to but for this visit we wanted to try a range of items and so started with the Sake Taco (AED 65) and the Carretillera Ceviche (AED 78).

The Sake Taco is an immensely enjoyable concept. The salmon and smoked yellow chilli combination with lemongrass and a Peruvian chalachita (a mixture of diced red onions, tomatoes, cilantro and lime juice) on the tapioca coriander crackers was a real winner. The crunch of the green cracker that acts as the taco shell is just a brilliant bite. It’s a tangy and slightly sweet mouthful with a punch of heat.

Meanwhile, the Ceviche is a work of art that exhilates all the senses. The beautiful presentation is backed up by a silky mouth feel of the delicate and tender sea bass which when combined with the citrusy yellow chili sauce is light and refreshing and lip smackingly good. There’s also some added texture courtesy of the chocolo corn which is a large-kernel variety of field corn from the Andes and this pairs just nicely with the sweet potato pieces. Each mouthful is a delight and this is the stand out dish of the evening. 

From here we take a look at the Moriawase Al Fuego (AED 95) which is a seafood collection in a gravy served on a stone fire platter that looks amazing as it arrives to the table. There’s a real depth of flavor to the broth and comes across as an upscale seafood chowder.  

At this point we’re highly impressed but also have some big decisions to make. Do we switch to hot plates or keep it cool? In the end we knew we had to try the signature Clay Moriawase Sashimi Platter (AED 290) which arrives in grand style to the table. This is the Chef’s selection from the new sashimi flavors of the menu and features some incredible sashimi combinations that you really have to experience for yourself. It’s the first time that we’ve not given each beautiful slice of fish a dip in soy. The platter included their gold leaf tuna, some beautiful scallops and sea bass along with some nicely charred pulpo pieces as well as some salmon and shrimp, all expertly arranged on an elaborate and extremely heavy stone serving platter. Little touches like the sprinkling of various flowers and some colored ice with a hand painted motif take the presentation to the next level.

As all of this is unfolding, the music has edged up just a notch and the dining room getting close to full capacity, until that point the service has been great but it was clear that the super friendly staff we getting close to their limit of being able to attend to each table in a more one on one way.  

Switching over to the hot menu and we opt for the Wagyu Ahumado (AED 210) which is a show stopping twin set of vertically presented yakitori consisting Wagyu Beef Striploin with a mild spicy sauce and partially burnt half of a lemon. The moment that it is sat on the table we notice some smoke emanating from the serving box which turns out to be some smoking wood - a brilliant piece of theater that not only added visual appeal but exuded a lovely smoked wood aroma that was immediately immersive and completely complimentary to the dish. The wagyu itself was tender and juicy but only so once cut into much smaller pieces. It was entirely enjoyable but didn’t quite hit the high notes expected of wagyu in so far as it wasn’t absolutely melt in the mouth stuff.

Rapidly realizing that our stomachs only have so much room and that our eyes have completely overlooked such facts, we settle for one last item which was the Concolon Red Prawn Rice (AED 220). This was another highly compelling dish that was essentially the socorrat of a peallea with three beatifically cooked and sweet strikingly red Carabinero prawns draped over the top of the botan rice that is sat upon the cast iron serving dish. This is where it’s abundantly obvious that the menu really can take you in two very different directions with the dish leaning extensively towards the Latin side of things.

For many, desert at a fine dining destination can be somewhat of an antiquated notion, but here we really wanted to explore what the interpretation of a Nikkei desert could be. We ordered the Yuzu Cheese Cake (AED 55) which is a spectacular deconstruction of a lemon cheesecake. It arrives at the table as a round ball mimicking a lemon, leaf sprig and all - sat upon a pile of green crumbs. The crumbs are crushed de matcha and feature some slivers of confit lime for a little extra zest. The delicately soft and superb yuzu mousse cheesecake filling was simply brilliant. It’s a clever dish that’s able to maintain a sense of crunch with it’s hardened outer shell while delivering soft ice cream like filling. A fantastic way to round the evening out.

Bottom Line:

Clay Dubai invites you on journey to explore the traditions and creativity of a more than hundred year old cuisine and delivers on that promise with flair and attention to detail. With luxe surrounds, excellent service and an equally good soundtrack, our quibbles with the evening were relatively minor and more around personal taste preferences than anything else. There have been any number of times where we’ve seen style over substance come into play on our dining expeditions, this is not one of them. We are by no means experts in the field of Nikkei but we’ve loved what we’ve seen so far from Clay and with so many excellent yet untouched items remaining on the menu, we’re already planning our next visit.