Dubai Food Review | Kuai, Boxpark

Kuai, translating to “fast” or “quick”, is a homegrown high-end Chinese street food restaurant with its first branch in the UAE located at Boxpark.

Ambiance

As you walk along, you’ll immediately notice how Kuai looks simple from the outside but very urban inside. With bold graffiti on every wall, a huge painting of a panda on the center, Chinese-inspired lanterns, and a hand painted “no MSG” on one side, this place makes you feel like you’re in the outskirts of Beijing. But no, you’re in Dubai loves.

Kuai has a very light and relaxed atmosphere where you can just chat with your amigas or special someone and dance along to the hippie pop music while waiting for your food to arrive.

Food

Dimsum will always have a special place in our heart, but the Prawn Har Gau and Lychee Prawn Toast are extra special.

(c) Sarah Zonio, 2016

The Prawn Har Gau is water-based, thus very healthy and light. Kuai’s Lychee Prawn Toast is a whole other story though! It is crispy on the outside, but as soon as you bite on the toast, you will taste the juiciness of the prawn oozing out. They are bite-sized and very perfect for people who are always on the go. Did I say it was on a toaster?

For our Mains, we were served Crispy Aromatic Duck, Kung Po Chicken and Singapore Noodle.

(c) Sarah Zonio, 2016

“Shoot the duck!” It says on the pistol. But truth be told, what really comes out is a tasty sauce that you can smear on the duck as you roll it inside thinly made pancakes. Didn’t know shooting the duck could be this yummy.

Another favourite, the Kung Po Chicken may look like it’s been topped with endless amount of spices. But no, all those little red beauties that you see are used to just give off an aromatic smell and they taste nowhere near spicy. All safe!

Kuai serves all its dishes fresh from the wok. So it was no surprise when our Singapore Noodle was served to us still quite hot. The noodles were thin and cut into short pieces. But it doesn’t go best alone, as it can lack the Kuai personality and taste after a few spoonful.

Lastly, for the highlight of the entire Kuai experience, we had two of their signature desserts: Chocolate Kuai Pie and Nutty Banana & Chocolate Cake.

The Chocolate Kuai Pie was amusingly served on a weighing scale with a tag written, “Pie here, diet at home!” Oh yes. We found the sugar level quite on the higher end of the scale, so this dessert is well fit for anyone who loves mega sweet treats.

This Nutty Banana & Chocolate Cake deserves more than just a full-paged article on its own! No words can even describe how beautiful this creation is because as you slice through, the cake is still fully intact leaving just a tad bit of crumbs here and there. There’s the perfect balance of blandness and sweetness that gets left behind in your tongue and with the Vanilla ice cream on top, it’s all feels like a one-way ticket to paradise. Does Kuai deliver desserts? We’d love three more of the Nutty Banana and Chocolate Cake please.

To top it all off, we had a Morning Star. It is an organic grapefruit flavoured tea. So yes, it does leave a kind of sweet taste after every sip.

If you’re up for an unusual dining experience that will leave your tummy very satisfied and yourself very giddy, Kuai’s the right place to go! Be sure to come here all ready for their surprises. I tell ya, they have loads up their sleeves.

P.S. We can’t get enough of how fun they make paying the bill look like. Whoops, just be sure to “check” mate!

Location: Unit M7-02, Boxpark, Al Wasl Road

Contact: 04 3403 9906

Note from the author: This was originally posted on passportbites.wordpress.com, dated February 24, 2016