77 Veggie Boutique at Jumeirah Lake Towers

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Jumeirah Lake Towers has no shortage of dining options, with plenty of major restaurant franchises and smaller independent restaurants in the area. Among the latter is 77 Veggie Boutique, which is dedicated to providing healthy, organic vegetarian food and promoting a healthier lifestyle. It’s a fairly unassuming little place, located by the lakeside in Cluster W. Green walls and nature-inspired accents like little wooden carvings.

I start off with one of their signature drinks, the Lemon Walk, followed by my food order. The name and description of the drink is a bit misleading. It’s described as a lemon juice drink flavored with berries, but it ends up being more a berry smoothie with some lemon juice in it. It tastes decent, but it’s definitely not cold enough, especially on a warm October afternoon.

The dishes I order are Molly Made Munch Bunch, Light Tofu Salad with Veggies, Red Rice Noodles and Low Fat Balti Potatoes with Aubergines. The Molly Made Munch Bunch is a house specialty, consisting of carrot and cabbage balls in Manchurian sauce and garnished with chopped spring onions and yogurt. The dish is drowning in sauce and has a very mushy texture overall, and the flavor is overly sweet, with passing notes of sourness.

The Tofu Salad, another specialty, seemed quite inviting on the menu, but the actual dish looks a bit boring. It was described as roasted vegetables served with baked tofu, but the vegetables appear to be steamed, with none of the concentrated flavor or moist texture that roasting tends to bring out. They taste bland, and while the tofu is slightly caramelized, it adds no flavor to the dish.

With lowered expectations, I turn to the Balti Potatoes. Once again, there’s quite a difference between the dish pictures on the menu and the one I see in front of me. The potatoes have been sautéed in spices, and there are some spices sprinkled on top as well, providing a bit of a flavor boost.

The Red Rice Noodles prove to be a pleasant surprise. They have a good mix of veggies and a nice spicy flavor. There’s also a nice mix of textures, which helps to balance out the mushiness of the previous dishes. For some reason, this dish is also served with slices of toast. That’s a bit of a mismatch, but doesn’t take away from the solid flavor of the dish.

I’m hoping I can end things on a high note and order the Low Fat Blueberry Cheesecake for dessert. Once again, I find myself misled. It’s essentially a very thick biscuit base that tastes of brown sugar and butter, with a thin layer of cream cheese topping and some berries sprinkled around it. I’ve had low-fat cheesecakes that tasted every bit as indulgent as the regular kind. This is not one of them.

The concept behind 77 Veggie Boutique is commendable, especially in a busy office area like Jumeirah Lake Towers, where it might be more common to find fast food than decent vegetarian options. However, the execution falls a bit short, and the restaurant promises more than it can deliver. If they intend to be proponents of a veggie-focused lifestyle, they need to have strong and interesting flavors that can attract the attention of vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike.

That being said, Veggiebuzz had tried their veggie burger on a previous visit, and it was a contender for our article on the 7 Best Veggie Burgers in Dubai. While it didn’t make the cut, we can definitely recommend it!

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