After months of promising we would 'do dinner soon', Jemma, Ade and I finally set a date.
The general consensus was that we should try somewhere that the three of us have never been to - with an abundance of fantastic restaurants literally on our doorstep, sometimes it's all too easy to go back to the same places time and time again - and venturing away from our regular haunts turned out to be an excellent idea.
Swapping LBDs for more appropriate jumpsuits, Jemma and I hopped in a cab and ventured 20 minutes or so from Doha city centre to meet (a very dapper) Ade at the Torch Hotel.
Navigating your way up to the restaurant from the extremely grand lobby without guidance is a little tricky - it turns out there is a right lift and a wrong lift! - so asking reception to point you in the right direction is advisable.
Once in the right lift, you are whisked up to the 47th floor to 'Three Sixty'.
Every table is by the window, so nobody is without the views that this restaurant has to offer - that being said, the design of the hotel/restaurant is such that a beam has been constructed right round the restauraunt at head height, completely obscuring the view from a sitting position. Unless you are particularly tall or small, you will need to crane your neck/stand to have an unobstructed view. Slight fault on the part of the designer...
If you can overlook - literally - the beam, the restaurant is still more than worth a visit.
The staff are friendly but unobtrusive. For me, they offered just the right level of customer service, and were attentive without ever interrupting.
One thing some people might be put off by is the fact that Three Sixty is a dry restaurant (the entire hotel is alcohol-free), but don't let it! We each opted for a virgin mojito (lime for Ade, raspberry for Jemma and I) and they were delicious. If I wasn't forewarned, I would have had no idea that they didn't contain alcohol!
The menu consists of a good balance of meat ('from the land'), fish ('from the sea') and pasta - so there is quite the variety to choose from. There are pages for 'hot starters' and 'cold starters', ranging from salads to fried mozerella to mixed sea food to soups. The desert menu was small but perfectly formed (and incredibly reasonably priced compared to other Doha restaurants in 5* hotels).
For starters, I opted for the deep fried mozerella. I'm a bit of a sucker for cheese and deep fried goodies, so deep fried cheese is always a winner for me. It tends to taste the same wherever I have it, and this was no exception. You're average deed fried mozerella, but prettily presented.
The starters are LARGE, so be prepared. In fact, portion sizes across the board were very generous. Jemma was sensible and opted for a salad which looked delicious, and Ade went for a mixed seafood starter.
Mains for me was a filet steak - cooked to medium rare perfection and served up with delicious dauphinois gratin (absolutely spelt that wrong haven't i) and vegetables, finished with mushroom sauce.
Jemma had grilled mixed sea food, and Ade had veal.
The highlight for me was dessert - a trio of cheesecakes in strawberry, vanilla and caramel. Amazing!
Ade opted out of dessert, and Jemma went for a gorgeously presented pineapple crumble with cinnamon ice cream, which my iPhone camera hasn't done any justice to:
It was lovely catching up with Ade outside of work, especially after months of wanting to get together for a meal. By the time we had finished eating, we had rotated the full 360 degrees (I believe it takes about 90 minutes to go all the way around). It's a little disconcerting to look down and see the floor moving, and by the time we stood up to leave we couldn't find where we had come in!)
Throughout dinner, I must confess that I was particularly distracted by the table behind us...
What a gorgeous location for a date! Beautiful rose petals scattered across and around the table. I was convinced there was going to be a proposal (there wasn't, very disappointing), but we realised as we left the restaurant that there was another table laid up just like this, so maybe it's safe to assume that they lay up tables for two in this way. Definitely a dinner date venue to wow somebody special :)
Remember when I said Ade was looking dapper? Just look at the effort he went to for us ladies!
Our meal came to around 350QR per head inclusive of a tip, for three starters, three main courses, two deserts and a round of mocktails - given the opulence of the hotel, the setting, and the quality of the food, i thought this was very reasonable.
A lovely evening all round, and a restaurant I would recommend. Although if you're not good with heights, perhaps best to give this one a miss, or just don't look down ;)
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