idam by alain ducasse - ادام

have had the pleasure of dining 3 times now at idam by alain ducasse; twice for lunch and once for a sohour last ramadan and each occasion has been a delight!
the restaurant is located in the beautiful museum of islamic art here in doha, with the fabulous interior designed by world-renowned french designer, philippe starck. guests can avail of fantastic views of the doha skyline through the floor to ceiling windows, while they dine.
the first time i dined at idam was to sample the ramadan sohour menu that commenced with a selection of 3 mezze; saffron cromesquis, baby leave and green samboussek, fattouche salad, rabbit and foie gras pate, summer flower and vegetable salad and french snails.
the starter consisted of delicate "harira" soup or chilled tomato "consomme" minestrone. i chose the consomme and it was was very good.
a crockpot of lightly spiced vegetables or a cumin zucchini crockpot, flower and sage followed. i chose the first option and again, it was excellent.
our mains consisted of free range chicken, coco-curry and basmati rice or roasted wild hammour with soft and crunchy egyptian rice. i had the chicken, which was perfectly cooked.
a plate-cleanser of poached peach with redcurrant granite or roasted apricots and iran pistachio followed and then our dessert of date souffle with laban sorbet (which was fantastic and a stand-out dish for me!). idam always follows their meals by offering guests agreatselection of chocolates, meringues and other sweets (and arabic pastries in ramadan) and offers agreatselection of fresh juices and mocktails.
on my second visit to idam, i had lunch there, which consisted of: mrouzia lamb risolles, winter white vegetable and black truffle salad, marinated bonite fish from the arabian gulf with lemon gold caviar, kabssa free range chicken with cereals and lemon and soft, crunchy and iced iranian pistachio to finish. again, it was agreatexperience.
on my last visit, we partook in a healthy lunch as part of a healthy eating initiative at qiff 2016. chef alain ducasse was in attendance too, which made the meal even more special. we started with chickpeas and lentils in harira vinegrette, vegetable and flower salad with a black truffle condiment, marinated wild red prawns with gold caviar, crockpot of tiny spelt, seasonal vegetables and herb pesto and roasted and confit citrus. the meal was very light, fresh and tasty (and healthy!).
in summary, the food at idam is always innovative, fresh and extremely tasty. staff are very well trained and knowledgeable and the location is fantastic. prices are high, but the food is of extremely high quality. they do, however, offer a 3 course business lunch on wed, thurs and sat from 12.30-3pm for qr 200, which would be agreatway to check out thisgreatrestaurant, but not break the bank.

absolutely fantastic experience every time i go to this place.greatservice, 2 star michelin level food, pleasant environment. and affordable prices compared to same level restaurants abroad.

finally visited the most talked about restaurant in qatar. thumbs up for the availability of valet parking, we could drive our car right to the top. the ambience isgreatvery sophisticated as expected. the service at its best. however, the food wasn't up to the mark. maybe i had higher expectations. the lamb was salty and portions too tiny. everything tasted good but nothing to rave about. the dessert cart in the end is a big savior!

i had the pleasure to dine a second time in idam, this time during ramadan. the restaurant itself is very beautiful veyr relaxing and luxury ambiance with amazing views of westbay. the food as always was excellent and very special. each dish is presented differently in fancy plates. the best part was definitely the dessert trolley, so many choices, all very delicious especially the signature chocolate dessert that looks like the top of the museum. the non alcoholic drinks were perfectly matched with each course and presented in beautiful glasses. the staff was very attentive and friendly making sure all our wishes are fulfilled. the waiter pay attention to every little detail.  another definite highlight is the visit to the kitchen. a special nice touch that you get to meet the chefs who are creating thesegreatdishes.
another nice touch is the valet parking who leaves a bottle of water in your car for the journey home.
it was a wonderful evening and i definitely recommend everybody to go and try it for themselves.

idam was a delicious experience. there is a table on the ground floor where a host escorts you to an elevator for the restaurant. the host asked us if we had a reservation which we indeed had, she looked at a list as though they were fully booked only for us to see we were the only 2 dining there at 1pm for lunch.

the decorations are beautiful and simplistic due to the highlight being the gorgeous view of doha outside the large window. the waiter took good care of us giving advice on what to pick.

we ordered 3 mezze: blue crab and coco-curry bourek along with 2 others that are not on the menu anymore. the crab was scrumptious, i highly suggest it, perfectly crisp on the outside not oily and bountiful amounts of fresh blue crab. i think for the price these were the perfect size.

for main course we got the two ways ‘bresse’ duckling, local dates and my parter got the speciality tender camel, duck foie gras-black truffle, souffléed potatoes. the speciality got me jealous as my measly two way duckling was surely delicious however not on the level of the tenderness and succulent-ness of the camel with the foie gras. what i dont understand is why only that dish gets the potatoes? my dish felt incomplete and left me hungry. after kidding to the waiter that my boyfriend got a special treatment, they served me a free drink!

overall i would suggest the restaurant, scrumptious food,greatservice, at a reasonable price.

great atmosphere and food. order the camel steak, by far their best dish. also try the pistachio dessert if you're into the "hot and cold" kind of desserts. tried both of their set menus and they weregreatfor once-in-a-lifetime experience.