I can’t stop watching the last photo. That’s my kind of book!
P0ster_Nutbag
Ok, had no idea what was gonna happen in the last one, but that’s super cool.
theepiphanyofmrkugla
Apologies for the bad dish descriptions, but I didn’t manage to catch everything and was hoping the menu at the end would be more descriptive.
Decided to revisit Ossiano during a recent trip to Dubai, and unfortunately I would say it has degraded since my last visit about a year ago in both service and food. Still, it remains maybe the most fun and playful meal I have had. It is a strong contender for the best restaurant in Dubai in my opinion.
The restaurant interior is first of all absolutely stunning; You descend down a staircase into a beautiful dining room that overlooks the aquarium in the Atlantis hotel. Probably the most tastefully done opulence I have seen at any restaurant; at once somehow over the top but also quite restrained.
During my first visit, the service was perfection; every cocktail was delivered mere minutes after being ordered; the courses were perfectly paced and the whole thing moved like clockwork. The service staff were witty, energetic and just all around wonderful. I think our server overheard us discussing our numerous previous fine dining experience and invited the head chef Gregoire Berger to come down and say hello before the pre-dessert fish. He spent nearly 10 minutes talking to us at our table. The only thing that deviated from total perfection was one of the final petite fleur fell over in the dishes as it was brought to the table, but it was immediately taken away and replated.
This time around though, the service was nowhere near as tight. My biggest issue was that much of the service staff had an incredibly strong accept and spoke very fast, and even as a proficient native English speaker I had a hard time understanding what they were saying. Plenty of other minor issues, but overall fairly appropriate for 1 star level.
The food was generally exceptional, with a solid balance of experimental and familiar. As with the service, the food during my first visit was significantly better and all of the menu changes were downgrades in my opinion. One thing that I distinctly remember during this visit was everything prior to the foie gras dish was sour/acidic. Definitely need to rework that sequence to balance it out. Nonetheless, this is a very fun dinner that is angling for a Fat-Duck-esque type of engaging and creative experience. Examples of this kind of thing include:
1. Finding a lock combination to unlock a treasure chest containing a dish. 2. Having a candle lit on the table only to later be told it is actually made of foie gras and is the next dish. 3. Being invited to the bar to take a “Tequila Shot” that turns out to be something completely different. 4. Amuse Bouche served in a separate room with glowing plankton as table decor.
It does lose some of its charm on a return visit when you know what to expect, but nonetheless a wonderfully whimsical experience especially for a first visit.
Highlight Dishes:
1. The candle Foie Gras. All 3 elements where incredibly delicious, and I am glad this remained a staple dish across both visits. 2. The langoustine with mushroom sauce inside an onion with marshmallows. Bizarre on paper, somehow delicious. 3. Uni with some kind of sorbet 4. “Tequila Shot”; super novel as a subversion of expectations for anyone who has done tequila shots with salt and a lime before.
The Smoked Salmon inside the ball of icecream has me torn; I have not made my mind up on whether it was totally brilliant or a strange failure. Definitely one of the most unique things I have ever tasted though.
The hot dog has no place on this menu (despite being perfectly enjoyable).
Overall, first visit was definitely in 2 star category. Second is firmly in 1 star category, but still head and shoulders above most other starred places in Dubai. Total for 2 with 5 cocktails and a glass of Port was about 950USD.
3 Comments
I can’t stop watching the last photo. That’s my kind of book!
Ok, had no idea what was gonna happen in the last one, but that’s super cool.
Apologies for the bad dish descriptions, but I didn’t manage to catch everything and was hoping the menu at the end would be more descriptive.
Decided to revisit Ossiano during a recent trip to Dubai, and unfortunately I would say it has degraded since my last visit about a year ago in both service and food. Still, it remains maybe the most fun and playful meal I have had. It is a strong contender for the best restaurant in Dubai in my opinion.
The restaurant interior is first of all absolutely stunning; You descend down a staircase into a beautiful dining room that overlooks the aquarium in the Atlantis hotel. Probably the most tastefully done opulence I have seen at any restaurant; at once somehow over the top but also quite restrained.
During my first visit, the service was perfection; every cocktail was delivered mere minutes after being ordered; the courses were perfectly paced and the whole thing moved like clockwork. The service staff were witty, energetic and just all around wonderful. I think our server overheard us discussing our numerous previous fine dining experience and invited the head chef Gregoire Berger to come down and say hello before the pre-dessert fish. He spent nearly 10 minutes talking to us at our table. The only thing that deviated from total perfection was one of the final petite fleur fell over in the dishes as it was brought to the table, but it was immediately taken away and replated.
This time around though, the service was nowhere near as tight. My biggest issue was that much of the service staff had an incredibly strong accept and spoke very fast, and even as a proficient native English speaker I had a hard time understanding what they were saying. Plenty of other minor issues, but overall fairly appropriate for 1 star level.
The food was generally exceptional, with a solid balance of experimental and familiar. As with the service, the food during my first visit was significantly better and all of the menu changes were downgrades in my opinion. One thing that I distinctly remember during this visit was everything prior to the foie gras dish was sour/acidic. Definitely need to rework that sequence to balance it out. Nonetheless, this is a very fun dinner that is angling for a Fat-Duck-esque type of engaging and creative experience. Examples of this kind of thing include:
1. Finding a lock combination to unlock a treasure chest containing a dish.
2. Having a candle lit on the table only to later be told it is actually made of foie gras and is the next dish.
3. Being invited to the bar to take a “Tequila Shot” that turns out to be something completely different.
4. Amuse Bouche served in a separate room with glowing plankton as table decor.
It does lose some of its charm on a return visit when you know what to expect, but nonetheless a wonderfully whimsical experience especially for a first visit.
Highlight Dishes:
1. The candle Foie Gras. All 3 elements where incredibly delicious, and I am glad this remained a staple dish across both visits.
2. The langoustine with mushroom sauce inside an onion with marshmallows. Bizarre on paper, somehow delicious.
3. Uni with some kind of sorbet
4. “Tequila Shot”; super novel as a subversion of expectations for anyone who has done tequila shots with salt and a lime before.
The Smoked Salmon inside the ball of icecream has me torn; I have not made my mind up on whether it was totally brilliant or a strange failure. Definitely one of the most unique things I have ever tasted though.
The hot dog has no place on this menu (despite being perfectly enjoyable).
Overall, first visit was definitely in 2 star category. Second is firmly in 1 star category, but still head and shoulders above most other starred places in Dubai. Total for 2 with 5 cocktails and a glass of Port was about 950USD.