We have a soft spot for Italian cuisine and we don’t care who knows it. From high-end plates of fresh seafood to a humble bowl of pasta, we could spend the rest of our days eating Italian without a single complaint. In fact, that sounds like a brilliant idea, remind us to book flights to Europe for our next holiday and we’ll put our theory to the test.
It’s fair to say that BiCE Ristorante at Jumeirah at Etihad Towers has all the bases covered on its menu, with all of our favourites present and correct and a few extra dishes thrown in for good measure.
The dining room, basking in natural light from the floor-to-ceiling windows on a Saturday afternoon, has a relaxed atmosphere and a few families have taken their seats for a midday meal overlooking the hotel’s inviting pool area. We find ourselves shamelessly people-watching and relaxing by the window as the world goes by around us.
We’re hungry, and in truth everything sounds good to us as we flick through the menu, but you can’t order everything, can you? Being greedy, we share an antipasti platter and there’s lots to shout about on the board.The fritto miso batter is perfectly crisp revealing juicy prawns inside, the aubergine parmigiana is decadently cheesy and rich, the bruschetta is caked with sweet tomatoes and balsamic vinegar and we clear the lot.
Fearing we’ve peaked to early, we unwind with a pair of cool drinks and let our stomachs recover before selecting our next dish. You can tell a lot about an Italian restaurant from the fresh pasta. It should be made in-house and kept simple with as few quality ingredients as possible.
We’re snobs, sure, but what Italian chef doesn’t know how to make and prepare fresh pasta?
Parpadelle is a favourite of ours and the porcini mushroom version is wonderfully creamy and packed with fabulous fungi. The sauce is on the thick side, packed with scamorza cheese, but pasta is supposed to be indulgent. Meanwhile, the spinach and ricotta ravioli is pretty as a picture and the parcels are perfect.
BiCE is consistently good. The food is simple and satisfying and you won’t leave hungry. Job done.
