Located on the ground floor of Reem Island’s Boutik Mall, Italianissimo is one of the newest Italians in the capital and we are keen to check it out.
On arrival – at a normal dinner time of 8pm – Italianissimo is empty and looks like an archetypal mall restaurant, but as we choose our table at the back of the open-plan room, we note they have paid close attention to the décor, attempting to create a homely Italian feel. We sit between two bookcases filled with texts on all things Italy, from hardbacks on Ferrari, to phrase books.
The weighty menu has some impressive sounding, not to mention traditional, dishes, including old favourites like lasagne, spaghetti carbonara and tempting pizzas.
To start, we opt for fresh tuna tartare with mixed salad, extra virgin olive oil and lemon. Our companion chooses grilled calamari with zucchini, cherry tomatoes and extra virgin olive oil.
The tuna tartare arrives just as we’re brushing up on our Italian phrases. At first glance, we wonder whether they have run out of salad in the kitchen. A few leaves topped with anchovies, sun dried tomatoes and capers are placed next to a huge dollop of tuna tartare, which ironically – and unlike the square shape pictured on the menu – resembles the exact shape of a John West tin. The flavours are rich and smoky, but we feel we cannot do the portion size justice.
Our companion also struggles with the size of the calamari portion, which is disappointingly tasteless and overcooked. Both dishes are more like light lunches than appetisers.
For mains we ask the waitress about the catch of the day. She seems unsure and almost nervous when faced with such a question, so instead we choose the linguine seafood ragu – one of the most popular dishes according to our timid host. Our companion opts for the green spinach gnocchi with king fish, scallops and cherry tomatoes.
We’re surprised when our mains arrive while we’re still struggling through our hefty starters, so with no time to savour or digest the food, we move straight on to our second course – and there is plenty of it. There are a good number of plump, juicy shrimps within the pasta, and the king fish is in bite-size chunks, cooked perfectly – we just wish there was more of it and less of the underwhelming mound of linguini, coated in a run-of-the-mill tomato sauce.
The spinach gnocchi comes piping hot, but there is noticeably too much sauce, making the gnocchi heavy and too starchy. We like ours to be light and fluffy, yet still al dente. Adding insult to injury, there isn’t a scallop to be seen.
The bill arrives and the price tag doesn’t much match the quality of the food that has come before. As the phrase book says, our experience is ‘non il migliore’.
The bill (for two):
Grilled calamari Dhs60
Tuna tartare Dhs 75
Linguini seafood ragu Dhs90
Spinach gnocchi Dhs75
Total (excl. service) Dhs300
