Da Vinci’s

Da Vinci likes to call itself ‘Dubai’s friendliest Italian restaurant’ and we’re not going to disagree. The mainly Filipino staff even throw in a few words of colloquial British to befriend UK guests – when we visited our waitress said ‘Cheers!’ every time we placed an order. It’s also one of Dubai’s most charming eateries 6 Reviews

Da Vinci likes to call itself ‘Dubai’s friendliest Italian restaurant’ and we’re not going to disagree. The mainly Filipino staff even throw in a few words of colloquial British to befriend UK guests – when we visited our waitress said ‘Cheers!’ every time we placed an order. It’s also one of Dubai’s most charming eateries. The much-loved décor – with the piano-playing mannequin and the Vitruvian Man wall-painting – is highly kitschy but great fun, and helps sustain the convivial vibe in a rather cavernous restaurant. The problem is that we’re rather surprised by another f-worded claim the restaurant proudly boasts, that of Dubai’s ‘favourite Italian restaurant’. We don’t dispute the results of the poll – the elections were no doubt free and fair – but we have to take issue with the city’s Italophiles on this one.

My main course was the worst offender, a portion of chicken breast with spicy sauce. Indelicately fried and carelessly presented, the two pieces of poultry dripped with oil and were hard, chewy and possessed almost brittle, overcooked edges. A few dabs of routine spicy sauce did little to disguise the overall blandness, while the accompanying peas had been overcooked to the point of nearinedibility. My friend’s tagliatelle aragosta e gamberoni – a lobster and prawn pasta dish – contained a huge quantity of lobster and a couple of mushy prawns. Unsurprisingly, considering the low Dhs70 price tag, the never-ending lobster was characterless and dull, while the dish didn’t appear to possess much of the cognac listed on the menu. Another flop was the carpaccio di manzo appetiser, slices of beef so thin it became difficult to lift them off the plate without them disintegrating mid-air. They contained little flavour, and the serving of stick-shaped, rather than thinly-sliced, parmesan cheese was a strange choice of accompaniment – the cheesy flavour overpowered the meat when eaten together.

It wasn’t all bad; my funghi farciti, essentially mushroom-stuffed mushrooms, had a deep fungal flavour and meaty texture while the desserts were fine – a refreshing redcurrant sorbet and a smooth, nutty praline cheesecake from a full Mediterranean menu mysteriously hidden at the very back of the menu.

Da Vinci’s does offer excellent value: a three-course dinner, after the 20 percent early bird discount for dining before 9pm, shouldn’t come to more than Dhs150 for two, and if you stick to the simpler dishes, as we’ve done in the past, you’re less likely to be disappointed. But on this occasion our food had been unsatisfactory. Friendly and favourite though Da Vinci’s may be, it’s also rather flawed.

• Previous reviews
  • 26 March,2008- reviewed by Jeremy Lawrence
  • 12 March,2007- reviewed by Time Out Dubai Staff
  • 30 April,2006- reviewed by Time Out Dubai
  • 01 March,2003- reviewed by Rob Orchard
  • 01 January,2003- reviewed by Rob Orchard
  • 01 September,2001- reviewed by Time Out Dubai Staff

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