Bistro Romain

Affordable Italian food on the Jumeirah Beach Road 1 Reviews

© ITP Images

From Time Out Dubai Eating Out 2009

Bistro Romain, a decent locale for cheap – if chainy – Italian fare, is located in the chronically vacant Beach Park Plaza.

With the faux Roman busts and an oversized mosaic of part of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling, it’s the kind of place you could picture yourself on Valentine’s Day, weeping alone into a bowl of Italian wedding soup.

The waiter steers you towards certain dishes for good reason, the beef carpaccio (which is apparently the restaurant’s ‘speciality’, in spite of its ubiquitous presence in Dubaiis fresh and tasty. For mains, the sea bass is simply grilled and served with veg, making for a healthy and tasty meal, while the mushroom risotto is its arch enemy – a clotted and overly rich mound best avoided by anyone with a heart. But, overall it’s cheap and satisfying fare – the desserts are no exception.

In a town where finding an Italian meal that clocks in at under Dhs400 for two can be a feat, Bistro Romain – for all its decorative eccentricities – is rather refreshing. It may not exactly be four-star dining, but for the price, it not only does the job, it does it reasonably well.

• Previous reviews
  • 05 January,2009- reviewed by Daisy Carrington

Time Out reviews restaurants anonymously and pays for meals. Of course, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or independence of user reviews.