A splendid Italian job

I. Singh starts the countdown to Valentine's day with a meal that gives plenty of satisfaction

Millennium Airport Hotel, Dubai
Da Vinci's

Question: Why is Sophia Loren not fat?
Answer: Because she does not partake of the pasta and the tiramisu the way I do.

Question: Why am I happier than Sophia Loren?
Answer: Because I eat the pasta and the tiramisu that she doesn't.

Ok, enough of trying to be clever. I'll tell you something from the heart: when you're down, feeling unloved, nothing fills your stomach and soul more than a steaming bowl of pasta.

The hint of cream, the gently wafting cheese-filled vapour .... Ahhhhh. In seconds, your mood is lifting, all thoughts of calories vanquished, just pure pleasure lingering.

As you've no doubt gathered, I love Italian food. And, like a well-bred homing pigeon, I find myself zeroing in on Da Vinci's pretty regularly. I love the buzz, the cosy, informal atmosphere, the very friendly service and the food - always the food.

I tend to keep choosing from the same six/seven dishes more often than not.

This time, for the sake of an unbiased review, I decided to go where I have never gone before.

So we began, one cold winter evening (not that cold, but sounds good), with minestrone and chicken soups. Hot, brimming with goodness, warming our hearts and stomachs.

We moved smoothly on to giant stuffed mushrooms - lovely - and delicate slices of beef carpaccio rather fetchingly crossed by parmesan lines. We chased these with slices of hot garlic bread generously topped with melted cheese.

Our appetisers were nearly good enough to form a meal by themselves, but we knew we HAD to eat more, entirely for the sake of a balanced review.

So we nibbled on some seafood pizza - the crust crispy, the fish and shellfish unstinted, a gentle tomato-eyness hovering about it all.

We decided to be colourful with our choice of pasta, so ignored the spaghetti and the ravioli and went rushing into the arms of the three-coloured tagliatelle.

Soon, we had on our plates a nicely colourful mound, filled with chicken and deliciously creamy with parmesan and mascarpone. A lively, singing dish, enough for a meal if you eat it yourself, or an unconventional starter shared with a companion.

We'd been steadily sharing - and hardly talking - through the evening, our forks dancing between this and that. This being the pasta. That being the seafood risotto. Again, just rightly cooked and creamy, filled with prawns, mussels, hammour chunks, squid rings and more.

We barely had room for our main courses - salmon and prawn for me; grilled seafood for him.

We realised we were going all fishy, but wanted to, because we usually have lamb and chicken.

He found no fault with his grill - the fish/shellfish tender and the portion generous. I found my lemon sauce a little overwhelming. A little less and it would have been a better dish.

We ended with a just a spoonful of a delightfully light tiramisu hinting at coffee.

Our meal, as always, was splendid. Nothing fussy, just good ingredients cooked very well - like a good meal should be. Service was friendly; prices and portions reasonable.

Yes, Da Vinci's certainly deserves all the What's On Awards it has got so far.