Restaurant review: Da Vinci’s Italian Trattoria

A smiling waitress propped up a giant menu near the table. And I mean gigantic—it was the size of our table top.

What’s with the prop? My dining companion and I asked, somewhat amused. “It’s the Italian way,” she answered, adding that she gets that kind of reaction all the time, “If you are ready to order, please let me know.”

And that is how we spent our first ten minutes inside Da Vinci’s, a hidden Italian gem inside the Millennium Airport Hotel in Dubai. The trattoria offers casual dining in a homey setting. In fact, it feels like you’ve just been invited for dinner at an Italian friend’s home.

“We’ve kept the décor as authentic as possible,” the soft-spoken restaurant manager said. I see what he means: there’s liberal use of wood, a spacious open floor, exposed wooden beams and low-lit chandeliers—the typical chalet-style Italian home.

Authentic décor, check. But what about the food? It was time to get out the report card.

Since the first thing I saw at the entrance was the counter where chefs in tall, white hats were busy cooking pizza on brick ovens, I thought I’d give their homemade specialty a go. We ordered the seafood version for starters, along with Sicilian-style seafood soup and insalata caprese (buffalo mozzarella).

About ten minutes later, my companion’s soup was served, along with my insalata caprese. The buffalo mozzarella was light and refreshing; the soft, milky cheese going well with the slices of vine tomatoes dribbled with extra virgin olive oil. It was a good precursor to the pizza, which arrived just in time. I took a slice and bit into the thin crisp crust peppered with squid rings, shrimps, clams and mussels set in a bed of melted mozzarella and tomato sauce. It was delicious.

We wanted to eat more, but remembered that we needed to leave room for the main course, so we had the rest of the pizza taken away.

The main courses were served longer than expected but that only gave us enough time to digest the food and enjoy the conversation. I ordered the tagliata di manzo, while my companion went for the filetto di orata (pan-fried sea bream with cherry tomatoes, potatoes and black olives).

My order was lovely: The flavour of the balsamic reduction perfectly fusing into the tender, grilled tenderloin, which was served with rocket salad topped with parmesan flakes and baby sautéed potatoes.

“I wish I ordered the same thing,” my companion said, stealing a piece of meat from my plate. Not that there was something wrong with the sea bream. It was just that the tagliata was an unexpected delight.

For dessert, I went for the highly recommended tiramisu, while my companion ordered the panna cotta. I would say the tiramisu was one of the best I’ve tasted in Dubai. The coffee flavour was not too overpowering and the cake was creamy and delicately sweet.

However, this time around, I was the one stealing forkfuls from my companion’s delicious dessert—perfect, soft set, creamy delight laced with sweet strawberry sauce and definitely a good ending to this wonderful Italian evening.