Dubai is indeed a big playground (not just for kids, if you know what I am saying). The thing with this place, with all the biggest, the tallest and other world record breaking acievements , finding something authentic is a bit of a scarce. If it’s not too expensive, you’ll end up disappointed. .
I can say that I am not that picky with food. I always appreciate what’s on the table, but one can always dream. After my trip to Italy, I became critical with Italian food (naks), there is something with real Italian cuisine that I can’t really explain, but the taste of fresh pizza dough, hand made pasta and overpowering flavor of basils and tomatoes which you can find in you friendly neighborhood ristorantes and pizzerias is something I’ve been craving for from time to time….and for little less than 10 euros.
As a normal day in Dubai goes, hanging out in the mall in search of sale items, we passed by a huge market like shop called ‘Eataly. It was the old location of ‘Organics’ (if I am not mistaken). It has the same concept as Organics and Joe’s the Grocer, but this one, as the name implied, it is an Italian market place….anything and everything Italian.
The moment I stepped inside and saw the fresh hanging mozzarella balls, I already know that I will like this place. Aside from selling Italian ingredients, it is also a restaurant. Around this Italian market, you can find food stations from pizza, pasta and even a gelato station . You can go directly to those stations or you can get a table and be waited on.
Although we just came from dinner, we can’t really passed this opportunity to try their stuff, so we grabbed a table and ordered a Calamari Fritti and a La Mozzarella Fior di Latte. While we were waiting for our orders to come, we can’t resist not to wander around, so we asked the waiter to reserve our table.
I love the way the interior was laid out, the white subway tiles that enveloped the whole place made it look clean and neat but the tile is a bit irregular in shape and artisan-ish, creating a raw organic vibe in the place.
Now back to the food, although I must admit that service needs to be improved as the waiters were not as prompt (and informative) as one can hope for but when our food arrived, we forgot everything about it. I haven’t tasted any Italian dish in Dubai as authentic as this. The best calamari in the city I must say and the freshness of the mozzarella made our stay worthwhile.
Prices are in the mid range meaning it is very affordable to everyone looking for a good Italian cuisine to satisfy their palate. I will definitely going back and try their pizzas and pastas.
Eataly is located in the ground floor of Dubai Mall in front of Texas Roadhouse.
A quick note from Wikipedia:
“Eataly is a high-end Italian food market/mall chain comprising a variety of restaurants, food and beverage stations, bakery, and retail items. The first Eataly opened in Turin, Italy, in January 2007.[1] In New York City Eataly opened in August 2010.”
follow them in social media: (Eataly branches around the world)
Tumblr: http://eatalyusa.tumblr.com/
facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eataly
Twitter: https://twitter.com/eataly
Instagram: http://instagram.com/eatalynyc/
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