HOTELS IN DUBAI

The Viceroy Palm Jumeirah Dubai hotel opened in the first week of April 2017. Is it worth a visit or is it just another Dubai skyscraper with restaurants? Read on for an honest experience of the property on day 4 of it’s opening. Food focused review this time round.

The vibe at the Viceroy Palm Jumeirah

The vibe at the Viceroy Palm Jumeirah is ultra cool and we loved it. Think Miami meets Santa Monica right here on the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai. It’s even got a cool address – 1 Palm Jumeirah!

It has a very distinctive glass cube at it’s entrance that will have you looking in all directions and taking photos right away. You can see a long, not too narrow swimming pool immediately in front of you that forms the avenue of a poolside lined with that tall, thin variety of California type palm trees.

Beyond the pool are stylish beach decks and the sea. But the Viceroy Palm Jumeirah has used space at different levels of the pool side and there are 2 grass lined sun decks that can be reached via a spiral staircase. We also saw hotel villas set up to the left of the pool side with their own outdoor jacuzzis and smaller, grassy decks.

Food at the Viceroy Palm Jumeirah

On the ground floor there are 2 areas to dine that are open now, the casual Boulevard on One and the more formal signature Quattro Passi Italian restaurant. We had lunch at the Quattro Passi and really enjoyed the food, service levels, vibe and interiors of the restaurant.

There is a Chinese restaurant that is due to open later this month called Maiden Shanghai. We’ll review that in a separate post. There are a couple of items from each of the restaurants available on the Bar bites menu at Elevate, the bar on the 13th floor. Expect some spectacular views from here and a real lounge feel. It reminded me a little of the Restaurant at the Address Boulevard hotel in Downtown Dubai.

The food at Quattro Passi Viceroy Palm Jumeirah

Quattro Passi has a branch in Italy, between Positano and Capri on the Amalfi coast in Nerano and it also has one in Romilly Street in central London. This is the first branch to open in Dubai. The chef patron is Antonio Mellino from Nerano. The executive chef of all the dining venues is from Sweden – Robert Nilsson. He seems very cool and accomplished at his craft. See what you think…

The menu at Quattro Passi is quite short but we found more than enough to make a good selection for lunch. We chose a tuna tartare with avocado, shown above and a buratta dish served with wild rocket and tomatoes from Sorrento! They recommended we try the signature Linguine Nerano, so we did.

All three starters were excellent and I wouldn’t hesitate to order them all over again,

despite my reticence to eat pasta!

The linguine was cooked with parmesan and courgette and was delicious. The burrata was just a little runny, very creamy and drizzled with a good balsamic vinegar at our table. This was perfect with our sourdough bread.

We ordered 2 mains between 3 people but head chef Chef Antonio sent us out a third. We chose the sea bass with a cauliflower puree and the Italian classic melanzane parmigiana with a special spinach  – scarola – on the side.

We were treated to another pasta dish, this time a plate of ravioli stuffed with a mixture of Italian mozzarellas, one of them slightly smoked. Again all 3 main courses were delicious and beautifully presented. I don’t think that was on the menu.

The smoked flavour of the mozzarella was subtle but worked very well. The melanzane again was excellent as was the sea bass. However I thought the portion of sea bass as a main coarse was a little on the small side for AED 185 and inconsistent with the very generous portion of our burrata starter although that was also a bit pricey at AED 120 for a starter.

Desserts at Quattro Passi Viceroy Palm Jumeirah

Apparently a separate kitchen is required to make all the ice creams according to local regulations so none are being made on the premises as yet. However some sorbets are made off site and we were delighted with our selection of mango and raspberry. They tasted just like sorbets should, full of tart, fruity flavours, not too icy and just slightly sweet.

We also chose a hazlenut mousse that turned out to be more of a semi freddo than a mousse. While we loved the black cherry flavours coming through, none of us really warmed to the taste or consistency of the mousse. The hazlenut ice cream wasn’t available for reasons already stated.

There are 9 desserts to chose from, one of which is an Italian cheese selection.

To drink at Quattro Passi

We simply ordered a glass of rose and allowed the staff to choose for us. We weren’t disappointed.

What is worthy of note though is the selection of waters on the menu. There wasn’t a separate water sommelier as at the Montage in Beverly Hills, but our waiter was very knowledgeable none the less.

The Water at Quattro Passi

There are 15 types of water available at Quattro Passi! Choose from Italy, France, Switzerland, Austria, Scandinavia or New Zealand! There is a picture of each bottle available with the composition of the minerals contained in the water. Prices range from AED 18 for half a litre of Natia or Ferrarelle from Italy to AED 30 for the same amount of Veen water from the Lapland region of Finland.

Service levels at Quattro Passi

Service is generally very good in Dubai, but the serving staff at least in Quattro Passi have a friendly confident air about them that is really refreshing to experience.

“Can I have a hard copy or even a photocopy of the menu please”, I asked our server – another Antonio. “Of course, why don’t I give you this one….” was his charming, confident response!

Go and eat at Quattro Passi, but don’t expect much choice from the menu if you’re vegetarian. But I think this is the kind of place that would not leave you hungry, they’d make something special – just for you.

Ambience at Quattro Passi.

This is a light, clean, welcoming elegant restaurant with floor to ceiling windows of the pool area of the hotel. It’s a place you’ll find hard to leave at least at lunch time! Go try it and tell me what you think.

I now have to try Quattro Passi in London this summer but am looking forward to Made in Shanghai at 1 Palm Jumeirah first,and if you’d like to hear us TALKING about this restaurant on The Ticket Dubai Eye, then just click here..I have a show called Food News with Monica.

Follow DoinDubai on Instagram and Facebook to find out where we’re eating next….You may want to enter our latest competition to WIN a meal for 2 at KIZA in DIFC.  

Thank you Monica.