Dubai’s best Italian restaurant is also its most beautiful – transporting you to the coast of Italy
Isabella Craddock
Near+Far’s most beautiful restaurants series explores the most visually striking culinary experiences in the Middle East, and the world. The series offers top restaurant tips and reviews for those looking for the best restaurants in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia and the most exciting and beautiful destinations across the world. Because dining out should be beautiful and memorable…
Address: Four Seasons Restaurant Village, Jumeriah 1
Price: $$$
When to book: Dinner from 9pm, Thursday or Friday lunchtime
Book: scalini-dubai.com, @scalinidubai
Why book Scalini Dubai
Coming from London and its surplus of world-class Italian restaurants, particularly when it comes to pasta, I struggle in Dubai to find somewhere to deliver this standard – after all, pasta is my love language. But one restaurant delivers this and more while seemingly also having the ability to transport me to the coasts of Italy (whatever the weather is outside), and that’s Scalini Dubai. The experience feels like stepping through a wardrobe into another land – and here me out.
You pull up to the forecourt of the chi-chi Four Seasons Restaurant Village, all palm trees, G Classes and Rolls-Royces, but instead of walking into a restaurant – you sep into a Wonka-equal cerulean elevator which takes you to a lower level. You emerge into a softly lit space with faux lemon trees, whitewashed walls and patterned blue flooring, feeling like an eternal summer in Italy. There’s also the staff – all Italian, of course, and the soundtrack – the perfect mix of low music and chatter, no bass sending pulses through your heart.
The interiors
Masterminded by Bishop Design, the vibe at Scalini is Italian trattoria, with a nod to the haunts of the Swinging Sixties – so expect vivid geometric patterns and a real chance, Riviera feel. Being Dubai, there’s a very glamorous and upscale feeling – but nothing too intimidating. Guests can dine in to distinct areas, an indoor restaurant with all cream, warm lighting, white table cloths, banquettes, parquet floors and more reminiscent of a sidestreet eatery in Milan.
Then there’s the terrace, with its skylights, striped cerulean and white floor tiles, striking blue bar and towering lemon trees -designed to really transport to an Italian coastal setting. We’ve dined in both multiple times and enjoy the terrace for lunches and casual suppers and the ‘inside’ dining room for date nights and cosy evenings with a good bottle of Scalini red.
The food
Scalini Dubai’s menu offers everything you’d want from an Italian restaurant – all the classics, the delicious antipasti, the fresh pasta, the crisp pizza, juicy grills, classic desserts – the world. In a generous Fundamental Hospitality move – and something they offer in its restaurants – diners are treated to a basket of fresh focaccia and nibbles on arrival, whetting the appetite and tidying you over while you peruse the menu – or the drinks selection. which includes seemingly dozens of Negronis alone. We always start with the zucchini fritti, light, crispy and perfect with a cocktail or glass of white, before moving on to pasta.
Scalini is one of the few Italian restaurants in Dubai that makes its own fresh pasta, so you must order at least one dish (though I usually go for two to share). There’s a vongole, just the right amount of al dente bite, salt and clams, and then classics like rich beef agnolotti and lasagna. The star of the show, however, is the taglioni with caviar, butter and Amalfi lemon (from AED450) my Dubai foodie awakening and swimming in warm, lemony, buttery deliciousness. Our other favourite starters are beef carpaccio and avocado Scalini salad.
After filling up on pasta, this reviewer rarely has space for mains, but for those who save space, Scalini Dubai offers everything from perfect pizza to perfectly soft seabass fillets and meats on the Josper grill. Finish your meal with Scalini signature tiramisu, or, our favourite, the Gelato Pistacchio – a creamy, rich, decadent, messy pile of sweet, pale green deliciousness – and big enough for three to share.
The service
Arguably, one of the best – or if not the best – in Dubai. Dining here is as much a social experience as dining. The Italian staff is wonderful. Laughing, smiling, joking, engaging, teasing, all while offering the perfect dining experience. The knowledge of the menu and ability to make personalised recommendations is a real treat, all adding to the experience of truly being thousands of miles away on the coast of Italy.
The occasion
Anytime. A low-key weekday lunch, a bowl of pasta in the evening, a birthday or celebration – there’s never not an excuse, or moment, to dine at Scalini Dubai.
Dubai-based Isabella Craddock is the founder of Near+Far, a founding Academy Chair for The World’s 50 Best Hotels, former Condé Nast Traveller editor and a hotel-obsessed, design-devoted travel planner—for friends, loved ones, and readers alike.
