An abundance of flavour and flair greets diners at Roberto’s Restaurant & Lounge in DIFC at any time of the year, but the Valentine’s Day menu is one to blow the mind — along with the taste buds.
Like a mayfly, this short-lived, special February 14 menu is available for 24 hours only, and as such, there’s lots packed into it.
Before we get to dive into the starter, olive-based apéritifs that include parsley, garlic and chicken stock dip and a selection of exotic looking breads are brought out on a reconnaissance. It has the desired effect; our appetites are whet. Later you can choose between scampi carpaccio with Calvisius caviar and artichoke lemon dressing or pan-seared foie gras with asparagus blended with a grape reduction.
After consuming these intricate fusions you’ll find yourself trying to get to grips with how Executive Chef Andrea Mugavero manages to come up trumps every time. But he has been in the culinary arena for more than 25 years, carrying with him experience gleaned from across the globe.
The menu is representative of the regional diversity typifying Italian cuisine as it lunges full steam ahead into a black and white marubini pasta stuffed with lobster, lemon on a coral and ginger emulsion or a tomato lobster soup, which is so fresh, the lobster could have just been caught. Difficult having to make these choices, but we soldier on with the help of the chill-out tones of Sade.
There’s a choice of three main courses; sea bass with prawns and sea scallop, Angus short ribs with truffle mashed potatoes or spinach and fresh ricotta cheese. Having Palaeolithic tendencies, we home in on the ribs, which include slivers of duck liver, crispy Wagyu beef bacon and cranberry sauce, making for a gorgeous combination.
The pièce de résistance is Roberto’s Sweet Lover dessert — the red heart-shaped base supports a chocolate bomb filled with lemon yoghurt truffle, while lining one corner of the plate is an ornate filigree of chocolate, carefully applied by Mugavero’s team.
Roberto’s Restaurant & Lounge, Building 1, Gate Village, DIFC. Dh1,250 per couple, 04 386-0066.
