Leonardo – Stella Di Mare Hotels – Dubai Marina

Chef at Leonardo – Stella Di Mare Hotels

Interiors at Leonardo – Stella Di Mare Hotels

Leonardo located at Stella Di Mare Hotel at Dubai Marina is a fine dining restaurant that is perfect to take anyone to that special day. Inspired by Leonardo da Vinci, the restaurant has the artist’s engineering showcased all around the room and is the central theme of the restaurant. What we loved about it was the quiet ambience and ample space between tables which makes it a perfect spot for some private dining and intimate space. They really do pamper you with high quality service, cutlery, chef who comes to your table explaining the dish.

The shows starts with their complimentary bread basket which in itself was plenty. Each Italian bread was fresh and was a joy eating them. They have only 3 mocktails in the drinks menu. Just before we picked the mocktails we were already greeted by their complimentary shot of mocktail. The mocktails were good looking and refreshing. We were also given a complimentary starter Arancini, a deep friend ball of rice. It was more like a piece of art presented on a plate. It was an impressive start to our evening at Leonardo.

Burrata – AED 74 – Heirloom tomato, pistachio powder, basil olive oil

Beef Carpaccio – AED 65 with homemade mayonnaise capers, tahini, sesame seeds and lemon

Plin gorgonzola pasta with pumpkin sauce and mushroom

Cavatelli pasta bolognese with parmesan espuma and cripsy tomato bread

The Burrata felt fresh and it reflected an authentic Italian fresh cow milk cheese. The texture was really nice and creamy on the inside. The beef carpaccio was different with thin slices of beef squeezed inside the center of a beautiful plate. The pasta is to be appreciated with both of them varying in it’s taste. The cavatelli pasta bolognese was dominated by the strong taste of parmesan cheese whereas you enjoy the gorgonzola pasta for it’s sweet pumpkin sauce.

Angus beef ribeye tagliata with rocket leaves, cherry tomato, and shaved parmesan cheese

Panfried seabass, celeriac puree, baby carrot and roasted beetroot, 5 spice infused consomme and fresh vegetable

We then enjoyed their Angus beef ribeye which is actually kept marinated for 3 days, the meat was juicy and tender as expected and the touch of parmesan cheese on the side went very well with the beef. The panfried sea bass was to be also to be appreciated for it’s freshness and taste. The puree and the spicy sauce on the side gave better flavour to the fish.

Gluten free chocolate cake with almond flour and vanilla ice cream – AED 45

We then ended our meal with their signature dessert which is the Tiramisu. It is served in a wide glass in multiple repeated layers of mascarpone cream and coffee soaked biscuits. Loved every spoon of it. The gluten free chocolate cake came with 2 scoops of homemade vanilla ice cream. The dark chocolate cake along with vanilla ice cream made it a lovely combination and considering it was gluten free, the cake was extra soft and highly addictive.