Actually, its quite easy to floor food lovers. The decors, ambience, service and presentation – all melt away into oblivion at the beautiful aroma of a butter chicken made with love or a seafood paella cooked with heart. So it is when we dine at a place that has got its food and act well together, we generally call it “ a night to remember”. And that is the kind of experience we had at TRE at the 49th floor of Nassima Royal Hotel.

TRE by Roberto Rella is spread across 3 floors of the hotel. The restaurant is on 49thfloor, the lounge on 50th and the bar on 51st. The congregation of food bloggers met and hello-ed each other at the lounge. Drinks and canapés kept the buzz high and we found ourselves looking forward to an appetizing night ahead. In ordinary case, THIS ANTICIPATION spells danger. High expectations often cause high disappointments. But thankfully, this story has a good ending.

After the bruschetta platters and the foie gras canapés, both of which tasted quite lovely, we were ushered to the restaurant floor where a stunningly decorated dining table waited before us. The fully lit, festive Christmas tree stood right beside our table and presented a gorgeous something to gape at while munching on some delicious food!

The dinner started with sharing platters of octopus salad, greens, burrata with semi dried figs and balsamic, eggplant parmesan and the classic margherita pizza. The burrata struck a great combination with the fig, the eggplant parmesan proved exceptionally delicious.

The first round of mains came plated up looking too pretty to spoil with our waiting cutleries. There was a porcini mushroom risotto which was drenched in cheese and truffle oil – probably one of the best risottos I have had. Then there was the pacchero pasta with duck ragout which was unfortunately too al dente to begin with, and a fabulously creamy, truffle laden ravioli which I’m guessing to be filled with ricotta and spinach.

Just when the appetites were getting sated, the showstoppers came reeling in. Grilled salmon steak with vegetables tasted absolutely brilliant, though I would have really loved the Josper grilled Wagyu strip loin to be slightly more well done. But evidently, that’s a personal opinion at play, as later on I found many had loved the wagyu more than the salmon! So that’s that!!

By now, food coma was inevitable. We were undoubtedly a happy lot, being herded to the 51st floor where the Tre Bar was located. The live performer was already swaying away with the microphone, crooning beautiful jazz music, while the pianist did his magic. The music, the view, and the large chairs meant it was time to keep the phones away and just blend in to the ambience. That was until the desserts rolled in. The dessert platter, if I may call it so, had a mash up of Tre’s various dessert offerings, including a cannolo filled with ricotta cheese, a sponge cake soaked in custard and chocolate and a milk chocolate pannacotta with salted crumble and vanilla icecream.

A delicious rollercoaster ride with sensuous Italian flavors and great company sums up the bloggers dinner at Tre that night. While I was part of a pre-planned dinner, what makes me confident of Tre’s food is that it felt original. Things weren’t surreal with everything tasting splendid and staged. There were minor flaws here and there, but the general performance in terms of all dishes make the place a very safe bet if you are craving Italian tonight. And yes, don’t forget the view!

TRE – The Pricing Story:
Porcini mushroom risotto – Aed 120
Pacchero pasta – Aed 90
Ricotta & spinach ravioli – Aed 98
Char grilled Salmon – Aed 165
Margherita pizza – Aed 80
Burrata cheese (150g) – Aed 110

Tre is located in the Nassima Royal Hotel in Sheikh Zayed Road around the Trade Centre area. Reservations can be made at +971 4 4573703.

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