My Review of One Michelin Star Restaurant Ossiano
Earlier this month, Michael and I went on an all-out trip to Dubai for my birthday (and our engagement!). We were so excited to check out the many highly rated restaurants that Dubai has to offer. One of them being a fine dining experience restaurant called Ossiano located inside the Palm, Atlantis hotel.
We landed the day of my birthday (January 14th) but our dinner reservations weren’t until the evening, so we had the whole day to explore our Hotel and the surroundings before making our way to Atlantis, the Palm. Our first few nights we decided to stay at the Burj Al Arab – a 7-Star and known as the most expensive hotel in Dubai. Beautiful and exclusive hotel but a 20-30 minute Uber right to the Ossiano restaurant.
The restaurant is located on the left wing of the hotel once you enter the foyer. The entrance is just before the large set of stairs with the aquarium below it.
In the first video, this is the entrance to Atlantis, the Palm hotel. When you walk in and walk down a bit to your left you’ll see the Ossiano sign. The restaurant entrance is on the same floor (so don’t go down those set of stairs – that is for the main aquarium viewing area only).
We were greeted by the hosts and they confirmed our reservation. We asked if we wanted to take the elevator down or the stairs – I chose stairs even though I was wearing 6 inch heels, yikes! Once there, we were brought to a foyer seating area (shown in the second video above). It’s beautifully and dimly lit, just how I envision an immersive fine dining experience to be!
Your first two “courses” are actually right in this foyer area. You are given a drink (a pineapple blend drink) and some sushi-esque wrapped bites placed on the white octopus statue. This is the first part of the dining experience.
The drink was very light. I can’t recall if there was actually alcohol in it but it certainly didn’t taste like there was any. As for the seaweed wrap bite, it was a blend of vegetables, plants and flowers with a creamy filling at the bottom. We were asked to eat this in two or three bites.
After a few minutes waiting in the foyer and admiring the ambiance, one of the hosts came to greet us. She brings us to our next room off to the side. The room was hidden behind a heavy blackout curtain with a small table and booth. This part was a bit awkward because both Michael and I sat in the small both area while we listened to a small monologue played on a speaker behind us. It was something to do with the pollution and plastics in the ocean. The host stood there waiting for the speech to finish and gave us our next small bite – presented on top of a glowing, transparent block. She mentioned that this block contained actual plastics and garbage from the ocean. The small piece on top was edible – made from a clear paper rice and filled with some sort of plankton liquid.
To be honest, I wasn’t really a fan of the presentation. I get what they and the chef were trying to portray, but it was certainly unsettling having to sit there and try to eat something that was supposed to mimic a garbage plastic bag of trash.
After this bite, the host then took us to our final table in the main area where the large aquarium tank is located. We had a nice table overlooking the tank – not too close – and our backs facing the large screen that replayed images and short videos of marine life.
When you’re seated at the table, the waiter gives you a small booklet and a thick paper bookmark which has the courses in the order you’ll receive them. They’re written in such small font on the bookmark that they give you a half circle magnifying glass to read it.
Michael made sure that the restaurant excluded any oysters and scallops from any of my courses and replaced them with other alternative ingredients. Unfortunately, he forgot to include Uni in that list, so one of my courses contained Uni (which I made him eat both his and my portion).
Below are images of the courses we received in the order that they appear on the menu (there’s two collages side by side, so end the first image at bottom middle right, then jump to the top middle left). I wasn’t really a fan of most of the courses. Probably the better tasting one was the sweet shrimp (depicted in a star shape on the plate with 5 small pieces).
I did also like the olives which weren’t really olives. They were actually made of vanilla and chocolate ice cream with olive oil but shaped into olives. I am a huge fan of olives so the olive oil infused ice cream I thought were a hit. Michael didn’t like nor want to try it so I had both servings!
The overall experience was OK. We started off with the first few dishes being given to us. There’s an explanation for each dish in the book. Each page of the book explains the inspiration behind each dish and where in the world the chef was that he drew his inspiration from.
One of the dishes which he named “A moment of celebration” was his Foie Gras dish. This one was interesting because the candle itself was made of foie gras paste! See the video above. The waiter lit the candle, and poured two glasses of wine. Then he proceeded to cut the candle and hand each of us a piece. I’m a big fan of Foie Gras, however, not so much in its paste form. But when paired with the jam, it tasted pretty good!
Another interesting dish was their Uni. We were presented with a locked treasure box which required a combination to open. The host essentially told us to scratch off a section of a page from the book to reveal the code. See the video above of Michael opening the treasure box to reveal two beautifully decorated Uni dishes in their spike shells.
Then, in the middle of the experience, we were asked to walk to the bar where we were greeted by a bartender and two sets of wooden hands (see photo below). This part of the experience was to explain a favorite drink of the chef which apparently he loved to drink while he was in Miami. It’s essentially supposed to be tequila with a bit of salt and a fresh lime.
At first I was very hesitant because it was a huge chunk of salt that they placed on my hand. You’re supposed to eat or lick the salt, then take the shot, and finally chomp down on the lime.
I was really nervous that I was going to throw up from the huge chunk of salt. Turns out it wasn’t salt at all! And the drink wasn’t actually alcoholic either! It was a bunch of rock salt candy and some fruity drink. This was supposed to mimic his favorite alcoholic drink. Hopefully I didn’t spoil this for you if you wanted to go try this out yourself (I still think you should experience this yourself, though!)
And finally, the last dessert was also interestingly put together. The finale was a book similar to the one they give you with each page explaining the courses. Except they light this one one fire to reveal a dessert inside. I liked the idea although it was a tad bit gimmicky.
Would I rate this a 1 Michelin star? I’m not sure! I am personally leaning towards no. Why? The service was great, and the environment was incredibly extravagant with a beautiful view of the large aquarium in a very opulent hotel. But I just found the whole experience too gimmicky and almost circus-like. I also felt a little rushed with each course, almost like sitting through a long power point presentation and sifting through the power point screens as quickly as possible. I felt rushed with the whole meal and the courses just didn’t seem to really flow together for me, even though that was the chef’s intention. He did travel a lot and each dish was in fact from a part of the world, which I did admire!
If you’re in Dubai, I’d still recommend to go and check out Ossiano. The restaurant itself is beautiful and makes for some great Instagram photos and videos. The experience is unique – and just because I felt one way about it doesn’t mean that you will. Everyone’s got different taste! If you’re a big fan of seafood and experimental marine life dishes, give Ossiano a try! Make sure to call and reserve as far in advance as you can because it is a very popular spot. Hope you enjoyed my Ossiano restaurant review and that it entices you to check them out!
Traveling somewhere else? Check out my other Michelin Star Restaurant reviews!
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