My Review of Two Michelin Star Restaurant Tresind Studio

Dubai has a plethora of Michelin Star restaurants to check out, and Tresind Studio – a fine dining restaurant focusing on Indian cuisine – was one of the places we were eager to check out! Tresind Studio is located on the rooftop of St. Regis Hotel (Gardens) at The Palm Jumeirah. They have limited seating (only 6 tables) and only two evening seating options for their a multi-course tasting menu.

We took an Uber to get to the restaurant from our hotel at Atlantis, The Royal. It was about a 30 minute drive to get there. Almost anywhere mainstream from the palm islands is going to take you at least 30 minutes if you’re planning to go more inward Dubai, so be sure to keep that in mind when booking your reservations!.

The restaurant itself is located inside the St. Regis Hotel and you take an elevator to get to the rooftop. Its a large, walkable area with many other shops and restaurants.

It’s a bit confusing to get to the restaurant as you have to walk up the side on a ramp to get to the side hotel entrance. Then once you’re there, there’s a bit of walking to do to get toe the elevator. So be sure to ask around.

We made the mistake of getting dropped off right at the St. Regis entrance thinking we can access the restaurant through there but the hotel is actually tied to a mall. If you’re lost look for the following lit-up signs like in the photo I took on the left here. Follow this, and you’ll see a ramp. If you do see it you’re on the right path!

Once you get to the top, stay to the right after exiting the doors to the outside and continue to stay on the right side of the outdoor path. You’ll eventually see Tresind Studio Restaurant.

The entrance of the restaurant has a nice seating area where they offer you a drink to select from based on your taste preferences. They give you a book with all the drinks and descriptions of each (ie. proportions of fruitiness, bitterness, sweetness, etc). They call this their Papadom Botanic Bar. You can find their menu for it here.

The ambiance of the restaurant is upscale, quiet and with warm lighting. There’s also a bunch of plants and vegetation.

The foyer seating area had a section displaying the restaurant’s awards and accolades as well.

We arrived just as the prior reservation slot was wrapping up (we opted for the 9 PM dining time). We didn’t wait long to be seated, however, So it seems like they knew what they were doing and running the dining time in time for the next guests to arrive.

When we entered the restaurant area, the kitchen was right in front of us and exposed for all the dining guests to view. There were only 6 round dining tables total in the whole restaurant – all facing the kitchen. It very much gave “The Menu” (The movie) vibes. But I did really like the lighting and the ambiance of this place.

As you can see from the videos, the place is pretty spacious and elegant. Our waiter caught me in the act of my poor 360 view attempt haha (see first video). In the second video, you can see the owner of Tresind Studio piping some of the course meals (the very right of the kitchen). It was really cool to be able to see the owner/head chef helping with the courses.

During this fine dining experience, we were exposed to cuisines from 4 major parts of India. If I remember correctly, there were 4 parts to this course. The courses were broken up as such:

• Deccan Plateau: 4 courses one region of India (the lush, green area of India)
• Thar Desert: 3 courses from the desert region of India
• Coastal Plains: 3 courses from the oceanside region of India
• Northern Plains & Himalayan Mountains: Lastly, 3 courses from the mountain, northern region of India

They actually had one of their managers come by each table with a large map to explain each region of India, its significance, and how the chef incorporated some of the ingredients from that region into the dishes we would eat that evening. I can understand now why there were only 6 tables. Imagine having to repeat yourself several times – 6 times per reservation slot seems a lot! But she did an excellent job and definitely knew her stuff! I have a video here in this post of her explaining one of the regions (see below).

To start us off, we had one of the wait staff pour a drink into this large glass vase (I can’t remember the meaning behind this but there was an explanation that in which I captured some of in the video above).

There were 13 courses total for the evening’s dinner. I honestly can’t remember all of them but I took a picture of each one below in the order that I received them.

The courses were not only beautiful in display, but also very tasty and flavorful. I”m not a fan of seafood but I tried all the courses, even the ones with seafood in them and I was not disappointed!

My favorite courses were from India’s Deccan Plateau region, which is their lush green region filled with flowers and greenery. This part of India was full of coconut, peanut butter, and other curries and spices. Their Ravioli dish was one of my favorites, as well as the first 3 dishes (seen above). You take a bite into it and your mouth explodes with creamy textures and rich flavors.

Here are some videos of a few of the course meals we had:

By the last third of the experience, Michael and I were getting pretty full. I had to keep asking him how many we have left because I honestly felt like I was going to explode. The bites may seem small but when you have 15-20 of them they add up! I ended up not finishing some of the courses towards the end (but did take bites to try and to appreciate them) because I wanted to save room for dessert.

I would say my least favorite course was their Kebab Scarpetta with sour dough toast (comes in two small pieces) and the King Oyster noodles with black fungus. I’m just not a fan of seafood and there was simply too much mushroom for me to eat.

The finale was really entertaining. All of the wait staff and chefs had cleaned up the kitchen throughout the dining experience. Then they all left and the lights all shut off. What happened next was they played the song “Fly me to the moon” by Frank Sinatra while some of the chefs, wait staff and the owner himself, walked out in succession. Each of them holding a lit up globe shaped like the moon, each with pieces of white chocolate dessert on the top.

One was placed in each of the tables, and there was one wait staff there to explain the significance behind this last course. In addition, we were given tea to go with our dessert. It was such a neat experience, I’m glad it ended this way!

We were also given a gift of a small box containing a rock, which is actually rock salt containing spices and salt that they used for some of their courses. In some of our courses – especially during the Himalayan courses,

I remember seeing the chef taking a rock from the plant placed on each of our tables and rubbing it against something on top of our meals – as if shredding parmesan cheese on pasta. I found it odd during the fine dining experience, but it made sense at the end when they handed us each one of these. These are actually made by them to look like rocks! But they’re actually editable, compact spices and salt! So creative!

Would I rate this a 2 Michelin star? Yes, hands down 100%, I would! The service was remarkable. Everyone was on point in terms of the knowledge and meaning behind each and every dish served, the history of India, the background of the restaurant itself. All dishes were served to us at the same time (which is a thing that Michelin looks for in terms of service given). Everything was elegant and professional.

This was actually my favorite Michelin Star restaurant that I ate at while in Dubai (Michael and I dined at 4 total while at our stay there, and both him and I agreed that Tresind Studio was definitely at the top!). The food itself was delicious – and I’m not just saying this because Indian food is one of my favorite cuisines. Each dish had so much flavor and the right textures I love when it comes to trying out small bites. The presentations were superb, they were beautifully decorated and picture perfect.

There were way too many dishes and by the 12th or 13th dish I was very full. I’m not surprised as India is a bit country with a lot to offer. It’s hard to pack everything into fewer than 12 courses. In addition, the final dessert course made for such a wonderful night. It leaves walking away with a smile on your face. This was definitely one of my more memorable dining experiences.

Don’t forget to check out my other Michelin Star restaurant reviews from other parts of the country & world!

Overall, I absolutely give this a two star myself and if you’re traveling to Dubai, UAE, please check out Tresind Studio while you are there! You won’t be disappointed! Hope you enjoyed my Tresind Studio Restaurant Review and that it entices you to check them out!

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