Dining Out | A Scrumptious Italian feast Sicilia, Movenpick Ibn Batuta Gate, Dubai

We went to Sicilia for the pizza and stayed for the charm. One of the really wonderful things about dining in Dubai is that ever so often you come across a restaurant that has such an authentic interior design and menu concept that you are transported to a different place, forgetting where you are. Such is Sicilia, the Italian restaurant at the Movenpick Ibn Batuta Gate Hotel.

Located at the far end of Dubai, closer to Abu Dhabi than the Dubai Airport, this quaint trattoria style restaurant with brick arches is certainly worth the journey.

Chef de Cuisine, Stefano Ligori and Restaurant Manager, Vincenzo Cuomo hail from Italy and both contribute to providing an endearing Italian dining experience.

We dropped in without reservation on a Sunday afternoon, right before the end of lunch service. A few diners were wrapping up their lunch and we made our pizza order immediately so as not to hold up the kitchen. It was of course the reason we went there.

Dubai, like many other cities has a lot of pizzerias dotted across the landscape. However, as pizzas go, not all are created equal. We were looking for a really tasty authentic Italian pizza with Italian ingredients and the Caprese Pizza by all accounts made the cut.

Made in their big, impressive show oven with fresh tomato sauce, buffalo mozzarella, sweet juicy cherry tomatoes, black olives, basil and oregano with a finishing drizzle of good extra virgin olive oil. our mozzarella was substituted with Italian buffalo Burrata as they had been out. What a delight! It’s a good thing they provide knives and forks because this pizza is certainly oozing with deliciousness which must be mopped up. The thin Italian crust has nice puffy, characteristically charred sides aid in that.

Since there was an open kitchen, we chatted with Chef Stephan who eagerly recommended a few things from his menu. It was rather risky as asking a chef to pick dishes is akin to asking a mother which is her favourite child but he simply threw it back at us finding our own preferences then making recommendations accordingly.

We relished every bit of the Burrata Salad with a Sicilian Caponata. The creamy buffalo Burrata sliced open and drizzled with olive oil was perfectly matched with the sweet and slightly tangy warm caponata, which is the robust Italian version of ratatouille.

The first dish was a Roasted Octopus with Chickpea Puree, Semi-Dried Tomato and Pioedmont Green Sauce, which, touch my heart was the most delicately cooked, softest octopus I have ever eaten!

We highly recommend the Tuna Tartar, which is served with roasted bell peppers, Burrata and marinated sardines. The dish pictured here is the Salmon Tartar with a beetroot jelly wafer.

The menu is rather extensive, covering the many courses of a traditional Italian meal. The dishes are also very well priced, which images it easy to eat modestly or treat your palate to a worthwhile splurge.