RESTAURANT REVIEW: PARMIGIANA

RATING

*****

I spent a beautiful Thursday evening at Parmigiana, Sofitel Abu Dhabi, where I had a true taste of Italian flavor with their Buon Cibo evenings. 

Buon Cibo is a fun and delicious table service dinner event blending food and drinks every Thursday, with unlimited servings of antipasti, pizza, your choice of main course and dessert complemented with free-flowing beverages. What a way to start our weekend!

Walking into the restaurant, you’ll immediately hear the super cheesy (and I say this in the most positive sense) Italian ballads that will put you in the right mood to start your evening. You’ll also find the walls filled with beautifully framed black and white pictures of celebrities. I admit, I spent a good while researching most of these celebrities with my husband, while we waited for our food, to figure out if they were Italian. Stars like Jennifer Aniston, Frank Sinatra and Frankie Muniz we were a little unsure of, but we shouldn’t have doubted! All the celebrities had Italian backgrounds, or a connection with Italy. The only three that failed the test were George Clooney, who isn’t Italian, but he does live in Italy, Marlon Brando, who is not Italian, but hey, we’ll assume they meant Don Corleone, and finally, Marilyn Monroe, who is not Italian and we couldn’t find any Italian connection either. 

Pictures aside, the restaurant is very charming, with a very simple and inviting decor. Black and white checkered table clothing and fresh vegetables adorned the tables and as soon as we were seated, we were welcomed by our server. We ordered drinks and pizza, and immediately got up to check out the buffet of delicious looking antipasti. I filled my plate with a range of cheese bites, carpaccio, olives, freshly baked breads with 3 different dips - green olives, black olives and sun-dried tomatoes - shrimps, bruschetta topped with fresh tomatoes, parmesan cheese and basil and classic burrata. The bruschetta was some of the best I ever had! The bread beautifully golden and crispy, with fresh tomatoes drizzled with olive oil. 

The pizzas arrived, a cheese pepperoni and a vegetable pizza. They were both great, with the dough baked to perfection. I loved how fresh all the ingredients tasted, and I am usually one to leave the crust behind, but found myself munching on them because they were so good!

We then ordered our mains, the Penne al Pesto Siciliano and the Rigatoni Calabrese. The Rigatoni Calabrese is pasta with tomato sauce, cream, mushrooms and bacon. I felt the flavor of the bacon was overpowering, and didn’t enjoy this pasta as much as I would have. Next time, if I were to order this again, I’d ask them to make it without  bacon. The pesto pasta was delicious, cooked al dente with an amazing sauce and the ricotta was delicious.

Generally speaking, the food takes a bit of time to make, and you are informed of this before you place an order by your server, but trust me - it is well worth the wait, because you guarantee that your food is being cooked fresh, and not just packaged and reheated.

Finally, the last and most important part of our meal - desserts! I ordered a latte, a tiramisu and the pannacotta with a passionfruit sauce. The tiramisu was slightly disappointing, it was extremely creamy and didn’t hold up well. The cream was overwhelming, the consistency wrong, and I couldn’t taste any of the other flavors that should stand out in a tiramisu. Where was that delectable hint of coffee? The munch of biscuits?

The pannacotta on the other hand was incredibly amazing! My husband and I fought over the last bite, and had to split it equally between us. Although the consistency was more on the creamier side, almost like a creme brûlée, but it was so delicious that I didn’t mind it at all. Pannacotta is usually light and airy, like yogurt, but again, I thought it was succulent. The tanginess of the passionfruit went so well with the sweetness of the pannacotta, we couldn’t have enough. 

I also want to take a moment and really thank Parmigiana for getting the latte right. I have a major issue with lattes. Very rarely do I find a latte that is made with the right ratio of milk to coffee to foam, and let me just say how I absolutely hate foam! It takes up half the cup and is tasteless and unnecessary. Parmigiana had a wonderful latte, very little foam (thank you!), with the perfect balance of coffee and milk, in which neither one overpowered the other. It was one of the best lattes I had, and I thoroughly enjoyed ending my meal with it. 

Overall, a truly lovely experience at one of very few remaining authentic Italian restaurants in the capital. I’m surprised it’s not more popular, but this hidden gem is definitely worth trying, serving classic Italian dishes at affordable prices, with beautiful views of the city.