It is not often that the food dished up at a restaurant leaves you so intrigued you would like to duck into the kitchen to find out what the chefs are doing back there.
That is exactly how I felt when dining at Carnival by Tresind in DIFC – a contemporary Indian restaurant deserving of its spot among Dubai’s elite venues.
The restaurant is a sister outlet to Tresind, a notable Indian restaurant in the Nassima Royal Hotel on Sheikh Zayed Road.
It is filled with copper-coloured trees lit from beneath, casting shadows on the black ceiling above. The black-and-white chevron floor contrasts with the orange, turquoise, yellow and brown chairs that add pops of colour throughout the venue.
The space is chic and vibrant with a modern, urban feel – there is nothing traditional about this place.
When we are seated for dinner, a waiter welcomes us by blowing bubbles across the table. It is a fun gesture, if a bit stiffly presented.
The menu has intriguing dishes with quirky names such as Game of Corns, Goose Buns, Thai Tanic and Utterly Butterly.
It is impossible to pick just one – so we don’t. We opt for the chef’s 15-course degustation menu, one vegetarian (Dh350) and one with meat (Dh375).
Over the next hour, a flurry of 30 dishes bombards our table, leaving our taste buds intrigued, confused and eager for more. While each dish is buzz-worthy, there are several standouts.
The Dal Phulka – a yellow-lentil cappuccino with truffle, topped with cumin sprinkles and served with a phulka biscuit – is refreshingly innovative. The contrast of savoury and sweet provides a burst of flavour that I want more of.
We also love the Game of Corns, a soft sweetcorn-curd and coconut cutlet with goji berry chutney and kewpie mayonnaise (a creamy Japanese mayo made with rice vinegar). Again, the flavours complement and contrast beautifully.
One of our favourite dishes of the night is the vada pav service. Vada pav was originally a staple food among mill workers in the streets of Mumbai and is now a popular street snack for the masses.
In a nod to its origins, Carnival’s version is served by a chef dressed in a hard hat, with the ingredients packed in a toolbox. He makes the snacks for us on the spot, with potatoes, nuts, spices and coriander stuffed into a soft pav roll. It is a fun spectacle but, like everything else here, the food is seriously good.
Nearly every dish – from the textures and the use of spices to the contrasting flavours that surprise and delight – is flawlessly executed and I wonder aloud why more people are not talking about this place.
The degustation menu is extensive and over the top – just what you would expect in a place like this.
These chefs clearly care – a lot – about what they are doing and that passion trickles down to the servers, and is obvious with the presentation of every plate. The waiters are not only knowledgeable about these dishes, they are also dripping with pride as they explain them, in a similar way a mum might talk about her child.
At the end of our meal, our waiter clears our table and a chef drapes a clean, white plastic sheet across our table. He then proceeds to decorate it with sauces, syrups, chocolate and sweets.
He then sets a big, hollow white-chocolate globe in the centre of the sweet mess, fills it with liquid nitrogen (instantly freezing it), picks it up and smashes it on our table. We devour the pieces.
It is the perfect ending to our night. Carnival by Tresind is the kind of restaurant that keeps guests buzzing about their meal long after the last bite. Put it at the top of your bucket list.
• Our meal for two at Carnival by Tresind, Burj Damman Tower, DIFC, Dubai, cost Dh903. To book, call 04 421 8665. Reviewed meals are paid for by The National and conducted incognito.
sjohnson@thenational.ae
