You know you're on a winner when, at the end of an evening in an impeccably elegant restaurant with a kitchen that doesn't hesitate to venture off the beaten track and prices that are more than reasonable, the only thing you can find even marginally deserving of criticism is the cutlery. More in a moment about the fiendish knives at Abu Dhabi's newest Italian eatery, Spaccanapoli in the Crowne Plaza hotel on Hamdan Street.
Much more important: the food is uniformly excellent, occasionally memorable and the service every bit as good. The most expensive dishes on a beguiling but not overly large menu were the lobster and the T-bone steak, both priced at Dh145 - and as anyone who dines out regularly in Abu Dhabi can confirm, you can easily pay double at comparable establishments. Given that Spaccanapoli's decor appears to have been lavished with almost as much attention as the food - think unobtrusive warm neutrals with cleverly concealed lighting - the modest tab is a decided bonus. Good food, good value, good service good location: to steal a line from George Gershwin, who could ask for anything more?
The basket of bread that arrived within minutes of being seated was the first clue that the kitchen was something out of the ordinary. The bread itself was fine, a variation of pita, flat, crusty and chewy. The twist that made it special? It was served with a whole roasted bulb of garlic and a small bowl of shaved parmesan cheese. The garlic had to be peeled by hand, clove by clove, and spread on the bread, then topped with the cheese. I could cheerfully have made a meal of the end result.
The menu could hardly have been more vegetarian-friendly, which was a plus as my companion happened to be an uncompromising vegetarian. For appetisers - almost all of which were vegetarian - I decided on the baked aubergine with mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce with basil; my companion went for the fritteria napoletana, a medley of lightly fried delicacies. My choice was more than fine. The aubergine, I thought at first, could have been a touch more al dente, and my initial reaction to the sauce was that it was a mite bland. After a few mouthfuls, I conceded, happily, that I was wrong: the whole was more than equal to the sum of the parts, the sauce was gentle and pleasant, rather than robust, the mozzarella was chewy and there was plenty of it, and I was genuinely sorry when it was finished.
The fritteria platter was just as good. It included lightly fried potato croquettes, one with a memorable filling of cheese and risotto rice, along with a feathery morsel of puff pastry topped with tomato and mozzarella cheese, and it was all, my vegetarian friend declared, very, very good. Based on the few scraps I managed to pry from his plate, I was happy to concur. For main courses, we were tempted by the 18 varieties of pizza on offer - available in visually striking lengths of a quarter up to a full metre - but eventually settled on the gnocchi alla sorrentina and the veal escalope with wild mushroom sauce and saffron risotto galettes.
Both were outstanding. My companion's gnocchi - and there was plenty of it - was feathery light and a perfect match with the delicate (once more) tomato-based sauce and buffalo mozzarella with which it had been baked. He was, he again declared, quite content. My dish consisted of a boneless, lightly breaded and decidedly succulent veal chop, perfectly cooked and - a bonus - topped with a mound of wild mushrooms in addition to the advertised sauce, which was every bit as good as I expected it to be. As for the galettes, they were the final confirmation that this is a serious kitchen. There were three of them, lightly fried, with an almost liquid, creamy filling that included risotto rice that was still slightly crunchy. I'm not quite sure how they pulled this one off, but I was delighted that they did.
We were more than replete, but figured that we were dealing with a kitchen whose desserts deserved sampling. We were right. My companion's chocolate fondant with rich chocolate ice cream and my zabaglione ice cream were both excellent. Back to those pesky knives. They had clearly been designed by a demented artisan with little or no knowledge of the human hand. In short, the bit you grip was wide where it should have been narrow, making it way more difficult than it should have been to get to grips with some exceptionally good food.
For what it's worth, my advice to Spaccanapoli is deep-six the knives and keep on doing everything else exactly the way you are now. One way or another, though, I'll be back. Spaccanapoli at the Crowne Plaza, Hamdan Street, Abu Dhabi, 02 616 6261. Our reviewer's meal for two cost Dh350.88 without beverages. Restaurants are reviewed incognito and the meals are paid for by The National. Mario Puzo is a nom de plume
