Mezza Luna @ The InterContinental Residence Suites Festival City, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

During our stay at the InterContinental Residence Suites Dubai Festival City, we had dinner and breakfast at Mezza Luna.

The restaurant was designed in the same contemporary style as the lobby with two story floor to ceiling windows and black and white photographs.

Mezza Luna serves Italian cuisine.

There was an open kitchen and when we arrived there was a family and a few couples already dining.

The chef showed some kids how pizza was made as they watched.


DINNER:


We ordered one berry smoothie, one mango juice, one hot chocolate, one Piri Piri chicken pizza, one gnocchi with artichokes, cherry tomatoes and garlic parmesan sauce and a tiramisu to share.

The hotel is dry, so Mezza Luna doesn't serve alcohol.

The pizza had just the right amount of spiciness. It wasn't a scorcher, but hot enough.

The gnocchi dish was surprisingly light, considering the sauce was cream/cheese based. It was colorful and mild.

The tiramisu was served with coffee ice cream. All was delicious.

The bill came in at 200 AED (ca. 42.10 Euro or 54.50 USD).


BREAKFAST:


Breakfast was included in our rate
.
Cold items were served buffet style with a lot of Western and Middle Eastern choices, including fruit salad, lassi, cold cuts, cheese, bread and pastries and much more.

Hot items, coffee/tea and juices could be ordered from the waiter.

We had scrambled eggs with sausages.

We enjoyed the quality and freshness of both, breakfast and dinner.

We would gladly enjoy Mezza Luna again when staying next time at the InterContinental Residence Suites Dubai Festival City.

 ©2014

The Kitchen Table @ The W Hotel Bangkok

Before going to Bangkok we planned also to try out The Kitchen Table at the W Hotel Bangkok.

Having good experiences with the W Istanbul, where we have stayed, and the W Hong Kong, where we stopped for a snack, we were looking forward to the sister property in Bangkok.

We were impressed by the grounds, the former Russian Embassy, which is now used for events, and the newly built tower containing the hotel.

The lobby was bright and modern and the lady of the gift shop was so nice to direct us to the elevators and the right floor.

The decor and design is stylish and contemporary. We liked it.

Unfortunately our dining experience wasn't exactly what we imagined.

We were warmly greeted and brought to our table. The restaurant was already buzzing.

Soon the menu arrived. There were a la carte choices or a two course or three course lunch with a soft drink included.

Having had two course options previously it meant for us either a starter/main course or main course/dessert combination.

Not so at the Kitchen Table. The waitress explained to us we had to order an appetizer and a main course or take the three course to have dessert.

In the end we decided to have the three course, even so we already knew we weren't that hungry. Thinking about it now, it would have been better to forgo the set menu completely and order a la carte.

We ended up with one mocktail (The Conscious), a mango juice, a large bottle of Voss water and two Sprite, one Caesar Salad, one paprika corn soup, two gnocchi in tomato sauce and goats cheese, one espresso tiramisu and a plum tart with vanilla ice cream.

The Caesar Salad, tiramisu and The Conscious were the best.

The salad was made with anchovies, which my better half and I love. It added a nice flavor to the salad.

My soup was good, but got a bit too one flavored after a few spoons. I was only able to taste the paprika.

The gnocchi were fresh, the sauce and the goats cheese tangy. Overall we were happy, but it was slightly too salty.

While his dessert was excellent, mine wasn't perfect. The plums and vanilla ice cream were in fact outstanding, but the tart crust was very hard and had been spiced with anise and wasn't what I really liked.

The staff was very friendly, efficient and concerned, because we couldn't finish our meal.

The price for the lunch was 1989 THB (ca. 46.60 Euro or 62.40 USD).

Considering our experience we wouldn't go back to The Kitchen Table for lunch, but instead go to the Woo Bar, enjoying cocktails and the dessert buffet instead, or enjoy coffee.

©2014