Sad, very sad, it’s sad to use an old lady for marketing when she has nothing to do with the food promised or the kitchen itself. It’s sad to expect a trip to Italy -as promised- when it’s nothing close to that.
When a restaurant is marketed as an Italian home kitchen it needs to be one. It needs to offer dishes made with fresh vegetables, it needs to taste love and passion, it needs to be Italian, pasta cooked al dente is the least expected, and flavors taking us back to your home means love. I can confidently tell you that we had an Indian food experience tonight far from being Italian. Sad indeed.
Let’s start by the false marketing on their website: “NONNAVERSE House of Tresind introduces Nonnaverse, A concept where Nonnas from around the world will come and cook with our chef, sharing their stories & recipes.” Wrong and false!
“Nonnaverse is dedicated to empowering grandmothers by providing them with an opportunity to showcase their culinary skills and earn an income. This initiative tells the world that Nonnas, even at their age, can still cook, work, and contribute meaningfully to society. By bringing these incredible women into our kitchen, we aim to highlight their strength, resilience, and invaluable wisdom.” False again, the nonna didn’t cook and doesn’t cook this way.
“Silvana’s dishes respect Sicilian culinary traditions, each prepared with a journey into the past, showcasing the unique taste and aroma of the region’s typical products. She invites everyone to visit Palermo, promising to show the beauty of her city.” False again. Nothing we ate comes close to Sicilian food.
It’il be harsh to call this place a scam but when you end up paying 400AED per person for such nonsense, when frying smell haunts you all night long, when none of the team members has ever traveled to Italy to understand the culture… sad!
Allow me to explain in detail.
Nonnaverse is the restaurant of grandma to taste the food of grandma, but grandma does not prepare anything, does not visit the kitchen and surely does not serve such low quality at home: with all due respect to the multinational kitchen team of the restaurant next door; you know nothing about Italian food my friends. By the way, are you using the same fryer for both restaurants? I digest you change your oil for the next service.
Let’s start by -at least- hiring an Italian waiter or chef. Let’s make sure that the owner and the mum -used for marketing-, don’t leave early letting guests continue their night with the kitchen staff of the restaurant next door. In an English-speaking country, at least hire a good English-speaking team that can describe the menu adequately.
Let’s talk about the food: extra garlic cheap looking bruschetta, super oily and inedible arancini, low quality parmigiana made of bitter eggplant with a lack of acidity and taste.
A crispy potato, super oily with some diced things on top, I couldn’t even identify.
Now for the main dishes: sweet, everything is so sweet… chefs who never worked with Italian products and don’t understand them. Chefs that have not been trained on balancing the sweetness of Italian tomatoes or pumpkin. I didn’t sign up to eat sweet ravioli. The fettuccini is overcooked, the ravioli is so dry and the fish tastes like oily potato chips. What’s that cheap crumb added to it? Oily fried fish served on a cold salad? Seriously!?
I’ll do a “lol” -no comment- about that cheap mashed meat pretending to be a tenderloin.
Best for last, the desserts. Burnt cannolo, chewy cheap bread, sweet creamy pistachio sauce and two items that we didn’t receive, the limoncello and sorbet.
Dear Italians, food business is not an investment, it’s a passion. Making people pay for a lie is unacceptable. I’d suggest you stay away for food business or learn about it before adventuring into it.
I've been to Italy at least 10 times, I have filmed in many Italian villages and homes... I know what Italian food is. Our belioved Dubai deserves better.
I work hard to get that money you took from me tonight.
