Il Forno, Khalidiyah Mall — Restaurant in Abu Dhabi

Thank you @ilfornouae for giving me the chance to grab a taste of Italy at the cute restaurant that looks nothing less than dinning in a little Italy bistro. It was so hard to choose what to eat as their menu is loaded with scrumptious delectables so you are really spoilt for choice here. Which is a good thing, you can select from a wide variety of authentic flavours and dishes and also have it made to your liking (extra cheese, extra sauce) however you want it. They also have gluten free options which are great for a fairly reasonable price.

For Starters they brought us a cute little bread stick basket with an olive oil dip and marinara dip. The olive oil basil dip is a definite must try. we had ordered the Monte Cristo and now as a starter I was expecting just a few small bites, but to the table in a few minutes of our order was delivered a whole meal platter that was great enough for about 4-5 people. Fully loaded with chicken, mushrooms, pepperoni, cheese, olives oh and...some more cheese. These were the Bomb! They definitely stole my heart from the start and I wish I did not have to share it with anyone. That’s how good it was.

For mains we ordered and XL spicy seafood pizza (not kidding there on the XL bit) it was huge! With about 8 large slices, this is good enough for about 3-4 people when shared with other dishes as well. They were extremely generous with the toppings and the flavour was good too. Being a fan of the thin crust I would say that maybe a crispier crust might be more tasty but this was cheesy and heavy so that was good enough for me. I always love my pizza with some extra spice so topping it off with some chilli flakes was great although remember that they do have a generous amount of red chilli on it. And I must say, the shrimps were of a decent jumbo size and not just the mini ones that are thrown on top for namesake, this had a good ratio of shrimps, crab meat, calamari and mussels on each slice. A definite must do if you are a seafood lover.

We also ordered some Chicken Ravioli and Risotto which were very creamy and delicious for the pasta lovers! The portions were really great and if you visit as a group be ready to share if you like. Well worth the price I’d say for such authentic and flavourful dishes.

To end the night we had some vanilla ice cream and a cup of coffee which was the perfect way to end an Italian date night. I would highly recommend Il Forno if you are looking to dine in at one of their many convenient locations or enjoy an authentic Italian meal at home. Their portions and fairly reasonable for the service and portions that they offer and I really cannot say that enough. I would only suggest perhaps bottomless drinks to be added to the menu because you can never get enough of Ice Tea 🙈. But everything else was perfecto 🤌 as they even followed safety precautions with sanitisation and wearing gloves and masks throughout....

I’ve dined at Ilforno multiple times over last 10 years and have always enjoyed their seafood pasta, particularly the extra spicy options. However, my recent visit to try some of their new menu items was a bit of a letdown, and I feel it's important to share my experience in the hopes of offering some constructive feedback.

What Went Well: As always, the service was friendly, and the staff made sure we were well taken care of. However, the new dishes I tried didn’t quite meet my expectations.

New Menu Items: Seafood Avocado Salad: I was excited to try this dish, but unfortunately, it didn’t live up to its promise. The salad was overwhelmingly dominated by onions and acidic flavors, with very little avocado or seafood. The balance of flavors was off, making it more of an onion-heavy, tangy salad than the creamy, fresh seafood and avocado dish I was hoping for. I would suggest revisiting the proportions of ingredients to better highlight the avocado and seafood.

Nero Pasta with Seafood: The black pasta itself was thick and chewy, with a texture that felt more like overcooked dough than a delicate pasta. It lacked the depth of flavor that you expect from a well-made pasta. I couldn’t finish the dish, even though I shared it, as the texture and taste just didn’t appeal to me. The seafood was fresh, but the pasta itself was the standout issue—it didn’t complement the seafood at all.

Complimentary Ice Cream: While I appreciated the gesture of a complimentary dessert, the ice cream was excessively sweet and lacked balance. A sweeter dessert could have been paired with something to cut through the sweetness—perhaps a tangy fruit, or some salty crumbs or biscuits for contrast. As it was, it was just too one-note in flavor.

I’m a fan of Ilforno’s usual offerings, but these new menu items didn’t quite hit the mark for me. The Seafood Avocado Salad needs a better balance of flavors, the Nero Pasta could use some refinement in both texture and taste, and the ice cream could be made less sweet to create a more balanced dessert. I hope the restaurant revisits these dishes, as I know they can do better. I’ll still return for my favorite seafood pasta, but I hope future menu updates offer more hits than misses.

Visited one a day after my birthday for a treat....

VERY BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE, RUDE AND UNPROFESSIONAL FROM THE STAFF AND EVEN FROM THE MANAGER!!!!!!!!!!!! We went there to have a lunch after our SPECIAL EVENT, but imagine how this waitress is really trying hard to CONTINUOUSLY RUIN our day, since we came until taking and serving our order she was REALLY REALLY RUDE and VERY SARCASTIC!!!!! For us 4 person ordering a lot of food they should be happy to have a good sale from us since we ordered more, specially their restaurant is quite empty!! But as observed, they ARE REALLY LAZY TO HAVE CUSTOMERS AND THEY DON’T LIKE TO BE DESTRUCTED ON THEIR “CHATTING THING”. While we were busy eating, the arabic manager guy came and approach us and we thought he was going to do a table touch and ask how was the food and everything BUT instead, directly he ask us IF WHEN DO WE WANT our pizza to be served since we asked them to keep it inside the kitchen as we might have that for take away, why? also we don't have enough space on the table as they tried to SERVE ALL THE FOOD TOGETHER even when we ask them to SERVE THE SALAD AND THE OTHER STARTERS FIRST BEFORE THE PASTA’S and the MAIN COURSE! The MANAGEMENT OF IL FORNO should have a look on this as you will really lose more customers for such UNPROFESSIONALISM, RUDE ATTITUDE HAS BEEN THERE FROM MANAGER AND WAITRESS ITSELF and ZERO KNOWLEDGE IN TABLE AND CUSTOMER SERVICE, this is shame. They didn't even say THANK YOU when we’re leaving, they just looked at us imagine that. Such a VERY BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE. This is NOT...