Il Borro Tuscan Bistro Dubai — Restaurant in Dubai

We’ve been going to il borro for many years now, it used to be one of our favorite places in dubai. However yesterday we’ve had the worst experience from the moment we entered with my friend, it was two of us girls. The hostesses and/or a lady staff member treated us from the moment we entered with disrespect and rude. Unfortunately we didn't get her name. We’ve called in advance and they told us that the bar area where you can dine and have drinks is first come and first serve as they always say and cannot be booked. The moment we entered early evening the bar had several chairs/seats available in different areas of the bar, but they kept saying rudely that we can’t sit there coming up with different stories and mixing up things they said. We wanted to have a proper dinner and enjoy the early evening and we were hungry. There were also two chairs available from the right and left of two guests, the hostess told me you could sit here but then you can’t sit together with your friend. Therefore after, my friend politely asked two gentlemen if it would be of for them if they could move one chair further and they happily agreed and said of course! This way we had the two chairs available next to each other. In this exact moment this lady wearing the light blazer came and interrupted my friend and said I told your friend this is busy! while the other host said something else to me before. She then also said; I can’t listen to you both at the same time so who shall I listen to, while we were speaking in a respectful manner to her expressing our frustration of how they were treating us. How rude is this and disrespectful to treat guests this way?? Is this even allowed to speak this way as a policy of a high end restaurant?? I would like to know that! I was simply shocked! I’ve felt incredibly discriminated as a decent woman…there’s way more to say how rude it was to explain everything in detail. I travel around the world and have never experienced such disrespect from hostesses/staff member and manner of speaking!! I will never again bring my family clients business partner’s or friends to il borro! Shame. And never experienced this anywhere in Dubai. Simply left us shocked that that's even possible for people who work somewhere to speak this way!

We left speechless and went to another restaurant in Al Naseem for dinner where the service throughout the entire evening was simply remarkable with absolutely lovely staff starting from hostesses to waiters who served us to the manager who came several times to check on us and the nasty feeling that il borro left us with was fixed! We will think how to address this...

I’ve been living in Dubai for six years, and this was my first time visiting II Borro—and also my first time getting kicked out of a restaurant. We were invited by friends and didn’t know about the two-hour seating policy. While the food was great, the service left much to be desired.

The staff seemed pushy throughout the meal, rushing us to finish. As we were still enjoying our dessert, the waitress came by and asked if she could clear the table, even though we hadn’t finished yet. Before the hostess approached us to announce that our time was up, she was already standing over my head, loudly discussing the table situation with someone else. It was distracting and uncomfortable.

When she finally came to address us, she announced—in an unnecessarily loud and aggressive manner—that our two hours were up and that she urgently needed the table right away. My husband tried to explain that we were still finishing our dessert and that we had sat down a little less than two hours ago, but she continued to repeat that she really needed the table at that moment and disregarded everything he said.

This was handled very poorly. Instead of addressing the person who made the reservation quietly and discreetly, she announced it to all of us, making the situation even more awkward and embarrassing. If she had approached the situation differently—perhaps letting us know privately that our time was up and giving us an extra 10 minutes to wrap up—it would have made a world of difference. But the way this was handled was unacceptable.

II Borro, you should know better. Your hostesses, waitresses, and staff should know better. There are other, more professional ways to handle such a situation. I hope upper management takes steps to ensure something like this doesn’t happen to future guests. We will not be returning and will never recommend II Borro to any of our friends.

Dubai is at a point where new restaurants are opening every day. It’s an exciting time for diners, and competition is only growing. ElBoro should keep that in mind because with so many other options out there, people are going to choose places that treat their guests with a little more...

I’m always skeptical when it comes to Italian cuisine in Dubai, but luckily my friends and I decided to check out Il Borro as we heard a lot of good things.

The location is nice and the ambience is great. We got a nice table in the centre of the restaurant with a view of the open kitchen. With the addition of the bread basket and the wine. Lovely start.

The menu has a nice focus on seafood and Italian staples. We decided to share everything so we begin with the starters: We went with grilled octopus that went great with the mixed rocket and spinach salad. Both tasted nice. The burrata was creamy and light and yummy too.

Onto the mains, our server Leigh (I hope I pronounced your name right), guided us through the menu and with their help, we decided to skip the pizza and taste other stuff and I’m glad we did. We started with Chianti braised beef cheek with mashed potatoes, and that cheek was so tender that it melts in your mouth. Then we had the grilled dover sole, which was great for sharing, and with the accompanied lemon butter sauce, it was very nicely cooked. Third main was the Maltagiati pasta with prawns and tomato sauce and chili, and it was a monster of a dish that was enough for everyone. This pasta dish was divine. The pasta was perfectly al dente, and the prawns were cooked so well. Perfection!

I was surprised that my friends still had room for dessert, so we got the tiramisu that was so light and delicious, and the chocolate fondant with ice cream that was finished in seconds.

Everything we ordered was so tasty, and I was impressed with the staff being nice and the food quality being top notch.

One thing to note is that this place is pricey so be prepared to spend good money that is hopefully worth...