Ossiano — Restaurant in Dubai

Where do I start? The hostess was extremely rude and condescending from our arrival. She then proceeded to pull 2 of us aside to tell us that we needed to go purchase closed-toe shoes in order for them to honor our reservation, even though we were all very dressed up and most of us were wearing formal sandals. When you view their website, the "smart elegant" dress code only states "long trousers only." Other restaurant sites in Dubai, such as Nobu, give great detail around what constitutes "smart elegant," so to be treated as if we were wearing flip-flops or sport shoes was insulting, to say the least. To make matters worse, the hostess continued to argue with and insult my friends to make a point, even after the manager came to address the situation and told us that our attire was perfectly acceptable.

As we were seated in the bar area, we were given a welcome cocktail and snack that was absolutely abhorable. Imagine drinking putrid sea water with a little hint of sugar. It was accompanied by some sort of shellfish shaped snack that was equally unappealing and grotesque. Needless to say, we were very concerned about our $340++ USD meal from the start. Three of us proceeded to order dirty Hendricks martinis made with olives/olive brine and instead, we were given dry martinis doused with cucumber. When asked to remake the drinks, the bartender returned the pre-existing cucumber martinis with olive juice added, instead of returning freshly made drinks. We dared not ask to remake them a third time.

The meal itself was themed to follow the colonizing expeditions of Christopher Columbus. Unfortunately, the wait-staff was ill prepared to present the story and awkwardly presented 14 courses, including an amuse-bouche and two desserts. While there were a few highlights in the meal, it became quite underwhelming by the time we approached the 7th course. Even if you were taking just one bite, it felt like you were made to gorge on overly creative interpretations of world cuisine that just didn't have much to offer. Having to suffer through 7 more courses was overkill, to say the least, and it made it impossible to really enjoy anything.

The wait staff did try extra hard, which we certainly appreciated after being treated so poorly at the onset of the evening, and we received a nice tableside visit from Chef Grégoire Berger at the end of our dining experience, which was lovely.

With so many exquisite dining experiences to choose from in Dubai, I would suggest a HARD PASS on this one unless you just want to check a box and see the most magnificent...

My family and I had dinner at Ossiano last week. Having traveled all the way from USA to have dinner here, we were very excited to experience Ossiano's Michelin-star cuisine and atmosphere. And while the food was satisfactory and the aquarium was beautiful, we were very disappointed with the service. Our reservation was at 6pm, and we did not finish our dinner until 11pm. Why? I wish I could tell you the answer, but it seems like the kitchen and wait staff just... forgot about us. We waited more than an hour at times between courses to receive our food, and mistakenly thought perhaps this was built into the Ossiano experience, but no. Tables that were seated after us finished their meals and left before us. By the time it was 10pm, we were exhausted, having sat for 4 hours, and not full. No one came to check in on us during this time, and my mom had to flag down a waiter to complain. Even after this was brought to their attention, not a single apology or ownership of responsibility was taken. For the price one pays to dine at Ossiano, we were disappointed by some of the dishes, but most disappointed by the service. One does not dine at a Michelin-star restaurant halfway across the world to be neglected and have to remind the staff that we were still there, still hungry, and still waiting for parts of our meal 4 hours later. We've dined at Michelin-star restaurants before, and while we know dinners can last a while, we've rarely had a meal last longer than 3.5 hours, and our experience at Ossiano soured what would have otherwise been a nice dinner.

Regarding the food, I have to say that the meal started off strong but the dishes started showing signs of creative... ungenius. My favorite was the white chocolate foiegras disguised as a candle, and the shrimp dishes. But later on, they served dishes like a green hot dog and chocolate olives for dessert that just fell flat. I appreciate that the chef is trying to tell their life story through the food, but some of them felt forced and did not taste good at all. I would have to agree with other reviewers that the food here does not seem reflective of a Michelin star; rather, it offers an amazing atmosphere and aquarium view, and an interesting food presentation, but the food itself is a...

I wanted to love this restaurant but I just couldn't. My partner and I came here, we were 45 minutes late to our reservation and called ahead to let them know, they were extremely accommodating and bent the rules for us (policy is they'll only wait 30 mins absolute max).

The staff was incredible, they were very friendly. The views and ambiance was amazing. The food was (to me and my partner) awful. The very first course left such a bad taste in my mouth and I was hoping it was just the one out of the many dishes about to come out that I wouldn't like. Then the second, third and fourth dish came out and not one I was able to finish. Each plate failed to impress, and by the sixth course, I had lost any interest in trying to salvage the experience.

Halfway through the night I worried maybe my palate wasn't refined enough for this kind of food but looking around me I saw a lot of plates being taken back to the kitchen untouched.

Some of the genius things that were served: a 'tomato ball' that is made out of white chocolate with tomato juices inside. Some sort of meat purée coated in chocolate. A hot dog made out of lobster and beef drenched in plankton sauce in a matcha bun, etc.

I come from a city where you can find amazing food from all over the world literally anywhere (Toronto) and Ossiano was trying so hard to be unique and cool that it completely back fired. I am by no means a picky eater at all but I can't understand how this food is enjoyable to anyone.

The chef came out and greeted a few people but completely skipped our table.

My partner and I left full because of how much water we drank to get rid of the bad taste of every dish that we had. In fact, the water was the best tasting thing we consumed that night.

I'm giving this place 1 star instead of 0 only because the staff was great and so was the service. My partner got up to look for the bathroom and he only took 3 steps before a worker rushed to his side to ask him if he needed assistance.

This place is overpriced and overhyped solely for the view. You can catch a glimpse of the aquarium and take some beautiful pictures right as you enter The Atlantis, don't spend...