Terra Secca — Restaurant in Mshayrif

Terra Secca is a hidden gem in the Al Wathba Desert Resort & Spa. This Italian restaurant serves up authentic dishes made with fresh, high-quality ingredients. The menu features a variety of options - with the Italian classics as well as some rare finds.

The service at Terra Secca is excellent. Our host, Francesca, was attentive and knowledgeable about the menu. Together with our waiters and the talented chef, she made sure that we had a great dining experience and that our food was exactly what we wanted.

We started our meal with Burrata and the Grotto Misto. Both dishes were delicious and perfectly presented. We tried sea bass, lamb, pizza as well as pasta and risotto over the three nights we were dining there and everything was delicious.

And btw, they have great Italian wines from small vineyards - for decent prices.

Overall, we had a wonderful dining experience at Terra Secca. The food was excellent, the service was impeccable, and the prices were moderate. We would definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for a great Italian meal in Abu Dhabi worth the trip to the resort (profi tip - spend a day in the resort spa and have dinner in Terra Secca after that for a relaxing...

Staff was very friendly and the place has a warm atmosphere, but that was it, food and overall experience was disappointing.

We ordered a beef carpaccio which simply tasted bad. We reported this to the waitress, then she talked to the chef and came back to pass the message “maybe it is because our arugula is very fresh, so it has a stronger taste”. I’ve had many beef carpaccio and I’ve ate plenty of arugula to know that this was not a freshness issue, it was simply bad taste.

They also forgot to serve us the house bread. Waitress, although always friendly, seemed to be lost.

Then the main course. Probably an hour wait after the bad taste carpaccio. We asked repeatedly what was happening and to check on our meal, but still had to wait long.

There was a lady, I guess the manager, who was very friendly and really putting in an effort to keep the operation moving, always on top of the cooks and waiters, many times doing what they not.

It’s a pity because the place is nice and staff was really friendly. They definitely need to improve...

I generally do not enjoy al fresco dining, especially in desert environments where the ambient temperature can be unbearable.  However, the restaurant did an excellent job of setting up private tables, spaced far apart to ensure privacy.

The dishes were good and provided ample quantities that left me satisfied.  We were also able to stroll over and interact with the horses.  The staff gave us sliced apples to enhance our interaction with these noble creatures.  Unfortunately, the horses walked away as soon as we ran out of fruit. It was a lovely evening, made even better by the restaurant's...