A long-time favourite of The Luxe Diary, we were delighted to return to Cipriani Yas Island. We love nothing more than visiting restaurants where the service and food conflate into an exceptional – and sometimes wonderfully escapist – experience.
Cipriani Yas Island is an elegant yet trend defying restaurant where wait-staff with their crisp, starched, whiter than white marine inspired uniforms combine nautical and haute cuisine discipline to bring you the highest levels of service, transporting you to a time where service really still mattered and meals were prepared in a classic and traditional way staying true to their original ingredients.
The effect is deliberate, harking back successfully to Cipriani’s original desire for ultimate perfection of service. It all started in 1931 when Cipriani opened the doors of Harry’s Bar in Venice in a discreet stone building perched along a canal. His concept was to serve others as you would want to be served yourself with a focus on service, a simple luxury. At the heart of the Cipriani ethos, all clients are treated like royalty. With Cipriani now present in New York, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, Miami and Monte-Carlo (to name a few), the traditions are still going strong.
Join us now as we “vogue” (or sail, in French) on a truly luxurious and delicious culinary journey.
As we enter the restaurant, we are struck once again by the grandeur, beauty and elegance of the starched white table linen and royal azure blue velvet upholstery. So classic and nautical, the style is reminiscent of the glory days of grand ocean liner luxury and yet also captures the timeless contemporary exclusivity of yachting design.
The overall style smacks of royalty and exclusivity yet the wait staff, in their crisp starched whites, make us feel so very welcome. The direct view across to the Yas Viceroy Hotel is impressive and the overall effect is as if seated at the bridge of a super yacht or luxury liner. Aside from the classic nautical theme, artefacts echoing the Cipriani history and tradition also cover the walls.
And you can really taste the originality and quality in the ingredients. The style of Italian cuisine is relatively simple yet in this exceptionally well thought-out environment there is the sense that no luxury is spared. The experience is a successful dichotomy between simplicity, tradition and absolute luxury and service. It is not often you can find that combination and the experience is everything but ordinary as a result.
We are invited to start with the signature Cipriani Bellini and some beautifully olive oil basted ciabattas and bread sticks. We then try the refreshing fennel and avocado salad with generous shavings of Parmesan cheese. We are delighted by the Burrata with Datterino tomatoes and Taggiasche olives that follow. The quality of the Burrata is very good and the quantity generous – again a perfect echo of that great culture of Mediterranean food sharing.
We then move onto Cipriani’s signature carpaccio “alla Cipriani” which we can highly recommend – a perfect accompaniment to the Burrata.
For our primi piatti, the Maitre d’ suggests the baked green taglioni with smoked turkey. It is as smoky as its name suggests and delicious: the ultimate luxury comfort food. The Rigatoni “all’ Amatriciana Bianca” with veal bacon and Pecorino cheese has an oh-so inviting authenticity.
The fanfare surrounding the desserts does not disappoint with the presentation of the Cipriani meringue standing tall on a delightfully light and creamy cake with homemade vanilla ice cream – whipped à la minute.
We recommend Cipriani all year round, but it must be said that Cipriani is a real Yas institution that comes into its own during the Formula 1 – if you are lucky enough to be able to book a table, expect to mingle and party with celebrities and F1 pilots!
We are also excited about the Cipriani Terrace opening this fall – keep following The Luxe Diary for our announcement in relation to this event!
The Details.
Open daily from 6:00pm – 12:00am
For reservations call +971 (0) 265 75 400 or email yasisland@cipriani.com. For more information click here.
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