Post Category - EatEat - Post Category - Eating OutEating OutMama Mia! Luigia Brings The Best Of Italy & Heaps Of Family Fun To Dubai
It was my best friend’s birthday and she was in Dubai for the weekend. We wanted to go somewhere relaxed with delicious food and drinks but where the kids wouldn’t be telling us they were bored every 5 minutes! And we found the perfect place.
The Venue:
Luigia is an Italian restaurant located in the Rixos Premium JBR which offers authentic Italian home cooking using recipes that have been handed down through the generations. The large open interior features 9000 lights with bulbs sourced from Italy which are identical those that light Southern Italian streets in Summer. There is a well stocked bar and a Neapolitan wood-fired oven at the back where the kids watched their pizzas being made and cooked.
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The vibe:
The staff at Luigia were extremely welcoming and showed us to a table near the children’s area. We were there on a Friday afternoon for their ‘kids brunch’ so there were toys and crafts set out and best of all a mini cinema with a large screen and bean bags for lounging on. My 3 ordered then ran happily off to watch Madagascar, re-emerging only to eat! I should add that if you’re going without children then the restaurant is big enough that you can be seated well away and not be disturbed by small people!
The food:
Luigia prides itself on bringing ‘the best of Italy’ to Dubai and it absolutely succeeds. The vast majority of the ingredients are flown in from Italy and I’m serious when I say you can taste the difference. It’s all so fresh and full of flavor. The weekend kids brunch offer means that children eat for free when adults are ordering from the A La Carte menu. They ate every mouthful of their pizza, spaghetti bolognaise and delicious chicken nuggets (made from chicken breast and wrapped in light breadcrumbs – yum!).
Meanwhile, we hit the carbs! We started with the focacce which was a pizza bread topped with tomatoes, a salted, dried beef called cecina, basil and the most delicious buffalo mozzarella I have ever tasted. The manager told us they had recently changed supplier to ensure that their mozzarella is as fresh as possible and it’s heavenly!
We then ordered a vegetarian pizza, deep fried pizza dough sticks with olives, calamari, pan fried zucchini with mint and pan fried potatoes with peppers. The ‘5 a day’ rule does apply to carbs too, right?! At this point we realized we’d gone too big, too soon and were all in a food coma. Despite REALLY wanting to, we couldn’t squeeze in any of the pasta dishes or main courses. I’m desperate to try the lobster fusilli and sea bass though so I’ll definitely be back.
Thankfully we all have separate dessert stomachs(!) so ordered an incredible rum soaked cake and the lemon profiteroles which were light, tangy and made a nice change from the traditional chocolate kind.
Room for improvement:
We loved ordering exactly what we wanted from the menu on this occasion but I’d be interested to see Luigia extend the brunch concept to adults, just so we could try even more of their amazing food and drinks!
What we loved:
The food. It’s genuinely amazing. If you’re a fan of Italian cuisine (or just super tasty, good quality food) then Luigia is a must do. Oh, and the kids cinema, GENIUS!
Luigia, Rixos Premium JBR
Tel: 022 840 15 15
