Amazonico has just opened their third restaurant, following the ones in Madrid and London, this time located in Dubai. As the very first venue in DIFC, they have done it in a dedicated building, where they have a lounge and bar on the bottom floor, the restaurant itself on the middle floor, and a beautiful roof terrace with a bar on the top floor. Sandro Silva and his team have gone all out with the rainforest theme, and it’s done with such finesse and attention to detail that they actually manage to avoid the kitchy quirky adjectives, and instead awe-inspiring and graceful seem more fit for purpose. This place will be an icon for years to come, while they currently have some catching-up to do regarding their cocktails, compared to the competition.
See to it that you come here for the beautiful terrace, work your way through the cocktail menu and take a journey through your senses when entering the dining room.
Atmosphere: 6/8
Having been open less than two weeks, this beautiful visual feast brought from Madrid by powerhouse chef Sandro Silva has quickly become an electret for the design hungry elite of DIFC. The bottom-floor bar is often busy, making the bartenders a bit too occupied to keep up with the guests.
Cocktails: 5/8
Sometimes it can be relieving with short cocktail menus, but in this case it's borderline uninspiringly short with no more than five signature cocktails. The drinks served are adroit but with few surprises.
Bartenders: 5/8
Any bartender has three main objectives - focus on the guests, provide solid cocktails and keep the bar tidy and clean - do this and you'll have people coming and thereby profit will hopefully happen, lose focus on one of them and the entirety will be suffering. In Amazonico, the bar is a bit untidy and the cocktails are a bit mundane - so rise up, bartenders.
Ice: 6/8
Big, clear ice cubes that fit the glasses with almost surgical precision. Higher scores would be awarded for some artistry with stamps and for the show of having a big ice block behind the bar.
http://www.amazonicorestaurant.com/
Pavillion
Gate Village 11
DIFC