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Carna Dubai: Steakhouse Serves Grizzly and Glamour
Carna by Dario Cecchini, Level 74, SLS Dubai Hotel & Residences, Marasi Drive, Business Bay, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. This was an invite by the restaurant. Cost estimate AED1550 (US$422, €355 and £300, excluding alcohol and bottled water). Tel. +971 4 607 0761, email slsdubai@slshotels.com, https://www.sbe.com/restaurants/carna/dubai.
Carna serves grizzly along with glamour offering Dubai premium steaks and offcuts with panoramic views. Come hungry and prepared to spend.
Written by Liam Collens // See more food reviews here.
The Highs
The Lows
The Highs
The Lows
Carna offers a new voice to Dubai's meat market
What could make a new Dubai restaurant stand out? Decadently designed interiors? Not a chance. A floor-to-ceiling banquet of Dubai’s panoramic Downtown views? Alas, also in ample supply.
Here is something new: a grizzly plate of speared cow hearts marinated then grilled (55 dhs). Served hot like a scorned lover’s revenge guzzled with crimson Nero d’Avola Da Luca. You could practically hear Hannibal Lector at the adjacent table.
Carna sets a clear ethos from its Netflix-famous namesake butcher, Dario Cecchini. No, Dario is not a chef. Jamie Zager takes the chef mantle freshly re-planted from New York kitchens – a place that knows a thing or two about steaks.
Carna’s dining room is vast with social distancing; The Kimberly cocktail named after Dario Cecchini’s wife.
Carna by Dario Cecchini continues Fergus Henderson’s quest launched decades prior: return society to nose to tail eating. The idea is that you should eat all of an animal; not just those parts that command a premium. Hurray, I say. Anyone who thinks Dubai needs more tomahawk-rich menus should be clubbed over the head with the bone. I said what I said.
Carna’s mission is clear: delectable dining is found in animal cuts often relegated to the grinder. I was kindly #invited to Carna accompanied by AtoZaatar who always makes for exquisite company.
Carna’s dining room is stunningly beautiful with a live tree and low lighting between sections.
Here is something new: a grizzly plate of speared cow hearts marinated then grilled (55 dhs). Served hot like a scorned lover’s revenge guzzled with crimson Nero d’Avola Da Luca. You could practically hear Hannibal Lector at the adjacent table.
Carna sets a clear ethos from its Netflix-famous namesake butcher, Dario Cecchini. No, Dario is not a chef. Jamie Zager takes the chef mantle freshly re-planted from New York kitchens – a place that knows a thing or two about steaks.
Carna’s dining room is vast with social distancing; The Kimberly cocktail named after Dario Cecchini’s wife.
Carna by Dario Cecchini continues Fergus Henderson’s quest launched decades prior: return society to nose to tail eating. The idea is that you should eat all of an animal; not just those parts that command a premium. Hurray, I say. Anyone who thinks Dubai needs more tomahawk-rich menus should be clubbed over the head with the bone. I said what I said.
Carna’s mission is clear: delectable dining is found in animal cuts often relegated to the grinder. I was kindly #invited to Carna accompanied by AtoZaatar who always makes for exquisite company.
Carna’s dining room is stunningly beautiful with a live tree and low lighting between sections.
Carna’s menu and food brings a new narrative to Dubai’s food scene
Carna is gutsy, carnivorous dining that offers the kind of short time joy that guarantees to shorten my long-term lifespan.
Carna’s menu judiciously lays bare its ambition coupled with an understanding that people still want some of the old familiar. Squeamish diners rest assured. Alaskan King Crab with lemon dijonaise (160 dhs) sits alongside whole roasted Pacific lobsters (market rates) and – my favourite – chateaubriand a la “Oscar” (575 dhs).
Our evening highlights kick off with an amuse-bouche of buttery-soft wagyu beef crowned with a caviar quenelle that takes surf and turf to new heights. A monstrously large rib-eye steak lands with more credentials than me after years of law school (475 dhs). This 400-day grain-fed BMS6+ glistens medium-rare. It is supple and tender in ways that lovers only read about. Better yet, it is seasoned. Beautifully seasoned.
Wagyu Beef and Caviar Amuse Bouche; 400 day grain-fed BMS6+ ribeye medium rare
Jamie’s American instincts finds home in the sides which litter our table. Light and creamy whipped mashed potatoes (35 dhs), rich creamed spinach shingled with crispy shallots (50dhs) and gargantuan asparagus spears (35 dhs) could feed four people. The truffle mac and cheese nods and winks to a city that does not know a menu without truffle (55 dhs). I greedily order the roasted bone marrows because the saturated fat and cholesterol sweats would not be complete without it (120 dhs).
A chrome trolley ceremoniously arrives revealing the “Il Bollito do Dario”. A light broth surrounds a collage of offcuts: slow-cooked veal tongue lays next to its veal belly, beef cheeks and an oxtail (205 dhs). A course that will divide some but I applaud for its direction.
Whipped Mashed Potato and Grilled Asparagus, Carna
Carna’s Truffled Mac n Cheese and Creamed Spinach sides
Carna’s Roasted Bone Marrow for your steaks; Il Bollito di Dario with offcuts like tongue, belly and cheek
Carna’s menu judiciously lays bare its ambition coupled with an understanding that people still want some of the old familiar. Squeamish diners rest assured. Alaskan King Crab with lemon dijonaise (160 dhs) sits alongside whole roasted Pacific lobsters (market rates) and – my favourite – chateaubriand a la “Oscar” (575 dhs).
Our evening highlights kick off with an amuse-bouche of buttery-soft wagyu beef crowned with a caviar quenelle that takes surf and turf to new heights. A monstrously large rib-eye steak lands with more credentials than me after years of law school (475 dhs). This 400-day grain-fed BMS6+ glistens medium-rare. It is supple and tender in ways that lovers only read about. Better yet, it is seasoned. Beautifully seasoned.
Wagyu Beef and Caviar Amuse Bouche; 400 day grain-fed BMS6+ ribeye medium rare
Jamie’s American instincts finds home in the sides which litter our table. Light and creamy whipped mashed potatoes (35 dhs), rich creamed spinach shingled with crispy shallots (50dhs) and gargantuan asparagus spears (35 dhs) could feed four people. The truffle mac and cheese nods and winks to a city that does not know a menu without truffle (55 dhs). I greedily order the roasted bone marrows because the saturated fat and cholesterol sweats would not be complete without it (120 dhs).
A chrome trolley ceremoniously arrives revealing the “Il Bollito do Dario”. A light broth surrounds a collage of offcuts: slow-cooked veal tongue lays next to its veal belly, beef cheeks and an oxtail (205 dhs). A course that will divide some but I applaud for its direction.
Whipped Mashed Potato and Grilled Asparagus, Carna
Carna’s Truffled Mac n Cheese and Creamed Spinach sides
Carna’s Roasted Bone Marrow for your steaks; Il Bollito di Dario with offcuts like tongue, belly and cheek
This ribeye is supple and tender in ways that lovers only read about.
Carna does not always serve flawless food, but it supplies a great time
Carna is not faultless, but it is fun. Carna thrums with the buzz of pre-COVID19 Dubai. The dining room is busy, very busy on a Tuesday night without a Ladies’ Night in sight (bookings essential). Beautiful people stretch across the cavernous dining room adorned with an olive tree and canopy of lights. Emerald soft furnishings freshen up the glossy dark woods throughout.
Minor adjustments to some dishes would bring keep them in keeping with the best courses on show. The skewered cow hearts are subtle, meaty chunks aching for a sauce or balsamic dressing to bring it together. The signature steak tartare purrs with bright lemon and smoked paprika thankfully enriched with an egg yolk (82 dhs). It does not need the truffle aioli which just looked on jealously. The crispy veal sweetbreads in Tuscan white bean purée is a pool of silky purée with blink-and-you-will-miss nuggets of shrug-sweetbreads (82 dhs). A touch of spice, a gremolata and a slab of sweetbreads would be more deserving at this price.
This brings us to the not so small matter of price.
Carna’s Signature Steak Tartare; Marinated & Grilled Cow Hearts
Carna’s Crispy Veal Sweetbreads with Tuscan white beans; Signature cocktail of Macallen whiskey with bone marrow fat
I glossed over the fact my delectable rib eye was 475 dhs, or as one friend put it, over £100 in real money. The Signature Cuts section includes Dario’s Table that will run you 2250dhs. Another wagyu tasting plate is 995 dhs and I did mention that a plate of roasted bones costs 120 dhs?
I know some who enjoyed Carna before me. They breathlessly praised the exalted menu’s marvels to only lean in lower tones warning me about the bill.
Carna is therefore a special occasion and not a regular local meet up. The room is filled with a well-heeled, monied set.
Carna’s main dining room offers tables for large groups or duos
Carna sits between two worlds. Carna gives other Dubai steakhouses a run for their money on one side. I wonder how full (or empty) other steakhouses in Downtown and DIFC will be now that a serious market entrant will rattle their regulars to look elsewhere. On the other side, Carna throws an anvil down at the Four Seasons clutch such as Mimi Kakushi, Coya and Nammos as well as DIFC favourites like LPM. There is a new heavyweight in town. I would return to Carna – I am just waiting for the occasion.
Carna’s filet mignon steak served medium rare with sparkling water, for our safety after the wine…
Red meat enthusiasts in pursuit of one of Dubai’s best steakhouses. Diners that enjoy beef cheeks, oxtail and want choice beyond the usual cycle of prime cuts. Corporate expense accounts looking to entertain clients outside of DIFC but with spectacular views. Dubai’s gastronomes deciding whether to navigate through the building site that surrounds SLS Hotel.
Carna’s Baked Alaska and Apple Carmelised Tarts were both quite disappointing and present areas for Carna to focus and improve
Minor adjustments to some dishes would bring keep them in keeping with the best courses on show. The skewered cow hearts are subtle, meaty chunks aching for a sauce or balsamic dressing to bring it together. The signature steak tartare purrs with bright lemon and smoked paprika thankfully enriched with an egg yolk (82 dhs). It does not need the truffle aioli which just looked on jealously. The crispy veal sweetbreads in Tuscan white bean purée is a pool of silky purée with blink-and-you-will-miss nuggets of shrug-sweetbreads (82 dhs). A touch of spice, a gremolata and a slab of sweetbreads would be more deserving at this price.
This brings us to the not so small matter of price.
Carna’s Signature Steak Tartare; Marinated & Grilled Cow Hearts
Carna’s Crispy Veal Sweetbreads with Tuscan white beans; Signature cocktail of Macallen whiskey with bone marrow fat
Carna’s pricing punches upwards
I glossed over the fact my delectable rib eye was 475 dhs, or as one friend put it, over £100 in real money. The Signature Cuts section includes Dario’s Table that will run you 2250dhs. Another wagyu tasting plate is 995 dhs and I did mention that a plate of roasted bones costs 120 dhs?
I know some who enjoyed Carna before me. They breathlessly praised the exalted menu’s marvels to only lean in lower tones warning me about the bill.
Carna is therefore a special occasion and not a regular local meet up. The room is filled with a well-heeled, monied set.
Carna’s main dining room offers tables for large groups or duos
Would I Return to Carna?
Carna sits between two worlds. Carna gives other Dubai steakhouses a run for their money on one side. I wonder how full (or empty) other steakhouses in Downtown and DIFC will be now that a serious market entrant will rattle their regulars to look elsewhere. On the other side, Carna throws an anvil down at the Four Seasons clutch such as Mimi Kakushi, Coya and Nammos as well as DIFC favourites like LPM. There is a new heavyweight in town. I would return to Carna – I am just waiting for the occasion.
Carna’s filet mignon steak served medium rare with sparkling water, for our safety after the wine…
Who Should Go To Carna?
Red meat enthusiasts in pursuit of one of Dubai’s best steakhouses. Diners that enjoy beef cheeks, oxtail and want choice beyond the usual cycle of prime cuts. Corporate expense accounts looking to entertain clients outside of DIFC but with spectacular views. Dubai’s gastronomes deciding whether to navigate through the building site that surrounds SLS Hotel.
Carna’s Baked Alaska and Apple Carmelised Tarts were both quite disappointing and present areas for Carna to focus and improve
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