Monno, Dubai: Why Aren’t More People Talking About It?
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Review: Monno, Dubai: Why Aren't More People Talking About It?
Monno, two starters, two mains, two desserts, coffees and bottled water: 397 dirhams. One bites & starters: 16 - 85 dhs, pastas: 65 - 89 dhs, pizza: 60 - 95 dhs, mains: 160 - 195 dhs, desserts: 25 - 55 dhs. Monno, 304 Al Wasl Road, Jumeirah, Jumeirah 1, Dubai, United Arab Emirates (near Wasl 51). Tel: 043322255. Monno’s Website. Review information is correct at the time of visiting.
Written by Liam Collens // Find other reviews here.
Monno charms as a casual Italian trattoria with lovely pasta dishes. So why aren't more people talking about it?
The Highs
The Lows
The Highs
The Lows
Review: Monno, Dubai: Why Aren't More People Talking About It?
Mrs EatGoSee and I maintain a loving marriage partly through a barter system. Scales are balanced and levers are pulled where each of us gets what we want. Quid pro quos all around. The art of compromise.
On weekends, a familiar ritual ensues: I tolerate some feral backwater and begrudgingly rifle through overpriced furniture. In exchange, she grins and bears my restaurant roulette where she will endure banal remarks about whether bread should be a course. It isn’t by the way. Bread is a side. At best, it’s a pudding, which I guess is a course?
She drags her fingertips across some impractical, ivory sofa. A sofa that has no business being in a home with four pets. In exchange, I dredge pillowy flatbread through labneh softer than the faux fur throw I said no to thirty minutes ago. Rosé and views soothe an excruciating bed linen purchase.
Monno soothes a similar excursion to Al Quoz where Mrs EatGoSee latches eyes on a moss-green vase. The same vase she stalks online so often that her browser history is at level fetish. Armed with a vase unlikely to survive three malevolent cats and six (more) earthenware coffee cups (which I doubt are actually dishwasher safe), we head to Monno.
Monno’s main dining room is cozy with homely with earth tones and wood together with a pizza oven. The greenhouse is spacious and bright with monochrome floors and an unlicensed back bar.
On weekends, a familiar ritual ensues: I tolerate some feral backwater and begrudgingly rifle through overpriced furniture. In exchange, she grins and bears my restaurant roulette where she will endure banal remarks about whether bread should be a course. It isn’t by the way. Bread is a side. At best, it’s a pudding, which I guess is a course?
She drags her fingertips across some impractical, ivory sofa. A sofa that has no business being in a home with four pets. In exchange, I dredge pillowy flatbread through labneh softer than the faux fur throw I said no to thirty minutes ago. Rosé and views soothe an excruciating bed linen purchase.
Monno soothes a similar excursion to Al Quoz where Mrs EatGoSee latches eyes on a moss-green vase. The same vase she stalks online so often that her browser history is at level fetish. Armed with a vase unlikely to survive three malevolent cats and six (more) earthenware coffee cups (which I doubt are actually dishwasher safe), we head to Monno.
Monno’s main dining room is cozy with homely with earth tones and wood together with a pizza oven. The greenhouse is spacious and bright with monochrome floors and an unlicensed back bar.
Monno the ‘less shabby, more chic’ Jumeirah trattoria
Monno is a curious addition to Dubai’s Italian restaurant scene. It’s unlicensed, it has no views and you won’t find it in a hotel. Monno fashions itself as a casual trattoria; like one deep within an agricola just skimming Siena’s outskirts. Yet, this is Jumeirah 1 – inches from Wasl 51.
Well-decorated, the main dining room is rustic-inspired and smartly executed. One side features dark wood panels, chopped logs and the glow of Monno’s burning pizza oven. Glossy moss subway tiles, plaster walls and earthstone floors add depth and texture. I whispered “this is what I wish Brasserie Boulud looked like” to Mrs EatGoSee.
Monno’s greenhouse straddles its farmhouse with thin-framed, floor-to-ceiling glass panes allowing light to ricochet off the monochrome-tiled floors that rise towards an outside dining area more suitable for al fresco than al fritto weather. Imitation ivy and flowers dangle from the ceiling – a first feature faux pas.
Clockwise: Monno is casual Italian trattoria-style eatery on Al Wasl Road, Jumeirah very close to Wasl 51. Monno’s interiors feature black-and-white photography from various parts of Italy. The greenhouse area looks onto an outside al fresco terrace more suitable for dining in the cooler months.
Well-decorated, the main dining room is rustic-inspired and smartly executed. One side features dark wood panels, chopped logs and the glow of Monno’s burning pizza oven. Glossy moss subway tiles, plaster walls and earthstone floors add depth and texture. I whispered “this is what I wish Brasserie Boulud looked like” to Mrs EatGoSee.
Monno’s greenhouse straddles its farmhouse with thin-framed, floor-to-ceiling glass panes allowing light to ricochet off the monochrome-tiled floors that rise towards an outside dining area more suitable for al fresco than al fritto weather. Imitation ivy and flowers dangle from the ceiling – a first feature faux pas.
Clockwise: Monno is casual Italian trattoria-style eatery on Al Wasl Road, Jumeirah very close to Wasl 51. Monno’s interiors feature black-and-white photography from various parts of Italy. The greenhouse area looks onto an outside al fresco terrace more suitable for dining in the cooler months.
Chef Bartoli could take a bow at this point. 15 smart starters and pastas make for a crisp, reasonably priced menu; something as rare as hailstones in Dubai.
Monno’s food and menu
Monno’s tidy 30+ menu almost never crosses the AED 100 mark making it admirably priced. I often loiter in the cheaper shallows of a menu to see whether the kitchen’s earned my trust to wade into the deep end.
Monno’s best moments are in the starters and pasta courses for two reasons. The first is that these courses are good. I don’t mean “good for the price” good. No, these are objectively good and made by a chef with an intuition for pasta and gnocchi. Chef Federico Bartoli, I am told, makes all the pasta by hand in Monno. Nothing I ate suggested otherwise. Some may quibble about whether the stuffed pasta is ‘thin enough’, but Monno’s pasta dishes are more trattoria than ristorante.
Monno’s menu is admirably below AED 100 for most of the menu.
The supple, handmade gnocchi is stained red and white with a bright tomato sauce and creamy burrata morsels (AED 65). Pert, stuffed ravioli rise like tiny bird’s beaks all dribbled with Parmesan fondue on a deliciously meaty sauce of veal jus shingled with black truffle (AED 89). The umami-rich carbonara di tonno serves bouncy, handmade fresh spaghetti coated in full-bodied bottarga butter topped with smoked tuna belly (AED 75). A layered lasagna baked inside a cast iron pan floats by to another table – spilling over with all the best crispy bits (AED 74).
Crunchy baby gem leaves shine with a slightly too-sweet dressing bolstered by smoked ricotta, fresh fig and balsamic pearls (AED 48). A modest slow-roasted octopus in a pool of potato cream and seaweed tapioca adds a much-wanted crunch (AED 85). Crispy calamari is clean, greaseless and light; shunning the rubbery gristle from less capable hands (AED 55). Twisted trofie pasta turned in bright verdant basil pesto then lawned in burrata and a few shrimp – the latter, personally, I could take or leave (AED 85).
Chef Bartoli could take a bow at this point. 15 smart starters and pastas make for a crisp, reasonably priced menu; something as rare as hailstones in Dubai. Licking veal jus off the plate, I ask myself: why don’t more people eat here? Why isn’t Dubai’s gastro-cognoscenti fizzing about Monno? Is it the location?
Then I ate the Salamino di Wagyu pizza (AED 75). A dish that disappoints, so much, it’s hard to believe it comes from the same kitchen. Pizza this loaded demands a sturdy, bark-like base. Lifting this slice – loaded with San Marzano tomatoes, fior di latte mozzarella and Japanese wagyu bresaola – causes it to droop like a wizard’s sleeve. My pistachio and hazelnut gelatos are spot-on texture-wise but they would benefit from more in-depth flavour (AED 25 each). The tiramisu is a little too clever, too ‘chefy’ and too restaurant-like (AED 35). Monno is at its best meandering through the Italian countryside, away from trends and fashions. Also, can we have some more vegetarian dishes, please? Vegetarians may struggle a little at Monno. Vegans, more so. Plant-based dining is here to stay with many restaurants offering dedicated vegan or plant-based menus. Italian food wonderfully celebrates vegetables. Hello, stuffed zucchini flowers and panzanella! In the meantime, Monno could signpost those dishes on its menu that could be vegetarian (e.g. prawnless trofie).
From top left: Monno’s handmade gnocchi with tomato sauce and creamy burrata morsels; homemade ravioli stuffed with ricotta and dressed with parmesan fondue and black truffles on a veal jus; a baby gem salad with smoked ricotta, fresh figs and balsamic pearls; spaghetti carbonara with bottarga butter and tuna belly.
Monno’s best moments are in the starters and pasta courses for two reasons. The first is that these courses are good. I don’t mean “good for the price” good. No, these are objectively good and made by a chef with an intuition for pasta and gnocchi. Chef Federico Bartoli, I am told, makes all the pasta by hand in Monno. Nothing I ate suggested otherwise. Some may quibble about whether the stuffed pasta is ‘thin enough’, but Monno’s pasta dishes are more trattoria than ristorante.
Monno’s menu is admirably below AED 100 for most of the menu.
The supple, handmade gnocchi is stained red and white with a bright tomato sauce and creamy burrata morsels (AED 65). Pert, stuffed ravioli rise like tiny bird’s beaks all dribbled with Parmesan fondue on a deliciously meaty sauce of veal jus shingled with black truffle (AED 89). The umami-rich carbonara di tonno serves bouncy, handmade fresh spaghetti coated in full-bodied bottarga butter topped with smoked tuna belly (AED 75). A layered lasagna baked inside a cast iron pan floats by to another table – spilling over with all the best crispy bits (AED 74).
Crunchy baby gem leaves shine with a slightly too-sweet dressing bolstered by smoked ricotta, fresh fig and balsamic pearls (AED 48). A modest slow-roasted octopus in a pool of potato cream and seaweed tapioca adds a much-wanted crunch (AED 85). Crispy calamari is clean, greaseless and light; shunning the rubbery gristle from less capable hands (AED 55). Twisted trofie pasta turned in bright verdant basil pesto then lawned in burrata and a few shrimp – the latter, personally, I could take or leave (AED 85).
Chef Bartoli could take a bow at this point. 15 smart starters and pastas make for a crisp, reasonably priced menu; something as rare as hailstones in Dubai. Licking veal jus off the plate, I ask myself: why don’t more people eat here? Why isn’t Dubai’s gastro-cognoscenti fizzing about Monno? Is it the location?
Then I ate the Salamino di Wagyu pizza (AED 75). A dish that disappoints, so much, it’s hard to believe it comes from the same kitchen. Pizza this loaded demands a sturdy, bark-like base. Lifting this slice – loaded with San Marzano tomatoes, fior di latte mozzarella and Japanese wagyu bresaola – causes it to droop like a wizard’s sleeve. My pistachio and hazelnut gelatos are spot-on texture-wise but they would benefit from more in-depth flavour (AED 25 each). The tiramisu is a little too clever, too ‘chefy’ and too restaurant-like (AED 35). Monno is at its best meandering through the Italian countryside, away from trends and fashions. Also, can we have some more vegetarian dishes, please? Vegetarians may struggle a little at Monno. Vegans, more so. Plant-based dining is here to stay with many restaurants offering dedicated vegan or plant-based menus. Italian food wonderfully celebrates vegetables. Hello, stuffed zucchini flowers and panzanella! In the meantime, Monno could signpost those dishes on its menu that could be vegetarian (e.g. prawnless trofie).
From top left: Monno’s handmade gnocchi with tomato sauce and creamy burrata morsels; homemade ravioli stuffed with ricotta and dressed with parmesan fondue and black truffles on a veal jus; a baby gem salad with smoked ricotta, fresh figs and balsamic pearls; spaghetti carbonara with bottarga butter and tuna belly.
Monno, would I come back?
I visit Monno regularly, usually for late lunches with Mrs EatGoSee or friends. Monno is not my favourite Italian restaurant in town, but it sits in my top five. I speak enthusiastically to most about Monno as a ‘one to watch’, especially at such a commanding price point. As with places I like, I want to see them thrive. When was the last time you saw goose salami and venison tartare in Dubai? I just see more room to grow.
Jumeirah, CityWalk, Downtown and Business Bay residents. Italian food lovers. Casual diners looking for reasonably priced dishes.
From top left: Monno’s handmade trofie pasta turned in basil pesto and dressed with burrata and prawns; slow-roasted octopus with potato cream; fried calamari; Monno’s tiramisu; beef fillet (medium) with polenta and two receipts from two separate lunches.
Monno, who should go?
Jumeirah, CityWalk, Downtown and Business Bay residents. Italian food lovers. Casual diners looking for reasonably priced dishes.
From top left: Monno’s handmade trofie pasta turned in basil pesto and dressed with burrata and prawns; slow-roasted octopus with potato cream; fried calamari; Monno’s tiramisu; beef fillet (medium) with polenta and two receipts from two separate lunches.
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