Tresind Dubai is an old and steady favorite for M and I, but most of you must already know that. My steady relationship with and love for Tresind dates back to almost as long as this blog does, and you can read about some of my past (always pleasant) experiences at Tresind and Carnival by Tresind here, here, here, here, and here.
While the food at Tresind has always been utterly flawless, a lot of my trusted and knowledgable food writer friends of mine and I agreed that the interiors at Tresind felt extremely dated and dreadful. The ambience lacked any vibes whatsoever, and the low ceilings didn’t help either. Recently, however, Tresind underwent a complete revamp and rebranding and suffice to say it is extremely chic and modern now- just the kind of place you want to spent your entire Thursday night at, whether you’re on a dining table or in the lounge.
I had the pleasure of first trying Tresind for dinner as one of Zoe Bowker’s friends, and then again for lunch with my husband because he absolutely loves Tresind and I knew he’d love to see the new facelift.
The attention to detail is impeccable, and I absolutely love everything about the new look, from the upholstery to the plates to the deep blue walls! the feel reminds me a teeny bit of Weslodge and a teeny bit of Catch, which is nice.
The menu is a combination of old classics and new (but equally, if not more) prodigal additions to the menu.
The meal started with the quintessential Tresind liquid nitrogen fragrance diffuser (for lack of a better term)…
And then proceeded to the amuse bouche tray that comprised of crispy fried okra, cucumber “sushi”,
Here’s another display of things I don’t ever like, but LOVE at Tresind: lamb shank and Nihari. Oh. My. God. The depth in this curry is ridiculously phenomenal, it’s so rich it’s almost sticky, and the meat literally falls off the bone. This dish is absolutely stellar and I can’t praise it enough.
Move aside all ya bread baskets. We’ve got crispy okra with tomato salsa here, mango achaar focaccia, curd rice sushi (this one was my FAVE), and a Pani Puri sorbet. I love how Himanshu and his team continue to nail the flavors of Pani Puri, communicated through so many textures and vehicles.
This one made me do a little happy dance (at least on the inside, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to being told off a few times over the years by M for actually breaking into a little seated dance, mid-meals, at Tresind). All the flavors of Dhokla, but communicated through very unconventional textures: think soup and sorbet. Served with fail tacos and khichra muesli, this was a very enjoyable course (but then again, which course isn’t, at Tresind, really?).
A vegetarian take on the galoti kabab, with a Latin twist. Sat on a tortilla paratha and topped with pickled avocado, tomato salsa and sour cream, this benign looking bite packed a punch of comforting flavors.
Tandoori chicken on pineapple carpaccio and olive tapenade. I felt that the olive tapenade was unnecessary here, and that the pineapple should have been more tart, so as to cut through the richness of the chicken, but hey, I’m just nit-picking really beaus the other courses were so flawless.
This was a tofu patori with mustard glaze and Indian chili crisps. Oh. My. God. I swear to you, I’m salivating as I write this and reminisce over how this tasted. It’s not an easy feat to consistently conceive and plate such unforgettable and high-impact flavors, but Tresind do it with what appears to be effortless smoothness. Patori is a Bengali fish wrapped in banana leaf but they used silken tofu instead to make it vegan and this was my favorite course of the night! It was coconut and tart and spicy and so so good.
Not the first time having these mutton chops but certainly won’t be the last. I’ve said it a dozen times over: Tresind is the only place I eat, enjoy and finish my mutton/lamb courses.
The palette cleanser was a blueberry yuzu sorbet, and anyone who has known me for 5 minutes would know I’m the biggest sucker for yuzu, so this was an instant winner for me.
I don’t now if I was too full by now, but the prawn ghee roast main course was bit meh for me. Must be me, because M loved it.
Ok ok ok. Hold on. We need to take a minute. Tandori morels with lababdaar gravy. Somebody hand me a swimsuit because I am diving right in and happily drowning in this.
Oh no wait. I can’t drown in the morel lababdaar gravy, I NEED to drown in THIS! You guys. I cannot explain in words how phenomenal this main is. Lamb shank that literally falls off the bone, into this most insanely delicious nihari. Every bite of nihari-soaked naan made me want to start shuffling. Do yourself a favor, go to a Tresind, and order this. Just do it, thank me later.
Cue awkward cringe: Indian desserts are my least favorite race of desserts. I just don’t love them. This dessert trolley was pretty impressive to look at though, and reluctantly I agreed to let M pick a couple and I may or may not have fought for the last bite anyway.
I always love anything paan-flavored at Tresind, and these petit fours were no exception. M preferred the coffee flavored ones, which I really didn’t like.
I hope this review was detailed enough to convince you to go try Tresind, because it has certainly made me want to go back already so……
