Walking into Tribeca is like getting whirled into the maddening genius of the rabbit’s hole from Alice in Wonderland. Located on the first floor of Ocean View Hotel (JBR, Dubai), Tribeca is a “little slice of the big apple”. Conceptualized and created in 2003, Tribeca is the brainchild of a New York-returned chef who found a niche for hearty American grub in Glasgow. Ofcourse, every successfully delicious international chain has to be imported into the Dubai foodie scene, and here we have Tribeca – New York madness created in the suburbia of Glasgow!
The restaurant chain gets its name from the famed TriBeCa district of New York. TriBeCa is an acronym for ‘Triangle Below Canal Block Association’ (read more about it here). Keeping up with the artsy scene that is so ‘New York’, the decor in Tribeca is an amalgamated mix of bright colors, quirky artifacts and chilled out industrial mayhem.
All this quirkiness made me feel right at home. At a place like this, you can idle away the minutes between order-time just looking at all the stunning detailing that has gone into the decor. I was particularly fascinated with the Hendrick’s rose-tattooed bathtub, made to look like it is overflowing with with water, and complete with a floating bottle of Hendrick’s. Pure genius!
Tribeca offers an interesting mix of international cuisine, and many of their dishes use pure organic ingredients. The organic ingredients are highlighted in green on the menu, and all that green font staring back at me made me feel all good about eating well for a change 🙂
We started off with a bottle of red wine, organic ofcourse! This is our bottle of Bio Bio Merlot, a refreshingly fruity Italian import. This is a sweet wine with a delightfully playful punch of tangy goodness that I loved.
It only took a few gulps of wine to get me rather giddy, and I was ravenously thankful for the complimentary cheese bread that was served on our table.
Given it was a beautifully breezy night, we asked to change tables and sit on the porch outside. How gorgeous is the graffiti on the wall by our table! It gets along perfectly well with the denim upholstered swiveling chairs we got to sit in. Can I please have furniture like this in my home?!
We were told Tribeca’s Baked Organic Greek Feta with Honey is their bestselling starter, and decided to give it a go. It is served with wedges of very sweet, refreshing watermelon and a pile of rocket leaves. The feta was decadently creamy, salted and rich. A sprinkle of zaater accentuated its Mediterranean origins, and a few bites of fresh watermelon acted as the perfect respite from all that richness. After having this starter, the flavor combination of warm, gooey feta with fresh watermelon is officially on the top of my personal flavor combination charts!
We ordered the Chicken Salad from Tribeca’s salad menu. This is a beautiful toss-up of diced corn-fed chicken breast with organic kale, organic avocado, mango, coconut shreds and pecan nuts. The combination of mango and coconut gives this salad a tropical twist, and this is further enhanced with the addition of a coconut oil and lime dressing.
As we waited for our mains, our server for the night came up excitedly to our table to inform us that TriBeCa has just been informed it has won the title of ‘Best Bar’ in TimeOut Dubai! Surely we must be their lucky mascots 😀 If it wasn’t for the kick I was getting from the organic wine, I would have gladly tried out one of TriBeCa’s signature cocktails. Will have to make a mental note to do so on my next visit.
For my mains, I tried out Tribeca’s Truffle Risotto. I could sniff the truffle even before it landed on my table! I am absolutely obsessed with the delectable taste of truffle, and this risotto was brimming with it. The risotto itself was perfectly al dente with a creamy base, and was tossed with a variety of seasonal mushrooms and generous shavings of parmesan. Decadently good Italian flavors with sips of organic Italian wine; absolute bliss!
Hubby is an absolute carnivore, so it was pretty easy guessing what he was going to order for his mains; there was only one red meat dish listed here. This is Tribeca’s Beef Tenderloin Tagliata. The meat was cooked to a perfect medium-rare, and was served with very flavorful roasted cherry tomatoes. A jug of pesto sauce was served on the side, and the flavor combinations of beef, tomatoes, fresh rocket leaves and pesto made for an exceptionally delicious international dish.
The artsy ambience, the dazed bliss of good wine, and a very full stomach of delicious, organic-filled grub kept us sitting out on that patio well after our plates were cleared. For once, we skipped dessert. Will have to get back to Tribeca real soon for more.
Tribeca is located on the 1st floor of Ocean View Hotel (JBR, Dubai). Do have a browse of their website, and for table reservations, call 0503456067.
The Tezzy Files 