Business Lunch @ Bella Restaurant, Grand Millenium Business Bay Dubai

First time I saw a bit of Bella was whilst sneaking into Caroline Stanbury’s instastories. I saw the shiny copper plates on the wall, the Dubai skyline and was thinking – ah, that looks nice, where is this? Bit of clicking and googling took me to Bella and the fact that it was in Business Bay was a turn-off, of course. Fast-forward months later, here we are – walking into the top floor of Grand Millenium Hotel in Business Bay – and I can say you will be wow-ed at the interior. The high-ceilings, the intertwined foliage above, and of course – the copper maze on that grey wall. It is all very classy, very grand. The place you really shouldn’t be bringing your 1, 3 and 5 year old at whatever time of the day. Sorry guys, our nanny was off.

Let’s get back to topic.

First off, where exactly is Bella?

Google will take you there. Yes, you can valet.

Don’t be put off by the lobby of the Grand Millenium. I’m not sure what they are trying to achieve with the furniture choice, giant ceramic vases and mirrors. Just get into the lift, and go to the top floor 😉

Beautiful interior, you said?

Yeah. I’ve elaborated enough above, just have a look at the photos.

What do you get for Bella’s Business Lunch?

Here’s the Business Lunch menu.

You start off with a lovely freshly baked bread with olive oil, which we unashamedly asked for more. Moving onto a salad – baby gem lettuce tossed with pomelo, thinly sliced daikon, mixed seeds and agave dressing. It was simple, and generous (it better be… ), and delicious.

There are 4 choices for the “Seconds”, or as we know as mains. We were hoping to both do a meat-dish and was slightly disappointed to see that there was only one – the 12-hour braised beef cheek. This was served with smoked mash potatoes and shallot confit, and came to the table on a trolley, covered with a shiny lid dome. Very fancy indeed. It was tender, melt in mouth yummy. I wanted to try something different – and wasn’t keen on having a vegetarian pasta (though it did look interesting..), so went with the pizza alla marinara e burrata. A simple pizza, but done well, and so beautiful.

The team was nice to get spaghetti for the little ones, served with side of prawns. I’m glad we did as I got to sample a bit of the homemade pasta they have and I am definitely coming back for more.

We finished the afternoon with desserts – vanilla ice-cream for the little ones (with mummy having some), and off the lunch menu – a traditional chocolate pudding. It was rich, but not too sweet – which was a perfect end to the afternoon.

Drinks?

Off the business lunch menu, you can get cocktails for an additional 40 AED each. This is when you know you are sitting in a proper, fine dining joint. Loved their cocktails. The “Americano” – campari, mancino Rosso and soda…. as well as the Rinomato Spritz. Let me warn you – they are pretty strong.

Overall thoughts

The business lunch menu is priced at 135 AED per person. In comparison with the few other spots we have been in the area, we did feel that it was on the slightly steep side of pricing, particularly as it did not include drinks (water, tea & coffee like Mina) or meat options like Fi’lia‘s. You could say they are on par with the likes of Coya and Zuma ? Nonetheless, we had a great time at the venue – and left with a full tummy. It was a nice way to have a taste of what Bella had to offer, and we are definitely keen to return in the evenings or brunch, when their live entertainment is on.

PS – Say hi to the lovely Doreen from Ghana while you are there.