Loire born Pierre Gagnaire opened up his Dubai restaurant in the Intercontinental Hotel in 2008. Pierre Gagnaire is recognised as one of the best chefs in the world and one of the creators of the molecular gastronomy so of course the expectations are high when you go to any of his many restaurants. And of course Reflets par Pierre Gagnaire is not even close to his top rated restaurant in Paris, but it is still very good. It is one of the very best restaurants in Dubai.

Just as you would have had in Paris you will have French contemporary with an experimental twist added to it. Head Chef Olivier Biles does an excellent job in making Pierre Gagnaire’s haute cuisine with addition of his own interpretations.

You choose from main courses consisting of several small dishes. A delicious example is the L’Agneaux Du Quercy – Carabineros D’Algarve that is grilled lamb cutlets seasoned with marjoram, sweet onion stanza, juice thickened with tamarind, Choux pastry flavoured with parmesan cheese, Carabineros prawns à l’armoricaine and slow-simmered chicory with clementines. But our favourite is La Truffle Noire Tuber Melanosporum with chessboard of scallop, hen broth with Amontillado, thin slices of sunchoke and deep-sea scallop and polenta of the year.

Purple seating and luxuriously, mirrored decorations as you have seen before in typical “we hire an interior designer for this one” restaurants, but it works and we recommend the French bistro sofas that give you more privacy and for once it is ok for males to sit in a sofa as well. Restaurant Manager Dennis Tels hands out a brilliant job in the restaurant and makes sure that you have impeccable service. The whole team with Olivier Biles in the kitchen and Dennis Tels in the dining room gives some of the best total dining experiences in Dubai.

Interior image: Courtesy Pierre Gagnaire

Written by Andy