Spoilt for choice

If there's one thing I remember clearly from high school marketing classes about effective branding strategies, it was that you had to have a USP (unique selling point). It's your only hope if you wish to stand out in an already saturated market, our professor would intone. So it was with a little confusion that I considered the multi-cuisine premise of Teatro at Towers Rotana Dubai, Sheikh Zayed Road. Everything from Japanese to Indian to European, and pizza to sushi to steak? Smashing success or utter disaster... clearly, this one could swing either way.
My dining partner and I are shown to our table in the middle of the swanky restaurant that is tastefully decorated with plenty of black-and-white pictures of glamorous Hollywood celebrities from years gone by. The red chandeliers cast a fairly dim glow everywhere and we have to pick our way through the room a bit cautiously, in case we miss a step.
For a weeknight, the restaurant is understandably quiet upon our arrival; I say understandably because, hey, business is slow everywhere, right? But, boy, am I soon set straight. In less than an hour, the room is so packed, we have to raise our voices a little to be heard over the lively chatter of diners on every side. "This is still okay," laughs our capable server, Aida. "Sometimes, the place fills up so quickly, we have to refuse reservations!"
She brings us little reading book lamps and clips them to our menus so we can pore over them better. And we really do pore, given the vast array of options before us. With Aida's help, we opt to start with the tempura battered prawns with wasabi coating and the burrata, served with Datterino tomatoes, taggiasca olives, basil and extra virgin olive oil - both of which are great. The little tomatoes that came with the burrata deserve especial mention; their freshness - as though they'd been plucked off a plant and straight onto our plates, no exaggeration - was nothing short of heady.
It's sushi up next, and the chef is kind enough to give us a sampler set of several makis and rolls - including a vegetarian option, which was avocado and shiitake mushrooms rolled up in strips of mango! Both preparation and presentation are excellent and we have to give the chef brownie points for considering the vegetarians among us. If you've never tried this Japanese dish before, here is as good a place as any to start - but we must warn you, it's a bit of an acquired taste!
The menus are back but, this time, instead of struggling with the sheer diversity of dishes - most of them all-too-familiar classics - we embrace them. Acoustic studio versions of modern-day hits play softly in the background, as we wait for our Thai Green Chicken Curry with sticky rice and Lamb Seekh Kebab with butter naans. The meats for both are wonderfully tender; the kebabs, billed as a Teatro favourite (and we see why) almost melt in your mouth.
We're almost unbearably full but Aida absolutely insists on dessert. The signature Sizzling Chocolate Brownie comes with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and sauce on the side, which she pours over the dish, and which immediately bubbles, boils and proceeds to 'dissolve' the brownie. Quite dramatic and the dessert begins to smell like a sizzler, but my date insists it tastes as good as it should. A tad sticky, but positively must-have-more good. I cannot corroborate, unfortunately, as my attention is now wholly devoted to my own gorgeous dessert. A Flame-Torched Baked Hawaiian, layered with pineapple, coconut and vanilla ice cream, and covered in burnt meringue that is so soft and fluffy, it can single-handedly send the eater into raptures of delight.
When all was said and devoured, the bottom line was clear. Teatro's USP is that they'll spoil you for choice - and spoil you real good. And that's all they need to stand out in this market.
karen@khaleejtimes.com

• Food and Dining