I had never eaten at a Michelin starred Indian restaurant and I was pleasantly surprised.

If you wander around too many on Instagram and your algorithm is based on food, then you've probably seen it the viral video of dishes prepared by ten waiters lined up in front of the customers of a restaurant with the utmost refinement.

The video posted in April has been viewed more than 2.8 million times. This scene was filmed at the Trèsind Studio restaurant in Dubai. The dish in question is a modern interpretation of the traditional “Onam Sadya”, an Indian dish consisting of pineapple marinated in spices, pickled mango, creamy rice, and papadam, an Indian peanut-based fried pancake. The post received a lot of comments as many internet users were offended by its far-fetched interpretation of the real Onam, which is a friendly dish usually served on banana leaves and not a mouthful worthy of a goldsmith's workshop.

But Trèsind Studio is not an Indian restaurant like other restaurants. It is part of the Middle East's 50 Best and as of 2023, has two Michelin stars. In the United Arab Emirates, this is important because only three companies can say the same thing.

What's the restaurant like?

At first glance it looks like anything gastro: white tablecloths, dim lighting, glasses so thin they're afraid they'll break, and a stool for Madame's handbag. There are only five tables (20 seats total), all facing the open kitchen.

The menu is surprising, but as in all Dubai eateries, the servers are careful to ask if you have any allergies or intolerances. For things like this, Dubai is like the United States… they are afraid of being sued for poisoning.

It is not only the discovery of Indian cuisine, but also its geography that awaits us: the experience begins with a hostess who comes to explain to us using an excellent 3D map which region we are going to explore.

The menu, which consists of 15 entrees, is divided into four biotopes: desert, forest, mountains and sea coast. For each biotope, related elements are placed on the table: an hourglass, green plants, a miniature mountain and a pendulum with water. Even though it sounds silly, it is actually very visual and makes the experience more immersive.

We don't even know which “flower” we should eat anymore.Image: Watson

Each dish has its own presentation. But we don't feel dizzy: everything has a meaning. Jungle dishes are placed on exotic tree leaves, one of the nopal-based desert dishes is served on a prickly pear palm tree, and dishes from the sea are highlighted on tableware reminiscent of shells.

Each “plate” looked like a jewel which we are sometimes asked to put whole in our mouths to really feel all the taste and aroma.

The presentation and choice of plates are very well thought out.Image: Watson

Opal beginnings.

There are very few dishes to eat with cutlery and most of them are accompanied by very strong broths that force us to say to each dish:

But the dish that surprised me most was the one served to us like a nun at the bottom of a fondue pot. In this case, what is meant is not cheese, but a sauce that has been cooked on a candle stove and topped with brioche bread sauce. For those watching Top chef This season, it is a bit of a Yannick Alléno test with a “best of the best” theme.

The best of the best.Image: Watson

Another crazy dish is a starter dessert that conveys the taste of oysters and you have to swallow as you do with these shellfish. But there are no crustaceans, it consists of tea, black soybeans, lychee which gives the crustacean texture, and vegetable oyster leaves. The pearls are made with sour milk and lemongrass.

Is the dish savory or sweet?Image: Watson

We don't know whether we are enjoying a savory or sweet dish. Not important. What we remember is the talent of chef Himanshu Saini, 35, who was equally able to combine sweet and savory, sour and spicy, tradition and novelty. The aim is to change the perception of Indian cuisine by elevating the status of traditional dishes to delicacies. Because often, in people's minds, and also in my mind before this experience, Indian food is naan with cheese and curry with rice. True, but it's more than that, because as the hostess reminds us with a map of her country at the start of the meal, we more often talk about Indian cuisine in the plural because it is rich and varied.

Telling anything about this experience is like spoiling a film because the direction is more important than the feel. You can stop reading if you don't want to know the ending. For everyone else, this is how it ends:

Thanks to perfect coordination between the kitchen and the servers, all the guests finished more or less at the same time. For the grand finale, the room lights went out, the background music also went out, and all the staff seemed to disappear. All eyes turned to the kitchen, now in darkness. With the song “Fly me to the moon” by Frank Sinatra, the waiters came out of the kitchen each with a lighted moon and on top of which were placed two white chocolates with honey, the chef's signature dessert, Honeymoon. For once, this was perhaps the least interesting, yet most poetic dish.

From now on, Trèsind Studio is part of the top 3 restaurants that mark me for life, just behind Noma in Copenhagen, and ahead of Casa Caminada in Schauenstein, in German-speaking Switzerland.

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