Dinner in Dubai

It turned out that a 7 1/2 hour layover was the perfect length of time for a nice dinner at Ossiano in Dubai. That gave us just enough time to change into nice clothes, zip through the immigration fast track line (perk of flying in Business class), check our bags into the luggage holding area (for a reasonable fee), catch a cab to the restaurant (arriving 10 minutes before our reservation) , eat a leisurely dinner, catch a cab back to the airport, retrieve our luggage, zip through the first class check-in lane (no line), schlep through the airport to one of the first class lounges, change back into travel clothes, walk to the gate, and get on our plane.

Side note: we were going to try to Uber, but it was very unclear where the airport pickup was so we took a cab. When it was time to go back, they were in surge pricing and a cab was cheaper. And unfortunately, UberChopper was unavailable. Yes, chopper.

Anyway, Ossiano is an underwater restaurant, with a lovely view of the aquarium residents.

The restaurant had a chef's tasting menu, with small bites of many things. We opted for the mid-size version so we could have an extra appetizer. This was a really lovely restaurant. From the hostess to the water guy to the waitress to the assistant manager, everyone went out of their way to make sure the experience was great. They had asked in advance about allergies, which got them my standard "no walnuts". Every single person we encountered knew that and went out of their way to make sure I knew whatever was going in my mouth did not have any. I even ended up with special bread because their standard bread basket has a bread with walnuts and they were worried about cross contamination, so my bread never touched the basket.

And that was our trip to Dubai! Someday I'd like to see it in the daylight!