A caterwauling Ian Gillan was the last thing we expected to hear at Sana Bonta. The Deep Purple frontman sent his high-pitched squeal pinging off the mirrored walls and rattling through the kitchen utensils in this Italian corner of DIFC. A quick glance around confirmed that the aging head banger wasn’t slouched in a corner complaining about his minestrone, because the din was emanating from the speakers. It seemed a strange choice of background music, but we supposed it made a change from ‘O Sole Mio’ or ‘Nessun Dorma’. Yet Sana Bonta had no choice in the matter, because this is perhaps the only restaurant in town that lets you inflict your very own iPod playlist on an unsuspecting public.
If only I’d known, I’d have brought my Black Sabbath collection, and maybe a dash of Motörhead for dessert. Instead, my dining partner breathed a sigh of relief and I consoled myself with a double-edged starter. For a mere Dhs16, we dipped dough balls similar to savoury zeppoli (not Led Zeppoli, in case you were wondering) into a tangy tomato dip, and we luxuriated in the impossibly fragile slices of raw home smoked tuna with grilled lemon in basil oil. Portions were small, but a robust disc of focaccia bread dripping in stodgy melted mozzarella with onion and portobello mushrooms bulked things up a bit.
The heavy rock theme abated with the addition of some disengaged bleeps and repetitive hissing noises commonly accepted as dance music, and then our main courses arrived. The classic pizza was a crisp thin crust with pure mozzarella, mushrooms, sultry black olives and smoky grilled zucchini, which would have benefited from another spoonful of tomato sauce. But if the pizza nudged the dial to seven out of ten, the spaghetti king prawns pescatora went right up to eleven. The subtle tomato sauce allowed the beautifully sweet and juicy prawns to prance and posture in the mouth like a fidgety Freddie Mercury after a double espresso. And waiting in the wings was a crowded romaine goat’s cheese salad with fleshy cherry tomatoes, black olives and sweet sun-dried cranberries that offered a refreshing accompaniment to both mains.
Our desserts, it has to be said, were nothing to make a song and dance about. My friend’s strawberry ice cream with black pepper had a tangy, spicy flavour that left a strange aftertaste, and my panna cotta was a fairly ordinary affair with sliced strawberries in a syrupy reduction that was unlikely to warrant an encore. We didn’t expect Michelin standard food here, but if you’re looking for good value Italian fare in stylish surrounds with a soundtrack of your own making, Sana Bonta will be music to your ears.
The bill (for two)
San PellegrinoDhs23
Dough balls and home smoked tunaDhs16
FocacciaDhs12
Spaghetti king prawnDhs45
Classic three top pizzaDhs42
Romaine goat’s cheese saladDhs32
Trio panna cottaDhs17
Ice creamDhs12
Total (including service)Dhs199
Sana Bonta, DIFC,Gate Building, Basement 1 (04 425 0326). OpenSun-Fri 11.30am-9pm, Sat 12.30-6pm. All major credit cards welcome. Unlicensed.
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