Medzo, that pretty, rustic Mediterranean-Italian restaurant at the Pyramids in Wafi, has morphed into Marco’s, another Italian restaurant. The interior is almost exactly the same (as I remember of Medzo), which is a good thing because it has a believable touch of the countryside where its charm and ambience come from.
And if changes have been made, thankfully, they haven’t been made to the dreamy terrace.
The name Marco’s conjures images of a slightly overweight Antonio Carluccio-type (God rest his soul) furiously working the grills and pizza oven of the kitchen, swearing by the blessed Madonna (the representation of Mary, not the pop diva) while making many references to his dear Mamma. Reality couldn’t be further from this, however. I don’t want to get into a racist thing here so let’s just say, the two boys manning the open kitchen on the day I visited….um, weren’t Italian.
Whilst Marco’s menu looks and reads like a thoroughbred Italian, here again, reality is way, WAY different. The green salad we started with and the complimentary bread basket, olive oil and balsamic vinegar were excellent.
But the braised chicken and the pan-fried amberjack we ordered as our mains were utter let-downs; both looking (and tasting) like they had the same sauce, the only difference being the colour of the olives. To say that we could get better Italian in Karama would be insulting to Karama.
I am so disappointed. The younger generation does not understand the significance of Wafi. I have been coming here since it first opened in the mid-90’s when the Pyramids were THE happening place in Dubai. Wafi gave us iconic restaurants such as Asha’s, Thai Chi and Carter’s. I think they should have done much better with Marco’s. No wonder that we were the only people in the restaurant…
Waste NOT. Want NOT.
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