Dubai’s best seafood restaurant is a water wonderland
I was about to order the Sole for dinner. After all I was sitting in Ossiano, just voted Dubai’s best seafood restaurant.
It made perfect sense really, but then I looked out beyond the menu and for a second lost myself in the view.
I could see thousands of fish swimming by my table _ below me, at eye level and way, way above me. They were all shapes, all sizes and it felt like they were ALL watching me intently. Waiting for me to order.
“I don’t think I can do the fish tonight,” I said to my wife.
“Why?”
“Look out there,” I urged.
She did and, without hesitation, said to the waiter: “Lamb thanks. Medium rare.”
I took one more look and opted for oysters followed by the lobster because I couldn’t see any in the tank. I couldn’t see any reason to antagonise the locals. The way the sharks were looking at me there was no way I was going to contemplate ordering flake.
World’s largest fish tank
Ossiano, voted Dubai’s best seafood restaurant, sits at the bottom of what has to be the world’s biggest fish tank. It holds 11 million litres of water and hundreds of species of marine life.
It is one of the many reasons that Atlantis The Palm, with more than 1500 rooms including two underwater suites, lives up to its reputation. The hotel is a water paradise that spreads over 46 hectares and is located in the centre of the crescent of The Palm in Dubai.
It offers a water theme park that adds new rides every season. It has dozens of food outlets (including a Nobu), high-end label shopping and draws travellers from all around the world who indulge with the many locals simply interested in a day out.
And it doesn’t get much better than spending a morning swimming and playing the sidekick to dolphins and fur seals.
Up close and personal with the dolphins
It is 9.30am in early August and the temperature is already pushing towards 40 degrees. I put sunscreen on top of my sunscreen to cover any body parts that have squeezed free of my snug wetsuit and slip into the water at Dolphin Cove with Sean Parker and Central, a touchy-feely 12-year-old female dolphin.
What I didn’t realise was that meant letting Central slap a big kiss on my cheek. Over the next 30-minutes though we hugged, danced and played games together. It was without doubt one of the best animal interaction experiences I have ever had.
Next stop was Atlantis’s new Sea Lion den where I had to squeeze into yet another wetsuit. Why can’t someone make a wetsuit that has room to move? And get another sloppy kiss _ this time from a South African Fur seal. The sea lion experience is less physical and you don’t have to be able to swim to take part. You simply wade into waist deep water and the animals do the rest around you.
Another great thing to do during your stay is a “behind the scenes tour” which gives you exclusive access to the marine feeding facility and the marine hospital.
The Atlantis The Palm hotel is proof that Dubai, rather than necessity, may well be the mother of invention.