Isabella’s Half-Price Mondays Are the Excuse You Need

There are restaurants you save for Saturday night, and restaurants that can make a random Monday feel like Saturday night.

Isabella Cucina Italiana is firmly the latter.

We went for a late Monday lunch, partly because we already love Isabella and partly because Monday is Community Night, when the à la carte menu is 50% off.

Yes, half price.

It's the sort of Dubai deal that makes you reread the listing, check the date and briefly wonder whether ordering a second pizza would count as financial responsibility.

First, the Room

Isabella is gorgeous.

Dark terracotta, brass details, low lighting and deep velvet booths give it the confidence of a smart Mayfair restaurant, with enough New York mood to keep things interesting.

Large windows bring in natural light during the day, but the room looks ready for evening. Date night, girls’ night, dinner with the parents. Anything requiring a good table and a bottle of something.

Service was impressively attentive. Possibly slightly too attentive during our particularly quiet Monday afternoon.

Start With the Bruschetta

The bruschetta, normally AED 65, proves that a classic doesn't need unnecessary intervention when the ingredients are doing their jobs.

Crisp bread. Sweet cherry tomatoes. Creamy stracciatella. Yum.

Our waiter portioned it onto our plates at the table, which is a small touch but made lunch feel considerably more civilised.

The olive oil deserves its own mention. Peppery, grassy and sharp enough to catch at the back of your throat. Pour accordingly.

Eat the Pizza Crust

For mains, we shared the bresaola pizza and spicy vodka rigatoni.

Isabella’s pizza dough ferments for 48 hours before heading into the wood-fired oven. The result? A base with bubbly, lightly charred edges and a proper chew. This is not a crust destined to form a sad border around the plate.

The bresaola pizza, normally AED 125, comes with rocket, confit tomato and pecorino. The toppings are generous without overwhelming the base, and the whole thing stays balanced and crisp.

And yes, we ate every crust.

About That Vodka Rigatoni

The dish we were still discussing long after lunch.

Vodka pasta has spent several years being photographed, filmed and stirred dramatically on the internet. Expectations were neutral.

That lasted one mouthful.

The rigatoni was beautifully cooked and coated in a spicy tomato sauce with Calabrian butter. It was creamy without becoming heavy, with enough heat to stop the dish feeling flat.

The fresh Parmesan and black pepper helped. The argument over who had eaten more did not.

The spicy vodka rigatoni is AED 110 at full price and remains on Isabella’s current à la carte menu. Good. We were preparing a complaint if it had disappeared.

Lunch Has Another Good Deal

If Monday does not work, Isabella’s weekday business lunch is also worth knowing about.

It runs from noon to 3pm, Monday to Friday, with two courses for AED 89. Dessert can be added for AED 29.

The current menu includes mushroom arancini, bruschetta, beef tartare and fritto misto to start. Mains cover mushroom risotto, chicken parm, prawn aglio e olio and Margherita pizza.

Then there is the daily Aperitivo Hour, running from 4pm to 9pm with drinks from AED 30.

A late lunch can become an early drink remarkably quickly. Monday will cope.

Who's Cooking?

Chef Akriti Jain leads Isabella’s kitchen.

Her career has included working alongside Massimo Bottura and Daniel Boulud, and she now heads one of Dubai’s relatively few female-led kitchen brigades.

The kitchen’s approach suits the restaurant. The food is polished but recognisable, with enough care in the details to make classics feel worth ordering again.

No foam required.

The yapped Verdict

Isabella was already one of those neighbourhood restaurants we would happily recommend. Monday gives us a better reason.

Go for the handsome room. Go for the half-price menu. Take a date, your friends or the parents.

Whatever the occasion, order the vodka rigatoni.

If you are sharing it, choose your dining companion carefully.