Restaurant in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Corniche Italian with a credible weekday lunch case.
A Michelin Plate Italian inside the St. Regis on Abu Dhabi's Corniche waterfront, Villa Toscana backs its 4.5-star Google rating with Tuscan classics and a standout weekday business lunch. At the $$$$ tier, it delivers the consistency you need for a client dinner or a special occasion — book at least two to three weeks ahead for evenings.
Villa Toscana holds a 4.5 Google rating across 580 reviews and a Michelin Plate recognition for 2024 — two signals that place it among the more credible Italian options in Abu Dhabi's hotel-dining circuit. Sitting inside the St. Regis on the W Corniche Road waterfront, it occupies a position that matters: the Corniche is where Abu Dhabi anchors its most formal dining, and the St. Regis address sets clear expectations around service and setting. If you are looking for a reliable, hotel-backed Italian with Michelin-level endorsement and a Corniche view, Villa Toscana is a sound choice at the $$$$ price tier.
The visual anchor here is the St. Regis itself — Nation Towers is one of the more architecturally distinctive addresses on the Abu Dhabi waterfront, and the restaurant benefits from that positioning. Expect the interiors to reflect the St. Regis standard: formal table settings, considered lighting, and a room that reads as occasion-appropriate without requiring a reason to be there. The Corniche waterfront location means proximity to the sea is part of the experience, even if you are dining indoors. For food and travel enthusiasts who care about context, this is Italian dining placed at one of the city's most legible addresses , the setting does real work before the food arrives.
Villa Toscana's menu is built around Tuscan classics, with spaghetti alle vongole among the recognisable reference points. The kitchen pairs these with a pizza selection and a wider range of dishes designed to cover the table without demanding too much commitment to any single regional Italian register. That breadth is a deliberate choice , this is a hotel Italian that wants to be bookable for a business dinner, a couple's evening, and a family meal without a format mismatch. It is not a narrow, chef-driven tasting experience; it is a full-service Italian that happens to have the technical credibility of a Michelin Plate behind it.
The weekday business lunch is the format most worth flagging for practical decision-making. An extensive antipasti and dessert buffet paired with a freshly cooked main course represents real value at the $$$$ tier, where per-head costs can otherwise add up fast. If your visit is during the week and the format suits, this is the version of Villa Toscana that overdelivers on price-to-quality ratio.
The optimal window is a weekday lunch if value is your priority, or an evening visit later in the week if atmosphere matters more. Abu Dhabi's cooler months , October through April , make the Corniche surroundings significantly more pleasant for arriving and departing on foot, and the city's dining scene generally runs warmer (in the social sense) during this period. Avoid peak summer evenings if you want the full Corniche experience; the July-to-September heat compresses most movement indoors anyway, so the restaurant's interior setting carries more weight in those months.
Booking difficulty is rated hard for this venue. The St. Regis context and Michelin Plate status mean weekend evenings fill, and the business lunch format is popular enough that weekday slots are not always open. Plan at least two to three weeks ahead for a Friday or Saturday dinner. For the weekday lunch, a week's notice is usually sufficient, but don't leave it to the day.
The Corniche is not just geography , it is Abu Dhabi's clearest signal that a restaurant is operating at a certain level of seriousness. Hotel dining here, particularly at St. Regis, Four Seasons, and similar addresses, tends to outperform the standalone dining scene in terms of consistency. Villa Toscana benefits from that halo: the kitchen operates within a structure that demands reliability across covers, which is exactly what you want when you are bringing a client, a visiting family, or a partner for a significant dinner.
For Italian specifically, the Corniche puts Villa Toscana in direct conversation with Talea by Antonio Guida, which is Abu Dhabi's most chef-forward Italian at the same price tier. It also sits in a broader Abu Dhabi dining ecosystem that includes strong non-Italian alternatives like Hakkasan and Erth for those weighing cuisine categories. For a fuller picture of the city's options, our full Abu Dhabi restaurants guide covers the current field in detail.
Globally, if Tuscan-anchored hotel Italian is your format, the comparisons worth knowing are Il Ristorante-Niko Romito in Dubai for a higher-concept version in the region, and Osteria Mozza in Los Angeles or 8½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana in Hong Kong for the format at its most ambitious internationally. Villa Toscana is not in that conversation for culinary ambition, but it is not trying to be , it is a polished, Michelin-acknowledged hotel Italian in one of the Gulf's most prominent dining locations, and it delivers on that specific brief.
Villa Toscana is located at Nation Towers, The St. Regis Abu Dhabi, W Corniche Road. The price tier is $$$$ , expect a full dinner for two to sit at the upper end of Abu Dhabi hotel dining. The weekday business lunch format offers a meaningful step down in per-head cost while keeping the kitchen and setting unchanged. Booking in advance is essential; treat this as a hard booking rather than a walk-in option, especially for evenings and weekends. For Abu Dhabi hotel and bar options nearby, see our Abu Dhabi hotels guide and our Abu Dhabi bars guide. If you are building a wider itinerary, our Abu Dhabi experiences guide and wineries guide round out the picture.
If you are comparing Italian specifically, Cafe Milano and Cipriani are the other Abu Dhabi Italian names worth considering. For Italian dining in the broader region and beyond, cenci in Kyoto, Frasca Food and Wine in Boulder, Octavium in Hong Kong, and PRISMA in Tokyo each represent the format in different international registers. For high-end dining in the UAE more broadly, Trèsind Studio in Dubai is the regional benchmark for tasting-menu ambition, though it operates in an entirely different format.
The kitchen's stated strengths are Tuscan classics, with spaghetti alle vongole among the most representative choices. The menu also runs to pizzas and a broader selection of dishes, so the table is not limited to a single register. On weekdays, the business lunch format , antipasti buffet, desserts, and a freshly cooked main , is the most efficient way to sample range without over-committing on spend. For a first visit at dinner, anchor to the pasta section where the kitchen's Tuscan credibility is most direct.
The St. Regis setting and $$$$ price point set a clear expectation: smart casual at minimum for lunch, and smart to semi-formal for dinner. Abu Dhabi's hotel dining culture generally runs more formally dressed than comparable restaurants in Dubai, and the Corniche location reinforces that. Avoid beachwear or very casual dress regardless of the time of day. Business attire is appropriate for the weekday lunch without being excessive.
Three things: first, book in advance , this is not a walk-in venue, particularly at dinner. Second, if your visit falls on a weekday, the business lunch is the format that delivers the most value at the $$$$ tier. Third, the Michelin Plate (2024) signals consistent kitchen quality rather than a destination-level chef experience , you are getting a well-executed, broad Italian menu in a formal hotel setting, not a tasting menu or a chef's-counter moment. Manage expectations accordingly and the meal will meet or exceed them.
For Italian at the same price tier, Talea by Antonio Guida is the more chef-driven option , choose it if the cooking itself is your priority over breadth or setting. Cafe Milano and Cipriani are the other Italian names in Abu Dhabi worth comparing. If you are open to a different cuisine at the same $$$$ tier, Bord Eau by Nicolas Isnard is the French alternative with comparable formal credentials. For something at a lower price point, Mika ($$, Mediterranean) gives you Corniche-area quality without the hotel pricing.
Yes, with one qualification. The St. Regis setting, Michelin Plate status, and Corniche location make it a credible choice for a birthday dinner, an anniversary, or a business celebration where the room needs to do some of the work. The broad menu also means the table is unlikely to have a format mismatch. The qualification: if the occasion calls for a genuinely memorable, chef-driven cooking experience, Talea by Antonio Guida at the same price tier is the stronger call. Villa Toscana is the better choice when occasion-appropriate polish and reliability matter more than culinary ambition.
| Venue | Cuisine | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Villa Toscana | Italian | As you’d expect from the name, you can find many a classic Tuscan dish here at Villa Toscana, which sits within the St. Regis hotel on the Corniche waterfront. Familiar favourites like spaghetti alle vongole mix with plenty of pizzas and a wide range of other dishes to form a menu with something for everyone. On weekdays, they serve a good value business lunch comprising an extensive buffet of antipasti and desserts, plus a freshly cooked main course.; Michelin Plate (2024) | Hard | — |
| Talea by Antonio Guida | $$$$ · Italian | Michelin 1 Star | Unknown | — |
| Al Mrzab | Emirati Cuisine | Unknown | — | |
| Bord Eau by Nicolas Isnard | French | Unknown | — | |
| Otoro | Japanese Contemporary | Unknown | — | |
| Mika | Mediterranean Cuisine | Unknown | — |
A quick look at how Villa Toscana measures up.
Spaghetti alle vongole is the reference point the venue leads with, and at a Michelin Plate kitchen it is a reasonable test of the kitchen's discipline. The menu spans Tuscan classics and pizza, so it is broad rather than narrow. If you are there on a weekday, the business lunch buffet covers antipasti and desserts alongside a cooked main, which is the better-value entry point into the menu at the $$$$ price tier.
Villa Toscana sits inside The St. Regis Abu Dhabi at Nation Towers, which sets the baseline: this is a five-star hotel dining room on the Corniche, so dress accordingly. Business or resort-smart attire will be comfortable here. Beachwear and casual shorts are unlikely to fit the room's register.
The Michelin Plate recognition (2024) signals cooking worth attention, but the $$$$ price tier means you should arrive with a clear idea of what you are spending. Weekday lunch is the practical entry point: an antipasti and dessert buffet plus a cooked main gives you more coverage for less than a full dinner. Evening visits will carry more atmosphere given the Corniche waterfront address at Nation Towers.
Cafe Milano and Cipriani are the other Abu Dhabi Italian names that operate at a comparable address level. If your priority is Tuscan-focused cooking with a Michelin credential, Villa Toscana is the clearer choice among those three. For a different cuisine entirely at a similar price point on the Abu Dhabi fine dining circuit, Bord Eau by Nicolas Isnard is worth comparing.
Yes, with a caveat on format. The St. Regis setting at Nation Towers on the Corniche provides the occasion framing, and the Michelin Plate recognition supports the food credibility. For a dinner for two or a small group where Italian is the right cuisine, it works well. If you need a more intimate or chef-led tasting format, the menu's broad appeal means this is a crowd-pleaser rather than a progression-focused experience.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
