MUST-TRY RESTAURANTS FOR ABU DHABI NEWBIES
ANTONIA
MAMSHA AL SAADIYAT
BEST FOR: relaxed Italian in a picturesque setting.
A firm favourite of those in the know, Antonia serves up Italian food done right with bucket loads of charm on the side. Taking walk-ins only, the wait is well worth it and you’ll enjoy soaking up the atmosphere as enticing plates are ferried past. A bustling venue, friendly and knowledgeable staff and a divine terrace with views over Soul Beach? Tick, tick, tick!
Pizza crafted with nonna’s 50 year old proprietary dough is a star of the menu: we love tartufo e funghi (truffle sauce, wild mushroom, scamorza cheese) or pancetta e patate (smoked bacon, potato, mozzarella, scamorza cheese) - even the potato-on-pizza sceptics rate this one. Pasta is cooked al dente with generous helpings - their signature fregola ai frutti di mare with a view of the sea will transport you to Sardinia - and be sure to save room for dessert.
Having branched out with Antonia Trattoria in Al Zeina and Antonia Chic in The Galleria opening over the past year, you can get your fix across the city, but we still find it hard to pass up their original home on Saadiyat. Enjoy an aperitivo on the terrace as the weather cools down and drink in those sunset views. Molto bene!
Timing: daily | noon - 11PM
Contact: 02 667 2554
NIRI
MAMSHA AL SAADIYAT
BEST FOR: innovative Japanese in the heart of the cultural district
The sort of place you like to pretend only you know about, but are proven wrong by busy evenings that are often booked out even on weeknights, so book ahead. Niri is undeniably cool without being pretentious. The food speaks for itself: really excellent Japanese with bold flavours and quality ingredients.
Another Mamsha staple, the terrace is one of our favourite places to sit in the cooler months with a drink in hand. Niri mixes some of the best cocktails on the waterfront and their mocktails stack up equally well, all a homage to Japanese ingredients and with a reasonable price tag to boot.
Find an excuse to visit on a weekday - their business lunch is excellent. Just AED99 will net you miso soup, a starter, main course and sorbet or ice cream to finish - we love the perfectly crispy katsu beef, and their freshly-prepared sushi is hard to pass up. Over the warmer months, sit yourself at the sushi bar and watch the chefs carve up a massive tuna for date night with a difference - there are no bad seats here!
Timing: Sunday - Thursday 12PM - 11PM | Friday - Saturday 12PM - 12AM
Contact: +971 25468886
RACLETTE BRASSERIE & CAFE
MAMSHA AL SAADIYAT
BEST FOR: ladies night, wine & cheese night, any day or night!
With its front row seat on the Mamsha esplanade, this popular French brasserie rightfully has a lot of fans. The light-filled interiors, jungle motifs on the walls and a fabulous terrace that’s buzzing in the winter months all add to a great vibe, but it’s more than just a pretty face. The menu features plenty of French favourites without being pretentious: we rate their French onion soup, signature Angus raclette burger (yes, topped with gooey raclette cheese) and fresh seafood in particular.
Love a reason for a night out? Raclette has plenty. From a bustling ladies night to one of our favourite wine and cheese nights in the city, you’ll find an event every day of the week. Don’t miss their exclusive BB+ menu, either: 4 courses and 5 drinks will set BB+ members back just AED199. Great for a birthday celebration, catching up with mates, date night, breakfast, a relaxed business lunch, we find ourselves returning often - and once you’ve visited, we know you will too!
BB+ members enjoy 20% off a la carte (excluding other offers)
Timing: daily | 9AM - 12AM | Friday - Saturday until 1AM
Contact: 02 546 2277
CRAFT BY SIDE HUSTLE
THE GALLERIA | AL MARYAH ISLAND
BEST FOR: the only locally brewed beer in the country!
The UAE’s first microbrewery opened their doors at the end of 2024 and became an immediate go-to for beer lovers and foodies alike: Craft filled a gap in the market and hasn’t looked back since! This is proper craft brewing: every detail has been accounted for by brewer Mitch, with his encyclopedic knowledge of the art of brewing. Gone are the days of settling for sub-par tap beer in Abu Dhabi - dip your toe in with a daily happy hour from 3PM - 7PM.
What about the food? Think pub grub, but elevated, surprising and undeniably delicious! Chef Troy’s epic American-inspired, Southern-style menu that will leave you carrying a food baby of epic proportions: tuck in to anything from a reimagined pie to a perfectly executed smoked meat platter and boozy desserts.
Sink into one of their booths for a proper Sunday session with their Sunday Family Lunch: kicking off weekly from 12PM, it’s happy faces across the board. A special lunch menu and drinks packages will see the adults in good stead, while the kids are looked after with games, craft and face painting from 2PM - 5PM. In the meantime, we’ll be over here dreaming of Mississippi mud cake with stout ice cream and a pint of IPA that tastes like passion fruit martini in a beer glass.
Timing: daily | 12PM - late
Contact: 02 631 9855
PIZZA DI ROCCO
SALAM STREET | ETIHAD PLAZA | AL AIN
BEST FOR: piping hot pizza delivered fresh to your door
New to town? Any big move means finding excellent pizza delivery, pronto! Enter: Pizza di Rocco. Well known - and loved - across the city, freshly delivered boxes of pizza stream across the city every night via zippy motorbikes.
Don’t write them off for a relaxed dine-in pizza night at both the Salam Street and Etihad Plaza locations: park yourself in close proximity to the oven for maximum freshness, and let the smell of cooking pizza intensify those hunger pangs while you wait. We have a regular debate about our favourites, but honourable mentions go to BBQ brisket, burrata and chicken tikka with homemade mango chutney.
Need to satisfy that lunchtime pizza craving? Pizza di Rocco’s business lunch is a steal. Cough up AED49, and enjoy any pizza of your choice along with potato wedges or a side salad - it’s available for dine-in customers on weekdays, the perfect cure for any mid-week blues.
BB+ subscribers enjoy 20% off online and in-store (excluding other promotions).
Timing: daily | 11AM - 12AM | may vary by branch | business lunch available Monday – Friday | 12PM – 3PM | dine-in
Contact: 800 76220
LOCALINO
AL RAHA BEACH
BEST FOR: Casual Italian in a canal-side setting
Localino means little place, but in Italy it is also a neighbourhood place to frequent and that’s exactly what you can do here. It is not in the slightest bit pretentious, just delicious food in a friendly and welcoming location.
Ordered by the slice or half tray, there are several pizza varieties to choose from. We love the Via Calabria – be warned, the spicy nduja sausage gives quite a kick, as does Feel The Heat), generously topped with salami, sausage, and chilli. For those who prefer a little less spice, the pecorino, black pepper, and rocket combo of The One is fresh tasting and feels almost healthy. Enjoy a roast beef sandwich or a pasta dish to keep you going for the day and save room for a bombolone or tiramisu for dessert - we promise you, these are totally worth the calories.
Localino is a lovely place for lunch or dinner, you can bring the doggo and have them sit on the terrace and there’s room for kids to ride or scoot whilst you enjoy your meal. We find it in our hearts to be slightly envious of those who live close because they do deliver!
Timing: daily | 12PM - 10PM | closed Monday
Contact: 02 236 7493
LA PETITE MAISON
THE GALLERIA | AL MARYAH
BEST FOR: business lunches, dinners out, celebrations
La Petite Maison, or LPM as it was once called, is one of Abu Dhabi’s best restaurants. Serving outstanding Mediterranean dishes, including what we think are the most excellent escargots in town (of course on house-made crusty bread!), seafood options, excellent meat dishes and luscious desserts. We highly recommend the lamb cutlets and the rib-eye, as well as the astonishingly good pâté and, we give you fair warning: it’s very hard to resist desserts.
The wine list is great and the sommelier will help you with your journey, cocktails and mocktails are equally as innovative and unfailingly delicious. Arrive at 5PM for the Cinq a Sept and enjoy small bites from the bar menu alongside delicious cocktails, best sipped on the very French terrasse, overlooking the bay.
Make La Petite Maison your place of choice for celebrations, for entertaining overseas guests, and if you’re keen for a taster, try their business lunch which comes in at AED135 for 2 courses or AED180 for 3 courses - a steal! But it’s the efficient and genuine service and attention to detail that makes La Petite Maison stand out above the rest.
Timing: daily | 12PM - 11PM
Bookings essential: 02 692 9600
FINZ
BEACH ROTANA ABU DHABI
BEST FOR: seafood! This might just be the best place in Abu Dhabi to enjoy it.
If you had to explain the experience of dining at Finz in a couple of words, coastal luxury would set you on the right path. Wind your way through the leafy, beachside gardens and up to Finz: perched on the water, with a white, high ceilinged interior, lobster-trap lights and an open kitchen flanked by fresh fish on ice - you instantly know you are in for a seafood treat. The best seats in the house are on the deck: literal over-water dining, the gentle waves wash up below as you dine.
Onto the main event, the food! Highlights have to include seared sea scallops, cooked to perfection and pretty as a picture, Fine de Claire hand-shucked oysters with a pink pepper mignonette, the ceviche - enough for two to share and prepared table-side to your liking - and salt-baked whole sea bass, expertly deboned and filleted this at the table.
For us, regardless of how good the food is, service can make or break a meal. The food at Finz is incredible, but the service is also impeccable – knowledgeable, attentive, and friendly, but not over the top. An upmarket offering in the city with views to match, Finz provides an outstanding experience from beginning to end. The food absolutely sings: perfect for a special occasion, but don’t wait for one to try it out - treat yourself. You’ll be glad you did!
BB+ members enjoy 20% off a la carte
Open: daily | 12PM - 12AM (last food orders at 11.15PM)
Bookings: 02 697 9000
THE FLAMINGO ROOM
THE GALLERIA | AL MARYAH
BEST FOR: treat dinners out with an African flair
Dining at The Flamingo Room is an absolute treat. With sweeping views across the bay and upscale African-esque decor, this is an excellent place to catch up with friends or meet the girls for business lunch.
There’s much to recommend food-wise: our first absolute must-try is the Steak Diane, bite-sized slivers of perfectly prepared steak, complemented by beech mushrooms that look so pretty and give a nice nutty crunch are gorgeous, while the creamy sauce with Worcestershire and mustard is incredibly good.
The seabass carpaccio is also excellent with superb flavour combinations - an outstanding citrus vinaigrette adds the lightness and piquancy that the fish deserves.
For dessert, Lizel's lemon meringue tart is an absolute show-stopper. We imagine Lizel as a fabulous home baker who produces patisserie chef worthy dishes as a matter of course. This tart has a super lemon custard, and a meringue top with just the right height of peak which, fittingly, gives Zulu headdress vibes, but it’s the lotus base that really elevates it to a dessert 'for the ages'.
Service is attentive without being overbearing and the sommelier especially is knowledgeable and genuine. We like it here and would come more often if we had time and funds permitted!
Timing: daily | 12–4 PM; 7 PM–12 AM
Contact: 02 675 9301
MONICA BAKES
CITY, DELIVERY
BEST FOR: cookies, birthday cakes and any or every occasion!
Warning: this content may cause weight gain!
Monica Bakes is the Abu Dhabi go-to for birthday cakes - whatever design you dream up, they produce with startlingly good results. The cakes come in a number of different flavours so there’s something for every taste and they’re usually met with rapturous applause.
But that’s not all … Monica Bakes produces the most wonderful cookies, cupcakes, bars and other little bitties that anyone with a sweet tooth just laps up. We love the stuffed Nutella cookies, the peanut butter cookies and the divine red velvet versions, that are gooey and massive and even as we write, have us wondering when we’re going to get our hands on them next! The cupcakes are similarly good and the bars, with everything from a lusciously fudgy brownie to a divine lemon bar, are perfect for snacks or treats.
Either pop into the store at the top of the island or order for delivery. And please, don’t come back to us with any weight gain
Order directly from Chatfood for 15% off with BB+
Timing: bookings can be placed any time
Contact: 02 583 3243
CATCH AT ST REGIS
THE ST REGIS ABU DHABI
BEST FOR: seafood lovers who want to splash out
Catch At The St Regis is one of Abu Dhabi’s most outstanding seafood restaurants. What gets it there? Innovative dishes made with quality ingredients and executed to perfection, a relaxed and chic ambiance and outstanding staff who are passionate about their work and make guests feel genuinely welcome.
The menu is nothing short of impressive. While obviously seafood heavy, it has some great dishes that are good for lovers of more turf than surf! The sushi not only looks incredible it matches for taste but the must-try dish is the incredibly tender octopus. There really is something for everyone, and we believe our meal at Catch At The St Regis to be one of the best we've had in Abu Dhabi.
For a date night, a celebration or if you're just in need of some undeniably great food, Catch At The St Regis needs to go on your list.
Timing: daily | 12PM - 12AM
Contact: 02 694 4615
Danika Star
8/27/2024
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