There's a new Beijing in Abu Dhabi!

Located: Salam Street

Tel: +971 55 789 8199

Hey, a new Beijing has opened ... Congratulations!

Needless to say, the original Beijing is one of our favourite restaurants in all of Abu Dhabi ... there's now a swankier, trendy-er outlet along Salam Street, not so far from India Palace. Its pretty good, give it a try ;-)

We gave two "original Beijing" favourites of ours, the Sweet and Sour Chicken was good, but the Three Cup Chicken was better!


We had a bunch of other dishes last weekend to celebrate Mother's Day :-) The best dish was the roast chicken with salt-pepper!

Thanks KCL for the home-cooked Assam Laksa!

Thanks KCL for the wonderful treat ... so professionally presented too ;-)

There was even a small jar of har-koh :-)

Mmmmh ... Malaysian-style Penang Assam Laksa!

So good it deserved another close-up shot ... Thanks again!!!

New trendy shawarma joint - Shish Shawerma

Located: Near Corniche Towers, not far from Choithram in Corniche/Khalidiyah
Map: FourSquare

Oooh .. a trendy Shawarma joint? I am more familiar with the traditional Lebanese-style restaurants that sell this popular local snack, but was strangely-drawn to this new cafe when we were shopping at Choithram one weekend.


I like the packaging, I like the trendy feel of the cafe, I like the blarring music, and the shawarma was moist/juicy/had fresh warm bread ... but I didn't like the wait (It was only 10-15 mins actually), and the steps at the restaurant as well as the glass frontage which could lend itself to some child-safety risks!

Chicken or Beef ... take your pick ;-) 10 AED a pop, not cheap considering I pay only 5 to 6 AED at Shater Hassan and Lebanese Flower Grill.

Briyani and Roti Canai - Damascus Flower, Khalidiyah

Add: Dairathul Miah Road, Khalidiyah
Located: Next to Al Sham Video/Gift, near Lebanese Flower Restaurant
Tel: +971 2 665 2835
Previous review: Feb 2011


We like Damascus Flower a lot, it is probably one of our most frequented eateries in all of Abu Dhabi! Good value, great service, and splendid food :-)


We rarely take-away our food from Damascus Flower, but we did so recently ... and the briyani and paratha (Roti canai), as well as the beef curries and fish curry was still good! Prepare to pay no more then 10 AED per person ... cheap!

Beijing - Chinese restaurant near Madinat Zayed, Abu Dhabi

Located: Near Madinat Zayed
Tel: +971 2 621 0708
GPS:
N 24° 28' 51.6"
E 54° 21' 53.8"

We order the same dishes at Beijing (Not far from ShoeMart / about 0.5 km from the Gold Souk - Madinat Zayed) many times ... Tofu with fish slices in a Hotpot ... and 3-cup chicken cooked in a lot of gravy.

We order the Stir-fried beans with Garlic nearly every time we visit Beijing ... its perfect!

Beijing can do spicey too if you really want some FIRE ... Mongolian lamb (Very tender, but I found the spices a little bit odd, and very hot!) ... and Beef in Hot Oil with Szechuan Peppercorns, which I loved!

We also ordered some less adventurous dishes - Beijing fried rice, and special dumplings (Similar to wor tip). Thanks to RF for recommending the latter :-)

ps - Beijing has a number of high-chairs, best to stick to the ground-floor if you have a child with you. There are stairs which lead up to the 1st floor as well.

Belgian Beer Cafe - InterContinental, Abu Dhabi

Add: Intercontinental Abu Dhabi - Al Bateen, not far from the Corniche
Tel: +971 800 423 463
Reservation: Recommended ... The place was 2/3rds packed by the time we got there at 8:30pm, and was full by the time we left at 10pm!
Opening hours: Daily, 5pm - 1am
Review: Previous visit a month ago
Entertainer: YES! 2012 edition (Entertainer costs 350 AED or RM$280, and is a book of vouchers which allows us to dine for buy-one-get-one-free at many places in Abu Dhabi).

Yes ... I believe Belgian Beer Cafe is one of Abu Dhabi's BEST porky-places, delicious!

A bag of warm bread is served in a paper bag with some fancy butter, before your meal is served ... Yes, my Oldham Hall (1989 - 1993) bro visited us in Abu Dhabi!

Belgian Cafe's finest .. Kwak (About 35 AED I think) - Love the unique glass!! And ... Leffe Brune (45 AED for a very large glass) - My choice each and every time, bbG's favourite!

Wikipedia ... Pauwel Kwak is an amber, 8.4% abv Belgian beer, brewed by the family-owned Brewery Bosteels in Buggenhout, Belgium. It is named after an 18th century innkeeper and brewer, Pauwel Kwak. As with other Belgian beers, Kwak has a branded glass with its own distinctive shape. The Kwak glass has attracted attention because it is a round-bottomed, hour-glass shaped glass that resembles a stirrup cup or 'yard of ale', which is held upright in a wooden stand — rather like a piece of old scientific apparatus.
AND,
Leffe is a beer brand owned by InBev Belgium, the European operating arm of the global Anheuser–Busch InBev brewery giant. There are several beers in the range, and they are marketed as Abbey beers. Leffe Brune has 6.5% ABV.

And ... our meal selection, Ron had Mussels in Roquefort cheese and Cognac ... and I had the excellent Pork Festival platter, consisted of sausages / loin / belly. They each cost 130 AED and 120 AED respectively, best of all we only had to pay for the more expensive of the two dishes, whilst the other was free (Entertainer voucher!).

Amarone Bottega - Italian red wine

Thanks for the treat, Ron :-) Oldham Hall mini-reunion in Abu Dhabi, over many glasses of red and the incomparable Infernal Affairs 1 and 3 on DVD!

Description from Wikipedia ... Amarone della Valpolicella, usually known as Amarone, is a typically rich Italian dry red wine made from the partially dried grapes of the Corvina (40% – 70%), Rondinella (20% – 40%) and Molinara (5% – 25%) varieties.

Create your own Pasta - The One, Khalidiyah

This furniture shop, with a nice cafe upstairs, at The One in Khalidiyah is an eatery which we frequent at least once every 2 months. Ooops, just realised I hadn't previously reviewed the food here :-)

Located: Intersection of Zayed the 1st and 32nd. Adjacent to Bo Concept and same row as the BMW showroom.
Tel: +971 2 681 6500

Where can one get the best mushroom soup ... possibly anywhere in the world? :-) Try the one at ... The One! Its a nice service innovation, that they would split it up into 2 nice portions for you, if you wanted to share the 26 AED serving.


They have an interesting "Create your own pasta" dish - For 36 or 38 AED, you can pick your own pasta, and ingredients ... Here are our creations this weekend :-)


Just to add - Service is good, its very child friendly, there's even a lift to take you from the ground-floor furniture showroom to the restaurant ... but the carrot cake is simply mediocre. Enjoy :-)

Beijing - Favourite chinese restaurant in Abu Dhabi

Located: Near Madinat Zayed
Tel: +971 2 621 0708
GPS:
N 24° 28' 51.6"
E 54° 21' 53.8"


Seafood .... Salt and pepper calamari, and fish slices with tofu :-)


If you prefer chicken ... the sweet and sour chicken here is really excellent, and the sauce-y three-cup chicken is pretty good too. I do prefer my 3-cup chicken in a more-dry style though. Ahh... I do miss the version served at the best Taiwanese restaurant in Malaysia, Fong Lye Hartamas.


Some vegetable dishes to balance off the meal? Kangkung on left, and excellent brinjal with minced chicken on right.


Want some tim sum? Siew mai is OK too.

Prices of dishes here range from 10-20 AED for timsum, 15-25 AED for the vegetable dishes, and 30-40 AED for chicken ... and about 40-60 AED for the fish dishes. Overall, great value, and our favourite chinese restaurant here in Abu Dhabi!

Prestige Cars Khalidiyah, Abu Dhabi - Veyrons and more

I bet this car was on its way to ... Prestige Cars, in Khalidiyah. Yes, that's the uber-car haven aka "showroom" next to Subway in Khalidiyah. Drooool...

Spot the Ferrari ... 599?

Ferrari v Merc :-)

One unique Panamera!

Ooooh ... more Ferraris. How many white ones have you spotted!?

Truly car mad ... Rolls Royce with golden grill!

And the most exquisite of them all ... Bugatti Veyron with Gold rims.

To be more specific its a ... Bugatti Veyron by Mansory Linea Vincerò