Sura Korean restaurant - Cristal Salam Tourist Club Area, Abu Dhabi

Add: Mezzanine, Cristal Salam Hotel, Tourist Club Area - Abu Dhabi.
Tel: +971 2 659 7715

Sura means "Korean royal court cuisine", which had us salivating ... But we were going to be quite dissapointed! The food was mediocre at best ... No "ooomph", or "kick" as described by my dining companions, DL and OK, and what I found strange was - The food was not served piping hot!

OK, DL, LY and myself had many Soju + Beer combos in Seoul ... so we gave it a go here too ;-) Never quite the same!

 

Beef bone soup ... Very mediocre :-( Again, it wasn't steaming hot!

Our seafood and chicken platters ... Reasonably tasty, but lacked the "ooomph"!

 

Beef steak galbi ... Tough :-( We miss the tender beef cuts in Seoul!

Time to say goodbye to Sura ....

Silk & Spice - Unique Thai restaurant, Sofitel Abu Dhabi

Add: Sofitel Hotel, Corniche Road - Abu Dhabi.
Tel: +971 2 813 7777

A really nice looking Thai restaurant that's open through Ramadan, serves some good beers and the desserts are nice too. Must try the main courses next time!! We tried the Khao Neow Ma Muang (Mango with Stick Rice, the Silk&Spice variant is served in a candle-lit balti dish!), as well as the evergreen Tab Tim Krob (Water chestnut dumpling with Jack Fruit in Coconut milk). Both were good!

Tiger by the bottle .. Cheers!

Private dining area, Japanese-esque with your feet in a "hole in the floor"!

Fancy interior ... Not the most Thai-esque, but hey... looks good!

We had 2 desserts ;-) They were both good!

Raclette dinner and Comté - Chateauform De-Mareil-Le-Guyon, near Paris

Add: Chateauform De-Mareil-Le-Guyon - 78490 MAREIL-LE-GUYON, France
Tel: +33 1 34 57 08 40
Web: http://www.chateauform.com
GPS:
N 48° 47' 23"
E 1° 51' 5"

We indulged in wonderful french cheese all week - Both at lunch as well as dinner time! I slowly learned over the week that my favourite was Gruyère de Comté :-)

Some facts from Wikipedia ... Comté is a French cheese made from unpasteurized cow's milk in the Franche-Comté region of eastern France. Comté has the highest production of all French AOC cheeses, around 40,000 tonnes annually.

 

A raclette is both a type of cheese and a Swiss dish based on heating the cheese and scraping off (racler) the melted part.
This was our wonderful dinner on the penultimate night of our seminar :-) A wonderful communal-eating experience!

 

 

A modern way of serving raclette involves an electric table-top grill with small pans, known as coupelles, to heat slices of raclette cheese in. Generally the grill is surmounted by a hot plate or griddle. The cheese is brought to the table sliced, accompanied by platters of boiled or steamed potatoes, other vegetables and charcuterie. These are then mixed with potatoes and topped with cheese in the small, wedge-shaped coupelles that are placed under the grill to melt and brown the cheese...

 

Kronenbourg 1664, good ol' french beer!

 

If you are lucky enough to enjoy the hospitality of a Chateauform, you will have the privilege of having an open-bar, free-flow of wines, spirits and all other wonderful beverages!

 

Chateauform Mareil-Le-Guyon - Delicious french cuisine

More photos of my stay at the warm and cosy Chateauform De-Mareil-Le-Guon, in the village of Mareil-Le-Guyon in France. Interesting places nearby include - Palace of Versailles, 20 km away ... and Paris, 37 km away.

Chateauform - A unique concept in seminar and chateau living, combined together!
Tel: +33 1 34 57 08 40
Web: http://www.chateauform.com

We spent a lot of time in the kitchen and dining room, and open bar, throughout our week on the seminar :-)

The lovely fireplace in the house - We were treated with wonderful french soups all week, including cream of champignon and chestnut too!

 

 

My colleagues and myself loved the food all week ;-) Burp!

 

One of the chefs in the house - Magnificent cuisine, tastes home-cooked ... because it is!

 

Felt like a kid again ... all the wonderful sweeties!!

Chateauform Mareil-Le-Guyon, France

Add: Chateauform De-Mareil-Le-Guyon - 78490 MAREIL-LE-GUYON, France
Tel: +33 1 34 57 08 40
Web: http://www.chateauform.com

Had the pleasure of staying at a wonderful seminar-venue, an hour from Paris CDG, in mid-October ... Here are some shots of the Chateauform :-)

 

My rustic bedroom for the week :-)

 

The resident dog!

The lovely gardens ;-)

 

 

Yes, after years of not getting on a bike ... I even went cycling!

A taste of Malaysia on Malaysia Day 2012 - Hilton Abu Dhabi

Happy Malaysia Day 2012! 

Hotel: Hilton Abu Dhabi
Add: Al Khubeirah, Abu Dhabi
Located: Along Corniche Road, opposite the "bridge" to Marina Mall, and not far from the Intercon
Tel: +971 2 681 1900
Opening hours: 6:30am - 11:00pm
(I assume they are opened so early as they probably serve breakfast to the Hilton guests!) 
So many traditional Malaysian dishes ... there was even Lekor and Serunding!

 

I had to rub my eyes ... Sarawak Laksa!!! And it was good :-) Lemak, tasty and full of flavour.

 

There was so much on offer (Especially great value considering the accept The Entertainer vouchers - 200 AED for the two of us, including all-you-can-drink ... Wine, German bottled beer, water, soft-drinks, etc!) ... I didn't even get a chance to try every thing!

There was even kuih-muih :-) and Red-bean dessert ... Sweet-time!

Alas .. Its over now, I can't wait for 2013's installment! Well done, Hilton Abu Dhabi and Chef Ismail!