We were guests of the magnificent Emirates Palace Hotel by Mandarin Oriental tonight for what was one of the best meals anywhere in the Middle East( BBQ Al Qasr | Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi (mandarinoriental.com) . What fun we had in a private dining pavilion on the beach as each dish was grilled nearby and prepared to order. The service from Tatyana was beyond perfect and we honestly felt as if we were the sheiks here at this palace! We had pours of Perrier Jouet Rose Brut poured into chilled glasses, but ultimately switched to a nice full bodied red for our grilled course: La Planta 202 Ribera del Duero Tempranillo.
Check out the fun FB fotos which include hotel photos and a video of the super-fun fire-show on the beach!!
There was yummy homemade bread which was warmed on the grill and had that wonderful grill taste to it served with seaweed butter. We chose three starters to share:
Below Farm(grown locally in the UAE)Mushroom Flatbread with tons of black truffle, artichoke and tomme du jura fumee.
Yellowtail Sashimi was smothered with caviar and tasty kelp candied tomatoes(they tasted like kumquats) and infused tomato water. The fish tasted like it was fished minutes earlier and brought up on the beach where our dining pavilion was located.
Wagyu Tartare was to die fore with a smoked bone marrow on the side with grilled sourdough bread and topped with cured egg and colatura.
We decided to split two mains as the wights of the dishes were listed and some were in the multi-kilo region!
The Carabinero are huge prawns(think langoustines) from Spain grilled with Harissa and Prawn Head Sauce and were tasty as could be. The Simple Wagyu Tenderloin(at 1/2 kilo or over 1/2 pound) was superbly rare and delish on it's own but came with chimichurri and bearnaise sauces.
The highlight here is the grilled food, but also the grilled veggie sides. The Grilled Cauliflower had several types including my fave romescu and was seasoned perfectly while the Below Farm Mushrooms came with enough slice black truffles from France to start a truffle farm.
We are so superbly grateful to the entire staff at the Emirates Palace and especially my sales contact there Jordi Gruwel who deserves a prize for putting up with all our food and dining stories.
We are only here for two nights and this was a spectacular evening as we head to the nearby emirate of Dubai for the next two night before heading to India for 3 weeks!! Lots of food for sure.
