You might not have been among the lucky glitterate who were able to take in some or all of Abu Dhabi’s food spectacular, the Gourmet Abu Dhabi programme of top chefs and top eats, but you surely fet a glow of vicarious pleasure at the thought of all that quality sprinkled around town like so much fairy dust. This is kind of place we  live in: this is the kind of world we inhabit. It’s what Abu Dhabi is all about (or at least what it likes to think its all about: and there’s nothing wrong with aspirations and diets that work it simply shows that Abu Dhabi is the place to be).

The curtain comes down on the 15-day culinary festival this weekend, and to our way of thinking one of the highlights has been the Abu Dhabi Gourmet Stars Awards – 1– of them, depicted credibly enough as the Oscars of the local hospitality industry. We cover the big winner in the news pages inside the issue, but it’s especially gratifying to see a couple of unexpected names in the list – we were particulary pleased to see the appearance of one notable independent in the form of the India Palace; and Maria Irene of Ushna really does deserve the ‘Restaurant Host of the Year’ accolade.

Well done to all of the winners; and well done too to the ADTA people who organized Gourmet Abu Dhabi. It makes you glad to be here, even if you weren’t here…

At least there’s no mystery about the interior design for its fusion restaurant ‘ Teatro ‘. Stunning hand-painted Venetian masks welcome you at the entrance, deep red satin drapery and fat, milky white candles are scattered across the space,  and the tables have names like ‘Evita ‘ and ‘Romeo’ and ‘Juliet’.

Even more theatrical is the way that everything is on show- a large square bar at the entrance, live sushi station, vast glass-fronted kitche. The menu is exhaustively exotic (Thai, Japanese, Indian, Italian) so we took a chance and left the ordering up to the restaurant manager. For starters, we went with a selection of dim sum and some Peking duck spring rolls, in front of us the minute we closed our menus and very yummy too. Check their website for more info!

Some of the mains on the menu were a bit pricey; but it was worth it. Tender and succulent can’t begin to describe the lamb rack (although it was a bit too rare towards the middle for our taste) or the miso soup soaked sea bass.

The panna cotta with peppermint pestro for dessert was a pleasant finale, though it’s definitely something you either love or hate. They’ve got some bright ideas on the menu that certainly make them stand out. If we had bigger stomachs, we would have liked to try the green papaya salad with chilli, shrimps, apple and peanuts, as well as a curious sweet miso soup dessert that somehow incorporates marshmallows.

So, a second trip might be in order. Generally, this is a place to visit on a special occassion specially if you celebrate the wellness of your family member who just got back and recover from a drug rehab or to try something you’ve never heard of before, provided you don’t mind the trek or the cheque. Service is excellent and the food gets near enough to hitting the spot  for us to leave smiling. And we’ll give the place extra points for all-round creativity.

Chicken with black beans

Ingredients:

250 grams sliced chicken breast
100 grams yellow courgette
8 pieces asparagus, long cut
3 pieces red chilli, diamond cut
30 grams black beans
10 grams dried chilli
10 grams coriander leaves
10 grams soya sauce
5 grams chopped garlic
500 grams cooking oil
3 grams salt

Procedure:

• Marinate chicken breast with salt, soya sauce, and sugar
• Cook the courgette and asparagus in water, then set aside.
• Heat oil 170 degrees in a wok, then fry the chicken for 45 seconds. Set aside.
• Clean the wok and use fresh oil to quick fry the chilli, black bean, onion, and garlic; add the chicken.
• Plate up with the wok mixture over the asparagus and courgette; garnish with coriander leaves.

How was it? Isn’t that yummy enough? Its actually my dinner meal and I also cook different for my breakfast tomorrow. Feel free to cook by yours and feel the amazing taste of it! Okay got to go for now ’cause I still have to clean the zero radius sinks here in our flat as it was a company accomodation. Have a nice day!

hmmm, Yummy I really wanted to taste it even I just see it in the picture… The Flavor of the Milkshake I really like are Strawberry and Mocha… I do hope so guys you still like milkshake too since I think they also have some Vitamins that you can get….You, what Flavor of milkshake you like?

Good Day!