Living and working outside of the US can be daunting at times. Our first experience with this was as Peace Corps Volunteers in rural South Africa. However, the mission of Peace Corps Volunteers is to constantly and consistently engage in and adapt to the local culture. In other places of the world, foreign workers are more isolated. Here in Abu Dhabi, local people and even Arabs in general form a minority in the population. Most of our social interactions here are with other westerners and the primary social activity we share is eating and drinking.
When Liz and I lived in Champaign, we greatly enjoyed the diversity of dining experiences allotted to us by living in a college town from dollar sushi night at KO Fusion to Sunday Brunch at Escobar. Sushi and Brunch just aren't words that come up much in a Peace Corps Volunteer's lexicon. So addition to enjoying a return to air conditioned climate, flush toilets and having our own car, we have also enjoyed a return to fine dining.
Abu Dhabi doesn't really have much of a 'scene' like one might find in the right neighborhoods of America's hipper cities and downtowns. I would say there are 3 unique types of dining in Abu Dhabi: local restaurants, mall restaurants, and hotel restaurants. Local restaurants are largely standard Arabic or Lebanese food and we have a favorite one which we go to often enough. Mall restaurants include all sorts of fast foods options like KFC, Pizza Hut and Burger King in addition to many casual dining experiences with all sorts of different cuisines think P.F. Changs or T.G.I. Fridays. There are two things that you absolutely won't find in any of these establishments: pork products and alcohol.
By now, we are finding it increasingly difficult to stay away from hotel restaurants. There isn't really a sufficient tourism industry in Abu Dhabi to support all of these high-end restaurants and bars but expats are highly interested in their offerings and thus there is stiff competition between them resulting in all sorts of promotions. Every Friday, all over town are brunch buffets offering not only all-you-can eat but all-you-can drink as well. Last Friday we went to a Dim Sum brunch where the fare was all asian dumplings and noodles and an unlimited drink package. We were joined by colleagues from Liz's work and spent the greater part of the afternoon socializing.
That night we had dinner at a Belgian Beer Cafe with another couple from America that also works in the education sector. The Belgian Beer offers a full range of belgian beers and also that most sought after of infidel guilty pleasures, pork! The Belgian Beer Cafe was not offering any promotion that evening so enter the other best friend of the hungry and thirsty expat, the Entertainer Coupon book. Yeah, you know the type like I used to have to sell in elementary school with thousands of dollars of savings inside all in the form of buy one get ones. You won't find many expat couples without one of these books and they are happily accepted all over town.
Last night, Liz and I enjoyed an unlimited sushi special which for about 30 USD we could eat sushi until we were ready to explode. Of course, the drinks were outrageous and not included in the special but over all it was quite the special night and a good value. A la carte sushi offerings are priced at a premium around town so if sushi is your favorite cuisine, (as it is mine), then such an offering is the way to go.
Still yet on our list of activities to enjoy but also available all over town just about any night of the week is 'Ladies Night'. At many hotel bars/restaurants, there is a night where women drink for free. So while these places are totally priced and pitched towards the high impact tourist thanks to our Entertainer book and regular weekly specials we find that by choosing the right places on the right nights, we can afford to dine in luxury often enough.
All of these places are top-notch in terms of service really. OK one time we went to a place where the buffet was extremely decadent and included chocolate fountains and cheese cakes and fresh breads and a carvery and everything you would hope for and we hoped to use our Entertainer book coupons only to find that they were not accepted for the buffet dinner. This was so surprising because our party of five had sat there for several minutes and no one had offered us an a la carte menu so we didn't even know there was an offering besides the buffet. That was an expensive disappointment but typically, it's the sort of place where the waiter pushes your chair in behind you, places your napkin on your lap for you and is certain at every moment that your every need is cared for. And really that buffet was fantastic.
I know a lot of people reading this blog are from the US and its true that in the US that hanging out at malls and hotels might sound rather bizarre. True, we don't really experience the sort of charming restaurants you might find in a place like New York, Chicago, Portland or most college towns; not every city has the history or infrastructure of those places. An unlike those places where the mall and almost every hotel are located far from where anyone lives, here in Abu Dhabi, most are located on the most envied real estate on the island. There is no 'old Abu Dhabi'. Such a thing never existed! So while that lived-in local charming feeling that hipsters find so important is hard to find, we are forced to grow accustomed to such charms as complimentary valet parking, marble walled hotel lobbies with elaborate chandeliers, restrooms with a triangle of rolled up hand towels so that no coarse paper towel need touch my delicate hands, and tableware and decor that makes us feel like we've entered a class that was before unattainable. None of these will replace those places we used to haunt where everyone knew our names, but it's great to have a place to go to feel taken care of and well fed.
When Liz and I lived in Champaign, we greatly enjoyed the diversity of dining experiences allotted to us by living in a college town from dollar sushi night at KO Fusion to Sunday Brunch at Escobar. Sushi and Brunch just aren't words that come up much in a Peace Corps Volunteer's lexicon. So addition to enjoying a return to air conditioned climate, flush toilets and having our own car, we have also enjoyed a return to fine dining.
Abu Dhabi doesn't really have much of a 'scene' like one might find in the right neighborhoods of America's hipper cities and downtowns. I would say there are 3 unique types of dining in Abu Dhabi: local restaurants, mall restaurants, and hotel restaurants. Local restaurants are largely standard Arabic or Lebanese food and we have a favorite one which we go to often enough. Mall restaurants include all sorts of fast foods options like KFC, Pizza Hut and Burger King in addition to many casual dining experiences with all sorts of different cuisines think P.F. Changs or T.G.I. Fridays. There are two things that you absolutely won't find in any of these establishments: pork products and alcohol.
By now, we are finding it increasingly difficult to stay away from hotel restaurants. There isn't really a sufficient tourism industry in Abu Dhabi to support all of these high-end restaurants and bars but expats are highly interested in their offerings and thus there is stiff competition between them resulting in all sorts of promotions. Every Friday, all over town are brunch buffets offering not only all-you-can eat but all-you-can drink as well. Last Friday we went to a Dim Sum brunch where the fare was all asian dumplings and noodles and an unlimited drink package. We were joined by colleagues from Liz's work and spent the greater part of the afternoon socializing.
That night we had dinner at a Belgian Beer Cafe with another couple from America that also works in the education sector. The Belgian Beer offers a full range of belgian beers and also that most sought after of infidel guilty pleasures, pork! The Belgian Beer Cafe was not offering any promotion that evening so enter the other best friend of the hungry and thirsty expat, the Entertainer Coupon book. Yeah, you know the type like I used to have to sell in elementary school with thousands of dollars of savings inside all in the form of buy one get ones. You won't find many expat couples without one of these books and they are happily accepted all over town.
Last night, Liz and I enjoyed an unlimited sushi special which for about 30 USD we could eat sushi until we were ready to explode. Of course, the drinks were outrageous and not included in the special but over all it was quite the special night and a good value. A la carte sushi offerings are priced at a premium around town so if sushi is your favorite cuisine, (as it is mine), then such an offering is the way to go.
Still yet on our list of activities to enjoy but also available all over town just about any night of the week is 'Ladies Night'. At many hotel bars/restaurants, there is a night where women drink for free. So while these places are totally priced and pitched towards the high impact tourist thanks to our Entertainer book and regular weekly specials we find that by choosing the right places on the right nights, we can afford to dine in luxury often enough.
All of these places are top-notch in terms of service really. OK one time we went to a place where the buffet was extremely decadent and included chocolate fountains and cheese cakes and fresh breads and a carvery and everything you would hope for and we hoped to use our Entertainer book coupons only to find that they were not accepted for the buffet dinner. This was so surprising because our party of five had sat there for several minutes and no one had offered us an a la carte menu so we didn't even know there was an offering besides the buffet. That was an expensive disappointment but typically, it's the sort of place where the waiter pushes your chair in behind you, places your napkin on your lap for you and is certain at every moment that your every need is cared for. And really that buffet was fantastic.
I know a lot of people reading this blog are from the US and its true that in the US that hanging out at malls and hotels might sound rather bizarre. True, we don't really experience the sort of charming restaurants you might find in a place like New York, Chicago, Portland or most college towns; not every city has the history or infrastructure of those places. An unlike those places where the mall and almost every hotel are located far from where anyone lives, here in Abu Dhabi, most are located on the most envied real estate on the island. There is no 'old Abu Dhabi'. Such a thing never existed! So while that lived-in local charming feeling that hipsters find so important is hard to find, we are forced to grow accustomed to such charms as complimentary valet parking, marble walled hotel lobbies with elaborate chandeliers, restrooms with a triangle of rolled up hand towels so that no coarse paper towel need touch my delicate hands, and tableware and decor that makes us feel like we've entered a class that was before unattainable. None of these will replace those places we used to haunt where everyone knew our names, but it's great to have a place to go to feel taken care of and well fed.
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