Romantic food in Abu Dhabi 1  Comments 30 August 2011

For swoon-inducing views
Pearls & Caviar: Pearls & Caviar is a double-whammy of chic: the outdoor bar on the top level (Pearls) and the fine dining restaurant Caviar, below; and that’s where you’ll want to be when the romantic mood strikes.

Caviar is an ambitious seafood restaurant with both Mediterranean and Arabic influences on the menu, and, for the most part, they get it just right. Order the octopus vino tinto, which comes with a king crab fritter and shankleish yoghurt inside a crisp shell; each component delicious and bursting with varying rich, salty flavours, from the stringy crabmeat to the cheesy yoghurt. Fine dining with a playful pearls motif (everything from the necklaces worn at waitresses throats, to the pearls strewn casually in the bowls indoors) and a stunning view? Yes please.

And what a view it is; Pearls offers a stunning look at Maqtaa Creek and the Sheikh Zayed Mosque that are enough to take your breath away. Sparkling waters, iconic Abu Dhabi sights; it’s like something straight out of an Abu Dhabi postcard. So if you’re at a loss for conversation, you can always stare outside silently, and occasionally sigh philosophically.

Also, don’t leave without ordering the soft, crumbly cheesecake with a dollop of lavender-infused mascarpone, guaranteed to solve any marital dispute on the spot – so long as you don’t try to share it.
Shangri-La, Qaryat Al Beri (02 509 8777).