Abu Dhabi

Last year I decided I wanted to celebrate my birthday differently by going away with the girls. We decided we all wanted a luxury break where we could eat, sleep, drink & repeat! Apologies I don’t have too many pictures in regards to food since it was last year. So my description of food is vague compared to my detailed restaurant's reviews.

After much research, we decided Abu Dhabi wasn’t too far but somewhere we could relax with luxury! So you're probably expecting I’ll have a load of touristy stuff on here but there isn’t we did none! It was literally a complete relaxing holiday. Abu Dhabi is a lot quieter than Dubai so it’s definitely a place to unwind easily.

Ritz Carlton

We booked ourselves into a villa at the Ritz Carlton. The hotel is extremely grand & opulent. It boasts large amounts of space & definitely a great setting for a wedding if you were ever looking to get married abroad.

The villa had its own private check in as well someone servicing any needs we had as well as our daily buggy pick up to go to & fro to the main hotel. The hotel boasts the best views as it directly overlooks the Grand Mosque, which at night is even more beautiful to look at.

The 1-bed villa has one large bedroom, large bathroom, hallway/reception area, lounge with a sofabed & kitchen dining area. The villa has ample space & a very spacious bathroom that accommodates for 3 women’s worth of toiletries & make up! The wardrobes had ample space to fit all our clothes as well. Not to forget the hotel provides you with Asprey products.

Food

The Ritz Carlton has an extensive choice of breakfast every morning from cold meats, cheeses, a variety of bread, pastries, hot food, sweet dishes, juices & a variety of teas & coffees. You really can’t go wrong for choice.

Our first morning there was a Friday so we skipped breakfast & opted for the famous Friday brunch. The package is about 410AED per person with alcohol, which also includes an after party. Where to start, the food is endless & the entire breakfast area is dedicated to the brunch. There is a whole other section, which is just dedicated to desserts. You literally get every type of food possible & I even tried oysters for the first time. Still not sure about oysters but it’s definitely an acquired taste.

In terms of food during the day we mostly ate light snacks by the pool however on our first night we did go to their Lebanese restaurant called Mijana. The Lebanese food was the best I’ve had so fresh & tasty. I would recommend the hot fresh bread to have with Hoummous & Baba Ganoush. Baba Ganoush is a dip made from roasted aubergine. The two salads to we had to accompany our first dish were the Tabouleh & Fatoush salad. We also ordered grilled halloumi, Shish Tawoook & fried calamari. All the dishes were excellent & I couldn’t fault any of them. As they say, when you're in the country eating the local food it always generally the best.

The hotel also boasts a lovely ESPA spa, which has private beach at the back. It’s defiantly a very tranquil spa where you can completely unwind & relax. After recovering from my back injury I still felt tightness & twinges so I opted for a deep muscle massage. The service & therapist was excellent & she really listened to my needs & avoided the areas, which were sensitive. However she was able to knead deep into my quads & glutes. I’m not quite sure what she did but it released me from the painful twinges so I’m guessing some nerves needed some loosening. One spa treatment meant problem resolved & happy me!

The hotel also boasts a lovely ESPA spa, which has a private beach at the back. It’s defiantly a very tranquil spa where you can completely unwind & relax. After recovering from my back injury I still felt tightness & twinges so I opted for a deep muscle massage. The service & therapist was excellent & she really listened to my needs & avoided the areas, which were sensitive. However, she was able to knead deep into my quads & glutes. I’m not quite sure what she did but it released me from the painful twinges so I’m guessing some nerves needed some loosening. One spa treatment meant problem resolved & happy me!

Dining Out

Since we were on a relaxing break & not out partying we had to make up for it somewhere else! This resulted in fine dining. The restaurants we went to were Hakkasan, Angar & Asia De Cuba. Apologies I don’t have many pictures food wise as it was before I started this blog.

Hakkasan

Hakkasan is located at the Emirates Palace hotel. The hotel is one of a kind & out of this world! It one not to be missed! Hakkasan has never failed to amaze with their food after visiting the one in London & Mumbai.

We started of with cocktails at the bar, of course without fail we opted for the lychee martini. One word lush!

Dishes that I would highly recommend at Hakkasan are the steamed dumplings, peking duck, duck salad, Chilean seabass & the chicken claypot. For dessert, the assorted macaroons & chocolate fondant is a must! Hakkasan is truly one of my favourite restaurants & I can never fault it. All three locations I’ve been to all live up to my expectations. My aim is to try & visit as many as possible around the world!

Angar

The second restaurant we went to was Angar at the Yas Viceroy Hotel. This hotel is architecturally amazing & a very quirky one. The hotel is located on Yas Island where the formula one circuit is along with the theme park & Waterworld.

Angar is an Indian fine dining restaurant. We started off with the Angar kebab platter, which consisted of the tandoori prawns, tandoori chicken tikka, salmon tikka & lamb chops. I’m not a fan of prawns & lamb is a meat that doesn’t agree with me. So I had the chicken & salmon of which both were grilled to perfection with the perfect taste of tikka.

Since we had ordered two platters we were quite stuffed so we kept it light for mains where we ordered the Butter Chicken & Lamb Rogan with naan & rice. The butter chicken was definitely a dish you could lick clean! Even though I didn’t have the lamb I did try its gravy, which was simply amazing.

Dessert was a birthday one which was chocolate brownies with a chocolate fondant like sauce. The dessert was lovely & I couldn't fault it. We also ordered masala tea, which was slightly disappointing as it took 15 minutes & it didn’t taste like authentic homemade Indian masala tea. We all agreed that it was a readymade masala tea bag that had been used. Besides the tea the food was lovely & I would definitely recommend it as a place to try.

Asia De Cuba

The last restaurant we went to was Asia De Cuba. I went to Asia De Cuba in London a few years ago so I was looking forward to trying it again after so long.

Asia De Cuba is located at the St Regis, I would recommend asking where the best drop off point is. We were dropped off outside the hotel & we had to walk a fair amount to actually to get there. We were seated outside which was beautiful as the atmosphere gave a really Latino feel to the place.

I started off with a cocktail called Floradora on Holiday, which consisted of gin, hibiscus, lime, fresh ginger & soda. Perfect mix of flavours & refreshing!

From the small plates section, we ordered sweetcorn fritters, which is made with of a Japanese spice, lime & served with a paprika mayo, Black bean & plantain empanada, which is served with a garlic sweet & sour sauce. The last dish we ordered was the chicken chicharrones, which is a fried chicken dish that came with a honey soy glaze. All the dishes we chose were fab & it was definitely the right choice.

For the main, I ordered a steamed seabass, which had been flavoured with spices & kaffir lime. It came with bao bun of which you stuff with the seabass & avocado. I absolutely loved this dish; completely different & tasty.

The Coco Chick Review

If you're looking for a getaway that's relaxing with luxury & amazing weather then I highly recommend Abu Dhabi.

British Airways & Etihad both fly direct into Abu Dhabi. We flew with Etihad & I have to say I was super impressed with Etihad aircraft, service & not to mention the amazing leg room you have in economy. So far the best airline I've flown with along with Singapore Airlines. The flight time is just over 7 hours.

We didn't do any sightseeing however, there is the Grand Mosque, Ferrari World, Yas Island Circuit, Waterworld & Saadiyat Island. There is a beach club on Saadiyat Island which I've heard great things about from a friend who also recently went. If you wish to shop there is the Abu Dhabi Mall & Marina Mall.

I have to say I can't fault this holiday a fab hotel & all the places we dined at were simply amazing in their own way.

Coco Chick xoxo