Taste of Abu Dhabi is set to kick off for its first year this Thursday, bringing together 20 of the emirate restaurants, who will be serving their signature dishes to an expected 10,000 hungry people. The three-day event is taking place at the du Arena, aiming to emulate the success of the Dubai version, which has been held at Media City Amphitheatre every March for the past six years. Abu Dhabi will be no different, with food, drink, cooking demonstrations by celebrity chefs, live music, an open-air cinema, a children’s zone, and even food shopping. The event starts at 4pm on Thursday, and at 12pm on Friday and Saturday, and is expected to attract over 10,000 people in total.
Taste of Abu Dhabi will feature restaurants exclusively from the emirate, and will also include the Abu Dhabi Street Festival, which features live performers such as magicians, jugglers, and a street parade.
It’s the capital’s recent boom in dining that has made the festival possible, said event director Anju Chadda, adding that the team that takes Taste internationally looks at new cities every year, and agreed that this year was the best time to launch in Abu Dhabi.
Like in Dubai, it will be an annual event.
“We were going to launch Taste of Abu Dhabi a couple of years ago, but we didn’t have the same hotels and restaurants that have opened recently. There’s been a boom in the food scene in Abu Dhabi over the past few years, so this is a great time to launch the event.”
Here’s your guide to the festival:
Celebrity chefs
The Food Network’s Reza Mohammad and Jonathan Phang have already confirmed their attendance, along with South African chef Jenny Morris. You can also expect British chef, Jun Tanaka; French patissier, Eric Lanlard; and 2013 winner of MasterChef the Professionals, Steven Edwards.
The chefs will be sharing culinary tips, and serving up some of their best dishes for visitors. If you’re looking to polish your cooking skills, catch the chefs’ live demos and cooking classes where they will be interacting with visitors and answering their questions. Sign up for sessions at the Chef’s theatre and Kenwood Cooking School 30 minutes beforehand.
Giving a local flavour to the event is 18-year-old Emirati Bader Al Awadhi (of TV shows Sukkar Zyadah on Sama Dubai TV, and Ma’a Bader on Abu Dhabi TV Al Emarat) who will be showcasing his baking talents. If you want to get a taste of what he does, check out his WithChef B YouTube channel. He’ll be in the cooking school on Saturday 12.30-1pm.
Restaurants and dishes
Whatever your preference, Taste of Abu Dhabi has you covered with cuisines ranging from Italian to Indian and Japanese. Participating restaurants include Caramel Lounge, Koi, Ushna, Belgium Beer Cafe, and Sho Cho, among others.
“I would definitely say that Turquoiz from the St Regis in Saadiyat [Island], and Villa Toscana from the St Regis Corniche are very good. We’ve got a couple [of restaurants] from the [Yas] Viceroy, Angar and Noodle Box, and these are the ones to watch out for,” said.
She added that all the restaurants will be serving a starter, main dish, and dessert that highlight their best-selling items.
“Angar’s got a top-selling dish, and they’ll be representing that at Taste. Turquoiz have a very famous sea bass dish that they will showcase. If you go to the restaurants, you might be paying quite a lot, but at Taste, everyone gets to come and taste from the 20 best restaurants,” Chadda said.
To make sure you get a taste of everything without being too stuffed, each restaurant is serving sample-sized dishes. Prices range from Dh15-Dh30.
At a launch event held in September, tabloid! sampled dishes from Noodle Box and Angar (both of which are located at the Yas Viceroy Hotel), and we highly recommend Noodle Box’s potato-stuffed pastry, and their skewered prawns with apple salad.
Music and live entertainment
Members of the cast of Broadway show Jersey Boys — the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons — will perform on the opening day of Taste of Abu Dhabi.
Visitors on the weekend will also hear performances by South African band, 4TheMusic; Dubai-based duo Krystle and Randy; and Irish musician Diarmuid O’Driscoll.
For children, entertainment company Funky Monkeys will hold an area with activities including cooking, a bouncy castle, slides and children’s manicures and pedicures.
Alternatively, you can catch a Warner Brothers film at the open-air cinema by Vox Cinemas, or walk around the venue and shop from over 50 exhibitors including Jones the Grocer, and Go Organic, who will be selling gourmet products.
Tickets
Tickets are Dh65 (standard), and Dh170 (VIP advance). The VIP package includes access to the VIP enclosure, three drinks and three dishes, while standard tickets only allow entry to the venue; food is charged at each restaurant. Tickets are available at ticketmaster.ae and at the entrance gate.
Participating restaurants:
Blue Grill
Villa Toscana
Carluccio’s
Turquoiz
Ushna
Avasa
Cafe D’Alsace
Flooka
Sho Cho
Angar
Noodle Box
Belgian Beer Cafe
Koi
Safina
Caramel
Nolu’s Cafe
Rozanah
Burlesque Restaurant & Lounge.
