Max Burger

Max Burger claims to be Europe's oldest and Sweden's most popular hamburger chain.  They have now conquered the Middle East and we, Abu Dhabi peeps, are fortunate enough to taste what they have been bragging about.

I know of only two branches here in Abu Dhabi; one in Abu Dhabi Mall and the other one in Al Wahda Mall.  So one day while waiting for our kids to finish from their workshop, we decided to give it a try.  We ordered their Frisco meal, which comes in beef, chicken or vegetable patties.

Frisco meal

I was really surprised when I tasted it.  The flavors were playing in my mouth.  First the bun - it was very soft and sweet!  The patties were fresh as well as the vegetables, and the sauce they had was just awesome.  It had this distinct tangy flavor that is different from the usual over-the-counter burgers that we have.  The fries were also excellent and they used sea salt instead of the ordinary table salt.  It's like Wendy's in the sense that their fries still had some skin on it.  

Yummy burger

You can also add on some dips and the dips come in different flavors - sweet mustard, teriyaki, barbecue, green garlic, mayonaise, etc.

Dipping sauce

The price was just too afordable - only AED 14 for one Frisco meal.

For me, Max burger is way better than other overhyped, if not overpriced, burger joints here claiming to be 100% organic and 100% natural.

Try Max Burger and you'll know what I am talking about.

Rolls N Rice

Hidden in the Al Nahyan area, Rolls N Rice is creating noise and slowly making a name for itself.  I have read good reviews for this resto, so we decided to give it a try.

Rolls N Rice

We were actually the only customers in the resto the night we went there and when a restaurant is empty it could only mean two things - bad food or sky high prices.  However, we still gave it a shot and conquered our fears!

Looking at their menu, I've noticed that price-wise it is very affordable considering that Al Nahyan is a commercial area surrounded by numerous business establishments and offices.  Most of the dishes they serve are Mediterranean. 

Restaurant Interior

We ordered chicken barbecue for the kids and we made the right choice.  My youngest does not usually eat chicken with any sauce in it, but this one he devoured till the last piece.  The serving was also huge!  My two kids were able to share in one order and they were both full and satisfied.

Chicken Barbecue

I had the spicy grilled chicken with safron rice and salad.  When they say it's spicy - believe me, it was the true definition of the word!  Flavor wise, I found it a bit too salty for me and I think it's very dry even with salad on the side, which was F-A-B by the way .  One should have something else, say a soup as a side perhaps?

Spicy grilled fish

My hubby ordered chelo kebab and it was divine!  It was served with yogurt cucumber and chili paste.  It was really tasty and very tender.

Chelo kebab

In addition, we also received excellent service from the staff who were very corteous and helpful.

I will definitely make sure to drop by this resto whenever I'm in the area.


Rolls N Rice
Y-Tower Near Al Mamoura
Al Nahyan Area, Muroor Street
Abu Dhabi
Telephone number:  9712-555-6589 / 9712-445-1118
Website:  www.rollsnriceuae.com

Chicken Kitchen

I have been warned by a friend of mine not to eat at the Chicken Kitchen, a new resto at Al Wahda Mall Extension.  However, I still wanted to give this resto a shot.

Chicken Kitchen

My friend and I went there and we were immediately attended to by one of the staff.  We told her that we wanted to eat at the back side of the resto since they have an open kitchen and we would not want to go out smelling like roasted chickens!  Little did we know that we will be surprised with such an amazing view.  We could oversee the Al Jazeera Stadium at the comfort of our seats!  For this, I will give them a plus point. 

The view from the window

So we started browsing their menu and, as the name implies, everything on the menu was chicken!  However, they do not have broasted or fried chicken here.  

I was eyeing for the Mexican Chop-Chop, but our attended recommended their rotisserie.  So okay, I took her word for it and ordered one.  I wanted to have the dark (meat) part, but she told me that the portion was very small and told me to have the white (meat) part instead.  Another plus for staff honesty.

So I went ahead and ordered as she suggested and this is what I got.  The portion was really too small.  Just imagine if I had the dark part!  Now the taste - the rice was "kinda" Mexican in a way but still I believe they still need a lot of improvement in terms of the flavor.  The chicken was way too spicy for me.  I love spicy food, but I think they have overdone the spices on this chicken.  The chicken was also too tender, if not overcooked!  I didn't need to chew the chicken.  It melted in my mouth instantly.  This was a no-no for me. I want to savor and enjoy the chicken, and having had the chicken done this way made my dining experience with them unpleasant. 

1/4 chicken rotisserie

My friend had the Original Chop Chop.  It's like tacos placed on top of a rice platter.  It was served with two different kinds of dippers - honey mustard and Cesar's.  According to his review, the presentation was appetizing, the portion was huge, but flavor wise - it is lacking big time!

Original chop

We also ordered steamed veggies on the side.  As the name implies, the veggies were only steamed.  They didn't add anything to give flavor to the veggies.  Another negative point from me.

Steamed veggies

The bill came out to be AED 10 shy of AED 100.  I believe that this resto has a lot of potential but still needs a lot of improvement, too.  

Dinner Buffet: Gems Restaurant at Cristal Hotel

My colleagues at work and I were looking for a place to celebrate Christmas together.  In our department, we are only eight so we cannot afford to celebrate it grandly as our number is limited.  So we decided to just have a buffet dinner and luckily we found a promo from Groupon for dinner buffet at Gems Restaurant in Cristal Hotel.  It was so cheap!  We only had to pay about 60 AED per person.

Christmas Tree 

Last Friday, we paid the restaurant a visit.  Cristal Hotel is located near Madinat Zayed Souk and New Medical Center.  The hotel was spotless.  It was really clean and inviting, taking into account that it is not located in one of the posh areas in Abu Dhabi.

Gems Restaurant

There were only a few Christmas decors in the resto to remind you it's the holiday season, but hey I am in an Arab country so having a few Christmas decors is better than having none at all.  I was surprised when we got in as the restaurant was literally empty.  So when a restaurant is empty, it only means one thing - food is terrible.

Bread and soup station

Erasing that thought on my mind, I went ahead to their bread and soup station.  Sady, I wasn't convinced by the bread/ornament arrangement and didn't even try a piece as it didn't look good for me.  There were two choices for the soup.  Based on my and my colleagues' review, soup was F-A-B!  Seriously, I could sit there and savor the soup the whole night.

My soup

Then we head off to the salad bar.  The selection was limited.  There were a few premade salads, mostly tuna based, and a few greens and dressings.

Salad bar

I had a couple of greens and tuna with Cesar's dressing on it.  I also tried their Thai beef salad.  The flavor was great, but the beef was as hard as rubber.  

My salad plate

There were also some appetizers such as spring rolls, samousa and fries, but I did not try any of those and couldn't give any feedback.  However, based from my colleague who tried their samousa with vine leaves, she said it was awful.

More appetizers 

On their main course, they had beef, chicken, fish, veggies, and rice, where they provided two dishes each.  There was nothing exceptional about their dishes, but their menu is far better than the one I had at Sofitel.

Mains

Mains

I only had a cut of chicken with spinach, a spoonful of rice, fried fish and veggies for my main course.   It was okay.  I also noticed that for their fried fish, they did not offer any tartar sauce to go with it, so I only put yoghurt instead.

My entree plate

This was the fun part.  Their dessert selection was divine.  The choices were not that much, but everything was fantastic especially the panacotta, chocolate pudding and Madagascar cake.  They also had the coconut cake, which I did not try, but was awesome according to my colleagues.

Desserts

Note that rinks are not included in this buffet.  You have to order separately for your drinks.

My dessert plate

I have been to Gems previously and I can say that they had much better choices before than what they offer now.  However, looking at the price we paid, it was a great deal after all.  The dishes weren't like the ones at Rosewater or Ingredients, but hey Gems Restaurant was still able to fill my tummy big time for AED 60 only.


Gems Restaurant 
Cristal Hotel
17th Floor
Muroor Road, 4th Street
Madinat Zayed, Abu Dhabi
Telephone number:  (02) 652-0000

How Expats Can Send Food to the Philippines

As an expat, I always want to surprise my family back home even in the simplest way.  One thing I love doing is having food delivered to my family's doorsteps especially during special occasions and sometimes for no reason at all.

Back in 2004 when I first arrived here, I was able to send Andok's lechon manok (roasted chicken) via one remittance company and they were very happy to receive something unexpected!  Now, although it's really predictable that I will be sending food to them during special occasions, their excitement never ceased. My family is still enthusiastic about the food that I am going to send them every now and then.

I only have a few choices.  I don't usually order form third party companies because they charge double if not triple of the original price.  Below is the list of the companies where I usually order food from:

1.  Max's Restaurant

• Minimum order is P500.
• Online order must be placed at least 1 hour in advance for deliver now transactions and pick up, 2 hours in advance for deliver later transactions, and 24 hours in advance for dine-in transactions.
• Mode of payment:  Credit card.
• Revisions and cancellations should be made at most 5 minutes after order is placed (for deliver now transactions) or 1 hour after order is placed (for takeout and deliver later and dine-in transactions).

2.  Shakey's Pizza

• Minimum order is P500.
• Advance order cannot be made.
• Mode of payment:  Credit card and Paypal.

3.  Jollibee 

• Minimun food purchase of P1000.
• Orders will be delivered within 24 hours upon confirmation of the order with the recipient.
• Mode of payment:  Credit card, over the counter remittance.

4.  Goldilocks

• Minimum order is $30
• Customer must present ID to claim their items.
• Delivery service is temporarily unavailable until further notice.
• Minimum of three days order lead time.
• Mode of payment:  Credit card.

5.  Yellow Cab

• Minimum order is P300.
• Delivery 45 minutes to 1 hour after confirmation of order. 
• Mode of payment:  Pesopay

Why not try sending a package to your family and then tell me how did it go?

Magnolia Bakery

We paid Al Maryah Island a visit as we were very curious about the newly opened high-end Galleria Mall.  It was so beautiful inside, but just as I have said earlier, it was high end - meaning most of their shops are the likes of Louis Vuitton, Prada, etc.  If you are willing to splurge then this is the mall for you, but for us who are short on budget we just feast our eyes on the marvelous displays of the shop and the view of the mall itself.

Welcome to Magnolia Bakery

Then we passed by the much talked about Magnolia Bakery inside the Galleria.  This cafe is very famous in New York for its cakes.

Cafe counter

The restaurant itself has a very rustic ambience.  It was simple yet elegant.  The pastel colors of the interior are really relaxing.  The service was excellent, too.  The staff was so nice to even give my kids a sample of one of their best sellers - the red velvet cupcake.  The only thing that I noticed was that most of the customers raised brows when they saw a Filipino family dining in this restaurant.  The staff was not racist, but the customers were.  But you know what - I didn't care, as we were paying customers, too.

Rustic interior

Best seller - carrot cake

Red velvet cheesecake

Milk tea

We ordered the last piece of their carrot cake, which was the best that I have tasted so far.  Now I know why it is so popular.  We also tried their red velvet cheesecake and the mini cupcakes were given for free by the staff.  The cakes were perfect for my hot milk tea, which was served in this country style mug.

Red velvet cupcake mini

The price was awesome.  At first I thought it was expensive because it is a franchise of the popular Magnolia Bakery in New York, but I was totally wrong.  It was very affordable.  A slice of cake costs around AED 20 to 30, which costs almost the same as the ones we order from Starbucks, Dome, etc.

Dining here was such a delight and I will make sure to sit here and relax whenever we are in the area.


Magnolia Bakery
Shop 279, Level 2
The Galleria Mall
Al Maryah Island
Telephone number:  (02) 6749380

Lunch Buffet: Ingredients at Eastern Mangroves

When the offer from Groupon came out for a buffet lunch for two at Ingredients, I was very hesitant at first to buy it.  I found it too expensive for my budget especially that I also have to pay extra (half the price to be exact) for my daughter who is already 6 years old, but then my husband who has already tried their buffet previously (from his company) told me that it was worth it.  The price of their lunch buffet can actually pay for an overnight stay in one hotel at Yas Island with breakfast buffet included.  I told myself this will only be a once in a lifetime event and clicked the buy now button with my eyes closed and made our reservation.

Ingredients Restaurant

Ingredients Restaurant is located at the Eastern Mangroves Hotel and Spa.  It is actually difficult to reach this hotel.  It is located in the outskirts of Abu Dhabi.  If you have your own transportation, check this out for the map provided by their website.  If you plan to take a cab, expect a taxi fare of around 60 to 80 AED.

Hotel facade

The hotel facade was such a delight to my eyes.  It is made of Arab mixed with modern architecture.  Upon entering the hotel, a small still pool made of fiberglass welcomed us with roses at the middle.  We were also offered dates and Arabic tea as part of the Arabic hospitality.

Hanging chandelier

Just look at the sofa, it's actually perfect for a queen!

Sitting like a queen

Nice furniture

Then we went inside the restaurant proper and was actually happy with the simple and basic table setting.  No frills, no fuss, just the basic table setting :)  Till now, I still don't know which fork to start with, haha!

Table setting

Salt and Pepper

Restaurant interior

Now comes the food.  We started off with the soup, of course.  They had three soups to choose from - one from the Oriental corner - Singaporean Laksa, from the International station - Cream of broccoli, and from the Japanese station - Miso.  Me and my hubby had laksa, as we fell in love with this soup when we went for a vacay in Singapore.  You can actually choose the stuff that you would like to put in your soup such as spring onions, chicken meat, etc.  The laksa was good, although it was less spicy than it should be.  Our children had the cream of broccoli soup.  You can actually tell from the picture below that my son loved it soooo much!

Note that if you are short like me, you would need another person to fill your bowl with soup as the pots were too high for short people to reach.

Xanti enjoying his broccoli soup

Needless to say, they also had a bread corner, which I forgot to take a picture of, but I tell you this - they actually had the best butter ever.  If my memory serves me right, I think they were serving the brand name Doux for their butter.

Salad station

The salad station consists of a variety of greens along with eggs, bacon bits and of course a wide range of dressings to choose from.  You can make your own salad or pick out from one of their ready made salad such as Fatoush, Greek salad, etc. 

My salad plate

Well I decided to make up my own salad.  When I saw the bowl of arugula leaves, I just couldn't resist the temptation of filling up my plate with it.  Yes - I am addicted to arugula.  Sadly, it's very hard to find one here.  I also took a small amount of chicken pomelo salad, which was divine, tabouleh, which was average, a bit of bacon and a pickle.  I am not really good when it comes to buffets, and with just the laksa and my salad plate, I was already full, but hey call it glutony I had to taste at least some, if not all, of their dishes.

Seafood station

So I took a rest for a while and headed towards their seafood station.  You can choose sushi, sashimi and maki off the rack or you can ask the chef to make you a special one, as per your heart's desire.  I just chose the ready made sushis, as I didn't want to wait.  They also had fresh oysters, prawns, etc.  They can also cook those for you.  I actually saw some guests asking for fresh raw oyster.  I wanted to eat oysters, too, but I just couldn't eat it fresh.  If it was at least blanched, then definitely I would go for it.

My sushi plate

The sushi I had was gorgeous.  It only had slight after taste, which is common if you were eating raw seafood, but it was absolutely fresh, because if it wasn't then my rashes would have immediately popped up right after the first bite.

Oriental Station

After a few minutes, I headed on to the Oriental station.  The Oriental station was just like heaven for me.  The meat, fish, veggies and dumplings were all lined up nicely.  Just tell the chef which ones you would like to have then come back after a couple of minutes.

Peking ducks

They even had Peking ducks, too.  It was too late for me when I realized that they can actually make a duck wrap or pancake (as some would call it) for guests.  So when I came back to get my first order, I asked (smiling) the chef to give me a duck wrap; however, the chef gave me that look like you should have included that in your first order!, and told me to come back after 10 minutes.  I was actually quite disappointed because had I known that there wasn't any ready made duck wrap, I wouldn't have asked for it.

My Oriental plate

Nevertheless, I was really satisfied with my Oriental plate.  I ate each and every bit of it to my delight.  Well almost every piece except for the two salmon sticks, which my daugther devoured all by herself!

Duck wrap

The duck wrap for me was a little dry.  I was actually looking for a much thicker sauce, Hoisin sauce to be exact, that goes with the wrap.  However, they didn't have it from their choices so I just had the light soy sauce instead.

Fresh veggies

International cuisine station

Nonetheless, I didn't get the chance to taste their main dishes.  I was actually so full with all the above that I have eaten previously. 

Italian spaghetti

From the International cuisine station, I only had the chance to taste their Italian spaghetti, which my kids had.  It was actually very good.  It was Italian style, but it wasn't that sour.  My kids actually enjoyed it.  

Variety of sauces

Different kinds of salt

Finally, I had dessert.  The choices for dessert seemed endless.  I wanted to taste all of them, but my stomach wasn't distensible enough to accommodate all these goodies.  I had to make the best decision!

Dessert station

and more desserts

Fruit station

Of course, the best decision for me would always be cheese cake and carrot cake.  I also took some candies for the kids.  The quality of their cakes was a 10/10!  However, I didn't like these coconut coated red and yellow thingies.

My dessert plate

To help me digest my two hours' worth of eating, I asked for a cup of tea, which actually took 20 minutes to be served.  The waitress whom I have asked to give me a cuppa didn't give me my order.  I had to ask another waiter who pleasantly and immediately gave my cuppa.  The same thing happened with my husband.  He asked for a glass of cold soda but none was given to him; he literally had to tell another waiter for the same.  Bad service, to think that there wasn't really a lot of guests during that time.

Tea time

If it were not for the bad service that we had encountered, I would have rated this restaurant a perfect 10. 

Happy, satisfied faces

However, we had happy tummies at the end of our visit.  Just look at these faces!

Amazing view

We also enjoyed the amazing view that the hotel has to offer after dining in.  The water and scenery was so inviting, my kids were actually asking if we could take a dip :)

Calm water

Eastern Mangroves

Here's a summary of my review for this resto:

Pros

• Taste
• Ambiance
• Variety of choices
• Cleanliness

Cons

• Price
• Service
• Location

If asked if I will come back - the answer is yes BUT I need to save some more for it.


Ingredients
Eastern Mangroves Hotel and Spa by Anantara
Telephone number:  (9712) 66-1000
Website