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2.35 Restaurant |
Five star food for less than ninety dirhams? Abu Dhabi Week happily investigated ... Amid the big-chain hotels and the downtown traffic chaos stands Cristal hotel. Its arrival in the capital was a rather quiet affair back in June this year, but we think it’s high time it made some noise. As well as offering the usual hotel rooms and a soon-to-be-launched spa, Cristal is home to a restaurant called 2.35 – an all day diner which has already made itself extremely popular with office workers and locals alike. The restaurant was originally planned for the top floor of the hotel, but a late design change brought it to the mezzanine level and gave the venue its name; 2.35m is the restaurant’s ceiling height – a generous space which creates a wonderful light and airy atmosphere. But it’s the food that really sets this restaurant apart. With international cuisine on a vast buffet, picking just one dish is near impossible – and will often result in a rather unusual combination on the plate! As it happened, we ended up with a mixture of seafood, Arabic grilled meats, pasta and even duck. We reluctantly passed on the freshly-made Yorkshire puddings, but only because we ran out of room. The duck – still ever so slightly pink in the middle – was accompanied by duck-fat-with-orange gravy and practically melted in the mouth. The pasta won a second visit to the buffet station, high praise indeed since one of the eating team knows proper Italian cooking from her upbringing. Light and full on flavour, and with a tomato and cheese sauce featuring a bouquet of perfectly placed herbs, the dish proved that the simple route is the right way to serve pasta. Cristal is one of the few hotels around Abu Dhabi that is completely dry, and that’s a pleasant surprise in the middle of downtown Abu Dhabi. The service was impeccable; from the moment we pulled up at the main entrance, to leaving the restaurant after our meal – polite and attentive staff made us feel really rather special. The huge, wonderfully presented buffet offers a great alternative for those wanting to dine (or to impress) without spending a fortune. There are theme nights planned along with a Friday brunch and even another restaurant coming in the near future. And we think we’ll be at the front of the queue. What? 2.35 Restaurant
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