timeoutabudhabi.com July 24 – August 6 2019 35
Food
WHAT IS IT...
Mexican dishes by the
clear waters of ZayaNurai Island
WHY GO...
To get some snaps of
this amazing resort, andto gorge on the delicious
guac (when is it ever notthe best bit?)
Jones the Grocer
O Open daily 7am-midnight. Licensed. Holiday Inn Downtown Abu Dhabi, Madinat Zayed (02 615 6440).SOME THINGS IN life are constant.
The passage of time, traffic on Sheikh
Zayed Road and that Jones the Grocer will
consistantly churn out brilliant food.We’ve come to expect nothing less from
the popular chain, so when we arrive at thenewest branch the bar is already set high.
The new digs at the Holiday Inn Downtown arepretty cool, there’s a bar at the
back of the room that grabs our
attention and we try our best toavoid trying all the free samples
on offer as we make our way toour table for dinner.
The dining room is half full andfor midweek during the summer
that’s a good sign that they’re on
to a winner. We start with lentilsoup and as much as we like
the Arabic take, we’re delightedthat it’s not been blended into a thick yellow
paste. Happily slurping away, we dip the
freshly baked bread into the filling soup, that’s
probably big enough to suit two people, andthoroughly clean the bowl.
Next, we go for the chargrilled chickenburger and it’s huge. The meat is spicy,
topped with a crunchy slaw and it’s every bitas satisfying as it looks. Plus it
comes with a giant onion ring and
that’s an A+ in our book.The pan-fried sea bass is
equally simple and brilliant. Theskin is wonderfully cripsy and the
soba noodles, crunchy bok choiand red chilli, keep us going back
in for ‘just one more bite’.
Time is still ticking, traffic is stillqueuing and Jones the Grocer is
still consistantly great.WHAT IS IT...
The latest branch of
the Aussie restaurantWHY GO...
You can count on
Jones for a good meal
IF YOU’RE HEADING for dinner at Dusk, the
chances are you’ll be in a very good mood.This is because you’ll either be coming
straight from a day at the beach at the
luxurious resort of Zaya Nurai, or you’ve justwhizzed over to the island on a speed boat for
a romantic evening meal.We’re doing the former, and after all that
swimming and clambering onto woodenswings, we’re massively in the mood for some
flavoursome Mexican food.
There are some traditional dishes thatwe’re not familiar with, but we decide to be
shamelessly unadventurous and go with ourfavourites; a starter of steak quesadillas
followed by chicken fajitas.The staff are very friendly and chatty, and
Dusk
O Open 5pm-1am. Licensed. Zaya Nurai Island (02 506 6274).the interior is colourful and cool and decked
out with Mexican-themed decorations.We soon realise that this isn’t the kind of
Mexican place where the starters are so huge
they could easily be a main. But the beefis clearly of top quality and the marinated
vegetable are crunchy and delicious.The fajita mixture is presented on a
sizzling plate, and there’s plenty of chickenand vegetables to go round. The sauce is
pleasantly flavoured and we happily over fill
our tortilla wraps with the sides of lettuce,cheese, sour cream and salsa. We love that
the beachside spot is generous with theportions of dip (in particular the creamy and
incredible homemade guac).You’ll leave as happy as you arrived.
Amici
The Art of Aperitivo offer is back,with endless amounts of antipasti
and Italian bites and beverages.O Dhs89. Wed-Thu 5pm-8pm. Yas Hotel
Abu Dhabi, Yas Island (02 656 0600).Verso
The Italian is offering unlimited
amounts of fresh pizza every day.O Dhs99. Daily noon-11pm. Grand HyattAbu Dhabi Hotel & Residences Emirates
Pearl, West Corniche (02 510 1234).FOOD NEWS
What we’ve
learned this week
GOLD by Rhodes
The culinary cinema experience
has introduced a new menu, and
it includes the Beyond burger.O Prices vary. Marina Mall Abu Dhabi,
http://www.uae.voxcinemas.com.3 34 - 35_EO REVIEW 1 & 2_10033048_10770806.indd 35 4 - 35 EO REVIEW 1 & 2 10033048 _ 10770806 .indd 35 2 21/07/2019 11:17:00 AM 1 / 07 / 2019 11 : 17 : 00 AM