Getting
there
Etihad Airways
operates 42 direct
flights a week
between its hub
in Abu Dhabi and
four Australian
cities: Brisbane,
Melbourne, Perth
and Sydney
Connect in
Abu Dhabi to
destinations
across the Middle
East, Asia, Africa,
Europe and
North America.
etihad.comMina Zayed Market
Get to the heart of old Abu Dhabi by swapping
shopping malls for souks. The ever-growing vertical
city limits stop at Mina Zayed, the traditional market
that occupies a spit of land near the main port.
The cacophonous fish souk is lined by dozens
of stalls; customers buy their fish, take them to the
fish butchers, identified by their red overalls, to clean
and fillet, then present their catch to one of the simple
restaurants dotted around the perimeter. Here, cooks
will grill the fish over charcoal, fry it, or serve it in
a masala. Across the road behind the Al Mina fruit
and vegetable souk, the national obsession with
the date is on show at 20 identikit shops lining one
laneway. As well as the popular sticky-sweet medjool
dates, look for fresh dates, sold still attached to the
stalk, and designer dates stuffed with dried kiwifruit
or almonds. Al Mina St, Zayed Port
Saadiyat Beach Club
Saadiyat Island has been called the UAE’s answer
to the Hamptons, and Saadiyat Beach Club is doing
its utmost to keep the comparison alive. A mostly
young crowd of Emiratis park their new-model
European sports cars out front and spend the
afternoon lazing in the cabanas lining the enormous
beachfront pool while a DJ spins tunes. As well as
being the natural habitat of the city’s upwardly
mobile, this rarefied stretch of beach is also the
nesting site for a colony of hawksbill turtles that
return seasonally to lay eggs in the sand. Exit 14,
Saadiyat Island; +971 2 656 3500; saadiyatbeachclub.ae ●
GOURMET TRAVELLER 141