If you’re looking for sushi in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Cafe Sushi at Fairmont Bab Al Bahr is one of those places that keeps coming up for a reason.
In the Middle East, it’s honestly not that easy to find good raw fish.
Still, there are places here and there that serve sushi and sashimi.
Of course, it’s not quite as fresh or pristine as what I’m used to back home in Korea,
but that’s just part of the deal. ^_
While searching for a good sushi spot in Abu Dhabi,
I came across a restaurant inside Fairmont Bab Al Bahr,
called Cafe Sushi.
For reservations, menus, and basic info,
you can check everything on Google Maps.
It’s open every day with no days off,
with lunch from 12:00 to 3:30 PM
and dinner from 7:00 to 10:30 PM.
Why does dinner start so late, though…?
Luckily, we got there around 8 PM, so it didn’t matter for us.
After visiting the Presidential Palace in Abu Dhabi,
we rushed straight over to the restaurant.
At the hotel entrance, I said we were heading to Cafe Sushi,
and the staff pointed us to the right parking area.
There actually weren’t as many parking spots as I expected.
We got lucky and grabbed one of the last one or two spaces before heading inside.
They also had outdoor tables,
but in a hot country, during a hot season,
I just could not bring myself to eat sushi outside, even after sunset.
When they were showing us to our table,
we told them we were ordering the all-you-can-eat option,
so they seated us right next to the sushi conveyor.
All-you-can-eat, in other words: unlimited refills.
On the menu, it was listed as the Unlimited Sushi Experience.
It started with miso soup,
then you could help yourself to sashimi and maki rolls from the conveyor belt,
and it ended with a one-time dessert.
It was 179 AED per person, about $48,
and there was also an option for unlimited drinks and alcohol. That add-on
was 125 AED, about $34.
Since this is a hotel restaurant,
it definitely wasn’t cheap, but it also didn’t feel outrageously expensive.
Since we drove there, we passed on the unlimited drinks package.
The conveyor sushi kept moving around,
but unlike in Korea or Japan, there wasn’t a huge variety of fish.
There was a lot of salmon and plenty of maki rolls.
There was even a Japanese chef at the sushi counter.
I had a moment where I thought, should I try speaking Japanese?
But I’m shy, so I held back.
Napkins and cutlery were already set on the table.
I was starving, so I started grabbing plates the second I sat down.
There was pickled ginger too, but I don’t eat it, so that went to my husband.
They were generous with the wasabi too.
The miso soup was refillable,
and I liked it because it was warm, familiar, and comforting.
The sashimi selection wasn’t very broad.
They only had salmon sashimi and tuna sashimi,
and the tuna was the budget kind you’d never really see at a proper tuna place in Korea—
yellowfin tuna. ^_
The salmon was just okay, but the yellowfin tuna sashimi
looked almost artificially colored,
super pink.
It was very lean and barely felt like real sashimi in texture,
but since this was the UAE,
I honestly thought the maki rolls and cooked items were the safer bet.
I think one of them was aburi salmon sushi,
plus a Dynamite Roll,
and a shrimp tempura maki.
Then we tried more tuna and salmon sushi,
and since the salmon was clearly the better option,
I started asking for salmon only and skipped the tuna.
That salmon flavor really made me miss Japan.
Since it was all-you-can-eat,
we kept picking up a little bit of everything from the belt,
and even had a chirashi bowl—
by that point, I was absolutely stuffed.
That’s about it for the food menu,
and now, onto the drinks.
The sushi counter was in the middle of the dining room,
and there was a separate alcohol bar in front of the kitchen.
Then I spotted Hibiki sitting on the shelf…!
We actually have a bottle at home too, but we hadn’t opened it yet,
so I figured I might as well taste it here first.
I ordered one as a highball.
If you look at the menu, they even have Chamisul,
and one bottle was 69 AED, about $19. ^_
So expensive—but then I saw a table of Western diners over there
ordering several bottles of soju,
and somehow I felt bad watching them pay that much for it.
Why was I the one feeling guilty?
The Hibiki came with ice and sparkling water.
I gave it a good sniff, took a sip,
and made my own highball.
When I told other people about it later,
they were like, who makes a highball with precious Hibiki?
Then dessert cake came out as the final course, and that was the end.
After dinner, on the drive back toward Dubai,
I spotted a glowing green mosque.
On the main highway connecting Abu Dhabi and Dubai,
it really stands out at night.
Even though I didn’t think the food was amazing overall,
I still personally find the UAE incredibly likable as a travel destination.
Maybe I was Arab in a past life.