Yummy Take Away: Automatic

• What did we order?

– Meat Shawarma Plate with Hommous
– Lentil soup
– Fried Halloumi Cheese
– Grilled Halloumi Cheese
– Falafel Plate
– Cheese pastries
– Hommous
– French Fries
– Yoghurt with Cucumber

• How much did it cost?  131 AED
  
  
• Where did we order from?

Automatic restaurant – inside Al Mariah Mall – Tel: 02 676 9677
(But we actually ordered through FoodOnClick)

• What did it look like? (click on images to enlarge)

Grilled Halloumi

Shawarma

Lentil soup

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Falafel plate

Cheese pastries

Fried Halloumi

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hummous

French fries

Yoghurt with cucumber

 

 

 

 

 

 

Salad platter

Flat bread (spoon for scale)

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Why did we like it?

– The food was really tasty and the portions were more than generous!
– Everything came with a lot of complimentary flat bread, a massive plate of veggies, more side veggies (not pictured) and two yummy dips.
– Ordering was easy, delivery was quick and staff friendly!

Café Blanc – Lebanese restaurant

Halloumi sticks and Rakakat jibneh.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE
OFFICIAL FACEBOOK

Where in Abu Dhabi:
Eastern Mangroves promenade
Tel: 02 677 9881

This restaurant is inspired by the name of a Lebanese drink, the ‘café blanc‘, and serves traditional Lebanese cuisine with a contemporary and more modern twist.
With several outlets around the world, from Egypt to – of course – Lebanon, we were very excited to find out that they just opened in Abu Dhabi.

We tried this brand new restaurant on a lovely mellow evening, and just by walking on the Eastern Mangrove promenade we felt really relaxed: there is something so calming in being near the water!
The restaurant welcomed us with its very colourful and yet very sleek interior with Mediterranean-inspired décor, making for a very joyful atmosphere.
They had tables both inside and outside on the terrace, for those who want to smoke shisha.

Lovely décor!

Mint lemonade and raspberry tea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As drinks, I ordered an iced tea, raspberry flavoured, and W ordered a frozen mint and lemonade. They arrived at our table with a choice of nuts and they were both really fresh and tasty.

W then ordered a Shawarma Djej (meat, grilled onion and tomato, served with homemade bread, tarator dip and fries), and I ordered an Arayess Halloum (halloumi cheese, parsley, arabic bread with side of rocca leaves and olives).
As sides, we got some halloumi sticks (served with bbq tomato sauce), and some rakakat jibneh (cheese-filled pastries), which came with olives, pickled veggies and a generous serving of bread. It was all hot, tasty and delicious, and we really loved it.

Shawarma Djej.

Arayess Halloum.

Halloumi sticks. So yummy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the end of our meal, we were asked by the chef if we wanted to try some of their desserts, so obviously we accepted!
The super-friendly waitress brought us two cups of a sweet drink: it was café blanc! One was with orange blossom, the other with lemon zest, and both tasted really nice. They were served in very pretty small glasses, and when I asked about it, the waitress told us that the glasses, as well as all the tableware, are custom-made for the restaurant.

Cafe blanc!

Cheesecake.

Cheese knefeh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first dessert was a Lebanese take on traditional cheesecake, with a bottom in sweet cream cheese and a jelly top that tasted fresh, fruity and really yummy, with notes of berries and rose. The second one was a cheese ‘knefeh’, a sort of melted cheese pastry with nuts on top and sweet citrus syrup served on the side. They were both delicious! We never tried these desserts before, and we loved them.

We really enjoyed this new restaurant: the food was really yummy, the staff was very friendly, and the view on the water was so relaxing, making for a lovely atmosphere. We will certainly go back for more!!

Havana Cafe – Lebanese restaurant

Starter platter with falafel, salad, bread and hummus.

Where: opposite Marina Mall, on the Corniche.
Tel: 02 6810044

This quaint eatery does not seem to have any website, or social media, despite being quite big, with a very spacious outdoor seating area, and quite busy and popular, with locals and expats alike.

We ended up here one day after shopping at Marina Mall, looking for something casual and easy.

Being a sunny day (as usual) the outdoor area was packed with people, many of them group of friends or families, but as some were smoking hookas, we preferred to seat inside.

The décor is simple, and reminded me of some towns on the seaside in Italy, with big counters full of delicious-looking cakes and kids running to the bar to get ice lollies.

The menu is Lebanese, with all what you would expect from this type of cuisine: lots of hummus, halloumi, garlic paste, but also fries, salads and more: we were really happy with our food.

Everything was very tasty and surpassed our expectations. We had planned to leave room for one of their gorgeous-looking cakes, but we were so stuffed after a generous starter and a delicious main that we did not manage to do so.

This cafe seems a lovely place where to go and relax on a day out, especially because it is on the Corniche and with a lovely view on the water. It has an authentic feel and simple but tasty food. Staff were friendly and the service was attentive, so we will make sure to go back to try their cakes!

More hummus and garlic paste.

Halloumi sandwich

A sort of Lebanese quesadilla with beef.