Abu Dhabi's Finest Tables
5 restaurants listed$ under $40 · $$ $40–$80 · $$$ $80–$150 · $$$$ $150+ per person
Best for First Date in Abu Dhabi
View all first-date restaurantsA first date in Abu Dhabi is won or lost on three variables: acoustics, setting, and the ability of the menu to structure a conversation that hasn't yet found its rhythm. Our top Abu Dhabi picks for first dates are Zuma Abu Dhabi, COYA Abu Dhabi, Li Beirut. Each chosen for its calibrated intimacy, its conversation-friendly acoustic, and its willingness to let a slow meal happen without pressure.
Best for Business Dinner in Abu Dhabi
View all business dining restaurantsClosing a deal in Abu Dhabi is partly about the restaurant's ability to handle a three-hour dinner without hurrying you out, and partly about the quiet social signal that the choice of venue sends to the client across the table. Our top picks: Hakkasan Abu Dhabi, Zuma Abu Dhabi, COYA Abu Dhabi. Each is discreet enough for confidential conversation and visible enough to communicate seriousness.
The Abu Dhabi Top 5
- 1. Hakkasan Abu Dhabi , Modern Cantonese, Emirates Palace / West Corniche
The London flagship's most theatrical outpost, installed inside the UAE's most ornate hotel. Cantonese cooking performed at the scale of a state dinner. And still, somehow, specific. - 2. Zuma Abu Dhabi , Contemporary Japanese Izakaya, Al Maryah Island
The Galleria's glass elevator descends into the Middle East's most consistently packed Japanese room. Robata, sushi, and the Zuma formula. Still working, still difficult to book. - 3. COYA Abu Dhabi , Contemporary Peruvian, Al Maryah Island
The Peruvian room inside the Four Seasons that turns the volume up at 10pm and keeps it there. Ceviche that belongs at a 50 Best table; Pisco Sours that run the night. - 4. Li Beirut , Contemporary Lebanese, Emirates Palace / West Corniche
The high-rise Lebanese room with the city's best west-facing sunset view, and mezze that holds up to any Mar Mikhaël kitchen. - 5. 99 Sushi Bar , Japanese / Omakase, Al Maryah Island
Madrid's best sushi brand at its Al Maryah outpost. The counter is where the meal happens and where you should sit.
Abu Dhabi Dining Guide
Abu Dhabi does not shout. That is its defining difference from Dubai, and it is also the secret that defines the city's dining culture. Where Dubai treats restaurants as showrooms. Taller, louder, more exuberant. The UAE capital prefers the language of quiet authority: heritage palaces, seven-star service, quiet rooms off the Corniche, chefs installed inside Emirates Palace and the Louvre-adjacent district of Al Maryah.
The dining scene here divides cleanly into four neighbourhoods. Emirates Palace, on the West Corniche, holds Hakkasan and Li Beirut and still-operating outposts of global flagship brands inside the city's most ornate hotel. Al Maryah Island is the newer financial district, where Zuma, COYA, 99 Sushi Bar, and Roberto's operate on a single promenade opposite the Four Seasons. Saadiyat Island blends beach-club dining with the cultural pull of the Louvre Abu Dhabi. The old city. Around Liwa Street and the souks. Is still where you find the most honest Emirati, Lebanese, and Persian cooking.
Expect formality: jacket preferred at the hotel restaurants, closed-toe shoes at dinner, and reservations two to three weeks out for the major rooms on Thursday and Friday nights. Tipping is already built into most bills. A standard 10% service charge is automatic. But an additional AED 50 to 100 per couple for meals above AED 1,000 is considered appropriate at the top tier. Dry or license-only venues cluster outside the hotels; alcohol service in Abu Dhabi is restricted to licensed hotels and specific private venues, which shapes where serious dinners happen.