Seafood Night Launch at Latest Recipe - Le Meridien Hotel, Abu Dhabi
Ever since Acropolis opened at Le Meridien I have been excited about the F&B transformation at the hotel. Not only did they open the only authentic Greek restaurant in the city, they also relaunched their all-day dining restaurant, born as Latest Recipe. The media were invited to their Seafood Night launch. Here are some impressions.
Three talking points from my experience
The dishes
The live grill station proved immensely popular, with seafood of course the main attraction, but also beef on offer for those who oddly find themselves at a seafood night and do not want seafood! Needless to say the seafood station too had the usual items you would expect at a seafood night, highlighted though by sushi, sashimi and blue crab.
However, the three stand-out dishes for me were the Salmon ceviche, Kabsa shrimps and the Tandoori promfret. The latter in particular was full of flavour, cooked in the tandoor, but still retained that beautiful spicy marinated sauce - a testimony to the chef's timing of the cooking. Finally, Latest Recipe is very child friendly, but I would like to see a small kids' station with fish and chips, fish fingers or fish popcorn and calamari rings.
Seafood and Drinks packages
I was excited by the availability of 4 packages, ensuring there is bound to be something for every pocket and palate. People tend to forget that seafood is expensive if you want to have the freshest ingredients for guests, but with prices ranging from 222AED to 525AED, I think they got it right. However, I would like to a greater choice of white wine. These packages, while offering more choice than most seafood nights in the city, are great value.
Success as a theme night?
Seafood iconography was tastefully displayed. It is easy to over do it to show guests that it is a specific theme night, but they got the balance just right. The feeling of a seafood night night was brought home through the each of Latest Recipe's usual stations having at least one seafood dish. This is in addition to the dedicated seafood station which offered a combination of imported and local seafood. While there was no Hamour (and I think there should be), Sultan Ibrahim fish was available. I liked the respect, overall, for ingredients taken from local waters (Omani lobster was on the menu too). In summary, it felt like a genuine seafood night, with not just a sprinkling of seafood dishes, but a really good balance between seafood Latest Recipe's usual international menu.
Verdict
As life gets more expensive in Abu Dhabi, value for money is a concept that is popping up more and more in my mind when I look at a buffet. Latest Recipe's Seafood Night offers exactly that, while being punctuated with some of my own recommended dishes. It remains one of the best family options in the city with the natural garden an ideal place for kids to reconnect with greenery while mum and dad enjoy the dishes and drinks inside.
Latest Recipe Seafood Nights
ThursdaysLe Meridien Hotel (Near Abu Dhabi Mall)
Abu Dhabi
+971 2 644 6666
222AED Seafood buffet
252AED Incl soft drinks
Three talking points from my experience
The dishes
The live grill station proved immensely popular, with seafood of course the main attraction, but also beef on offer for those who oddly find themselves at a seafood night and do not want seafood! Needless to say the seafood station too had the usual items you would expect at a seafood night, highlighted though by sushi, sashimi and blue crab.
Seafood and Drinks packages
I was excited by the availability of 4 packages, ensuring there is bound to be something for every pocket and palate. People tend to forget that seafood is expensive if you want to have the freshest ingredients for guests, but with prices ranging from 222AED to 525AED, I think they got it right. However, I would like to a greater choice of white wine. These packages, while offering more choice than most seafood nights in the city, are great value.
Success as a theme night?
Seafood iconography was tastefully displayed. It is easy to over do it to show guests that it is a specific theme night, but they got the balance just right. The feeling of a seafood night night was brought home through the each of Latest Recipe's usual stations having at least one seafood dish. This is in addition to the dedicated seafood station which offered a combination of imported and local seafood. While there was no Hamour (and I think there should be), Sultan Ibrahim fish was available. I liked the respect, overall, for ingredients taken from local waters (Omani lobster was on the menu too). In summary, it felt like a genuine seafood night, with not just a sprinkling of seafood dishes, but a really good balance between seafood Latest Recipe's usual international menu.
Verdict
As life gets more expensive in Abu Dhabi, value for money is a concept that is popping up more and more in my mind when I look at a buffet. Latest Recipe's Seafood Night offers exactly that, while being punctuated with some of my own recommended dishes. It remains one of the best family options in the city with the natural garden an ideal place for kids to reconnect with greenery while mum and dad enjoy the dishes and drinks inside.
Latest Recipe Seafood Nights
ThursdaysLe Meridien Hotel (Near Abu Dhabi Mall)
Abu Dhabi
+971 2 644 6666
222AED Seafood buffet
252AED Incl soft drinks
393AED incl house beverages
525AED incl bubbly
All prices incl taxes
All prices incl taxes
Brandon Stoltenkamp
Disclaimer: I was invited to the Seafood launch as part of the media.
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