Rodeo Grill, which has re-opened at Abu Dhabi’s Beach Rotana hotel after a complete refurbishment, looks set to take on slick competitors such as 55&5th at the St Regis Saadiyat Island and The Capital Grill at the Dusit Thani Abu Dhabi. The now-smart restaurant is separated from the hotel lobby, which it previously opened out onto. It’s now got its own distinct identity, with a wood-effect floor, deep-brown chairs and tables, bronze-tinted furnishings and an overall air of privacy and sophistication.
Better still, the new executive chef, Australian Adam Ashe, has brought in a fresh new menu, reasonably priced and with all the classics, from oysters by the half dozen to Wagyu steak. A standout starter is the ahi tuna-sashimi stack, which is an exquisite portion of chopped Philippines tuna, glowing with freshness, stacked on top of equally immaculate chopped avocado, with a citrus soy dressing (Dh75).
The restaurant’s standard steaks, starting at Dh200, are American Angus, the higher-end ones Australian and Irish. The best on offer is the restaurant’s “signature steak”, Blackmore’s Wagyu with a marbling score of 9+. Grain fed for a minimum of 650 days (the last two years of the animal’s life), even a well-done 200g tenderloin (Dh560 with sides) is soft and rich in flavour. It may seem expensive, but when you realise the history of the meat in front of you and hear the seriousness with which Ashe talks about the farm’s natural, four-year production process and the care that is taken of the animals from start to finish at a local family-owned processing company, you realise that ethics and taste cost money (Ashe explains that the meat from stressed animals is tougher, for example). Similarly, the rib-eye veal from the Netherlands (Dh210) is naturally milk fed, and not from farms that keep the baby animals in crates. The sticklike truffle fries with Parmesan (Dh40) are thin, crispy and moreish.
Rodeo Grill is open from 12:30pm to 3:30pm for lunch and 7pm to 11:30pm for dinner. For reservations, call 02 697 9011 or visit www.rotana.com.
