This French restaurant by acclaimed chef Nicolas Isnard is a new joiner to the MICHELIN Guide Abu Dhabi selection for 2025. Here, classic French dishes are re-invented with a modern flare, taking inspiration from the chef’s travels around the world.
Set in an elegant and opulent spot, the restaurant delighted our famously anonymous MICHELIN Guide inspectors with their adventurous and bold flavours, its glamourous location and welcoming service team. In this article, we dive a little deeper into an inspector’s experience at the newly selected restaurant in Abu Dhabi.
Join our community of travelers and food-lovers! Create a free account to enjoy personalised recommendations, exclusive hotel rates and the chance to share your feedback with our inspectors!
The arrival
The place is sited within the Shangri-La Qaryat Al Beri Hotel, just a 25-minute taxi ride east of the city centre. Enter the opulent marble floor lobby, bear to the left, and look out for the lectern outside the entrance. Inside, the door the staff were waiting – including the sommelier, the manager and the chef! A warm, fulsome welcome from a noticeably switched-on, slick, and professional team – a convincing start!
The place
The room exudes a certain grandeur and a sense of luxury; this is somewhere you’ll feel pampered. There’s a distinctive ‘Belle Époque’ French style with marble panelling blending with gilded cornicing and high ceilings to impart an airy roomy feel. The crystal chandeliers cast a romantic light. Tables are suitably large and well-spaced, there's a central curved banquette dominating the centre of the room, and a unique semi-private table covered in a metal 'cage'. Arched windows deliver views of Khor Al Maqta creek and the hotel pool.The meal
This outpost of French chef Nicolas Isnard from one MICHELIN star Auberge de la Charme in the Côte-d'Or in France, champions inventive French classics and dishes inspired by his travels around the world. The chef de cuisine, David Tavernier, is an acolyte of Isnard and having spent nearly four years at the mothership in France, was the ideal candidate to showcase Isnard’s cooking in Abu Dhabi.The menus comprise of two tasting menus (each in four or six course options): one of modern interpretations of French classics, and the other influenced by Isnard's travels around the world. These dishes also appear on an à la carte enabling the diner to create their own bespoke menu, blending the two menus.
SIMILAR: Here are the dishes our inspectors loved in Abu Dhabi
Highlights of the dinner included
The Signature 'Modern Onion Soup'
You could see the ambition in the dish. In the base, you have caramelised onion topped with a large quenelle of onion ice cream, liberally grated Comté cheese and crispy onion shards, small crisp croutons added extra crunch, a bread foam blended with the deep rich onion consommé poured into the dish; fortifying with bold, rich flavours, the ice cream delivered a contrast of temperature, and it worked.
Wagyu Sanchoku MB 6/7 grade beef tenderloin, 'Rossini style' with foie gras, fresh truffle, red wine sauce, potato variation
The large tranche of beef was cooked as ordered (medium-rare), beautifully pink in the middle and super tender. It was topped with a huge slice of foie gras, capably pan-fried, sliced black truffle on the top, the rich red wine jus very, very classic and bursting with flavour. On the side, a dish of creamy pommes purée was topped with fine golden crisp straw potatoes adding a textural contrast. Big, bold, classical flavours!
Cuba: The spirit of a 'Piña Colada'
Ribbons of marinated pineapple were rolled up into a flower-like construction, a pineapple foam was studded with curls of dried coconut, a creamy coconut ice cream sat upon a little desiccated coconut, and finally, passion fruit purée highlighted the dish with a burst of tropical fruit flavours.
The team
The affable French manager, Remy, was switched-on, chatty and delivered smooth, well-judged service. The pace was just right, though I was offered breaks in the service along the way if I needed them. The young Indian sommelier, Samishka, was particularly charming. Her enthusiasm was clear to see, she was exceedingly chatty and enthused about the wines she recommended with the dishes: a mineral-driven Chablis from Laroche with the scallops and a fleshy, ripe and broad ‘Les Lion de Batailly’, Bordeaux with the beef. David, the chef, came out at the end for a chat with the diners, explaining the kitchen team’s philosophy.
SIMILAR: Going to the MICHELIN Guide Food Festival Abu Dhabi? Here's Where to Book
Exclusive tips
• Ask for a window table for views of Khor Al Maqta creek
• If you can’t make up your mind on which menu to go for, do order from the à la carte and you can mix inventive French classics with dishes inspired by the chefs’ peregrinations creating your own bespoke menu
• Book a room in the hotel and make a proper night of it
• For the full experience opt for the ‘Sommelier choice’ wine pairing
• The whole table must eat the same menu, so bear this in mind when ordering
• Be aware dishes are generously sized, you’ll need a good appetite to tackle the 6-course menu
• If you’re a meat lover, don’t miss the Wagyu Sanchoku MB 6/7 grade beef tenderloin
Illustration image: Bord Eau by Nicolas Isnard
