Yas Marina is pretty much always our go-to spot if we want to party in Abu Dhabi.
It’s one of the liveliest areas in the city on any given night, and with so many bars lined up right next to each other, it’s ideal for a pub crawl, too.
We very often find ourselves trying to squeeze into the packed bar at Stars ’N’ Bars on a Friday night, and this weekend is no different. The place is heaving both inside and outside, and we decide to do a circle of the venue before settling on where to position ourselves for the night.
Inside, a live band are up on stage blasting out tunes, and from early evening the dancefloor is packed with people working off their brunches to the back-to-back singalong hits.
There’s also a line of retro arcade games covering one wall if you fancy reminising about your childhood while your friends queue for drinks, plus table football and hops pong tables to provide further entertainment.
Outside on the terrace you’ll find a different vibe, with a live DJ up on the decks providing a soundtrack that has a more urban feel to it.
As the weather is so perfect at the moment we decide to linger out here, and we just about manage to find room to dance amongst the crowd.
At the bar, the staff are clearly doing their best to get everyone served as quickly as possible, but still we find we have to wait a while to be served. The drinks on offer include all the usual house beverage. We wouldn’t recommend trying to order any fancy mixed drinks late in the evening here. This place is all about the fun atmosphere, not pretty concoctions, so save that for your next visit to one of Abu Dhabi’s picturesque beach bars and instead stick to the more simple and straightforward beverages and get back to the dancefloor as quickly as possible.
On a Friday you can get three hours of free-flowing beverages for Dhs149 between 9pm and 11pm, which sounds like a decent deal to us if you’re planning on staying for most of the night.
If you want to share some bar bites it’s probably best to book your table in advance and get here early, but the American-style plates are definitely worth a try.
Good fun and casual, this bar will continue to be one of the capital’s most popular haunts.
