What do you do in Abu Dhabi when you want a meal out that sends the romance levels right out into the stratosphere? We hummed and hawed for hours over this in the TOAD office, with all the old fall-back options (candles, views, flowers) carefully considered and then with a sigh, dismissed. Call us spoilt, but none of these seemed out of the ordinary enough in a city where great scenery is a given in upmarket restaurants – and any fool can light a candle. Then it hit us. The only way to upstage all these venues would be to take all that romance on to the water. And so just a few nights later I found myself climbing aboard Abu Dhabi’s Romantic Dinner Dhow Cruise with my loved one. At first it seemed as though we were in for the night of our lives. The old boat had a shabby, faded glamour of sorts, and moonlight, a light breeze and the sound of lapping waves were all present and correct.
In fact, as a charming old gent led us to our table by the window, I thought we’d truly hit the romance jackpot. Until I noticed a single prawn, quail egg, salmon and wrinkly piece of lettuce already waiting patiently under a scrunched wrap of clingfilm on the table – and a welcome drink of apple juice. So far, so underwhelming. But we decided it would take more than some unsavoury-looking seafood to dampen our romance-ready spirits and looked forward to the rest of the set menu. Some tasty Arabic mezze turned up, placed inside ornate gilded cones. Next came two enormous servings of an extremely cheesy lobster thermidor. And then, inexplicably, a giant dish of pasta bake. We put some of it away for politeness’ sake and then, fit to burst, made plans to explore the deck. Not so fast. To our horror, two full mixed grills arrived, followed by dessert of fruit and mousses. In other words, there was enough food for a double, triple or even quadruple date here – so much so we even considered tossing some of it overboard to save face.
Food anxieties out of the way, we spent the remainder of the trip drinking cola on cushions upstairs, watching the lovely Corniche scenery drift by – all in all a round trip of about two hours. The verdict? Well, we’re all in favour of boats, (even ones that need way more than a lick of paint to spruce them up) and lots of food. We’re even fans of combining the two on occasion. But this trip didn’t quite manage to pull off the event, veering between poorly planned, and just a bit weird. The only other passengers on the cruise were a noisily arguing couple and two tourists who didn’t remove their backpacks throughout the whole trip – make of that what you will. Of course, there’s no better way to view the Abu Dhabi skyline, so it’s a lovely way to spend time – particularly if you have out of town visitors. But if you’re going all out to impress someone here, just make sure they have a sense of humour, and be prepared to supply the romance yourself.
