From Time Out Abu Dhabi Eating Out 2010
The words ‘gourmet buffet’ are almost an oxymoron. High class cooking is about delicate flavours carefully balanced; there’s absolutely nothing delicate about a buffet, where the gluttons rule and obesity is a perpetual companion. How the chefs at Sofra must sigh as each of their exquisite fish tagines are mashed onto the same plate as a ladle of butter chicken, topped off with shawarma meat and a few fatty croutons. Sofra is sumptuous – there’s no denying that. It’s also pretty popular, both with guests from the Shangri-la Hotel and also with strays who’ve just wandered in off the abra. The patio is reserved solely for hotel guests, leaving the rest to stick it out in the not un-plush surroundings of the restaurant, but this is hardly a chore.
At the centre of this spectacle stands a world of sugary temptation, where swarms of children build food mountains out of chocolate. But if you’re looking for a place to start, both the sushi and the dhal curry are excellent, though once you’ve started it’ll take a great display of self control to avoid a gut-rupturing accident. Our advice? Skip lunch and hit Sofra for an early dinner – just make sure there’s a stretcher on call to get you back to your car afterwards.
