A decent buffet restaurant for fans of Asian cuisine.
The buffet restaurant at Eastern Mangroves is a cavernous space that is occupied by far more seating options than eating options. There are large communal-style tables, you can sit at the sushi counter or there is more regular seating with enough variations to suit your party – whatever the size.
This is not an international restaurant that does a zillion different dishes which you have no chance of trying. That’s not to say that you’ll be able to eat everything on offer here, but you can certainly make a good dent in the variety before the waist band of your trousers snaps.
Our favourite part of the buffet was the salad and starter station. Often a rather pitiful display, there were so many options here that we were hard pressed not to load up a huge plateful of Arabic starters, interesting salads, roasted vegetables, breads and dips.
Next up of interest was the sushi station. Set up like a regular sushi counter in a Japanese restaurant there are even stools and places to sit if you are a real sushi fiend. The counter is manned by an actual chef who makes the sushi fresh there and then to re-stock the little platters that line the bar. You can help yourself to wasabi, pickled ginger and soy sauce but the varieties of the actual sushi aren’t particularly inspiring and are not especially memorable.
We were big fans of the dim sum station. Ingredients breaks away from the tired and boring prawn and chicken dumplings, offering a relatively large selection of tidbits that are significantly more interesting, such as the steamed bao buns. Also at that station are freshly cooked skewers of fish, chicken and red meat.
There is a carvery station which, on our visit had veal loin and beef, and there is a substantial hot-dishes section with options like stews, tagines, steamed vegetables and potatoes.
The dessert section is reminiscent of a patisserie, with a huge variety of small portions of various kinds of custards, rice puddings, cakes, gateaux, tarts and other treats all on display behind glass counters. But you get to play kid-in-a-sweet-shop because you go behind the counter yourself, slide the glass door out of the way and dive straight in. There is also a nice counter of jelly sweets which are always a fun addition to a dessert station.
If you feel the need to be virtuous after indulging in lots of savoury stuff, there is a well stocked fruit stand and you can also have juices and smoothies freshly made.
We visited Ingredients on a weekday lunch time and though the dining room wasn’t heaving it was fairly busy – however the service left a lot to be desired. We had to ask for drinks multiple times, even water which was not left at the table, and it appeared difficult for some members of staff to comprehend simple requests.
All in all, a decent dining option if you favour a buffet – especially if you are in the area.
The bill (for two)
Two lunch buffets Dhs155
Total (excluding service) Dhs310
