There’s something infinitely charming about the little Lebanese restaurants you find scattered around the back alleys of Abu Dhabi, something that always draws you in for an invariably cheap and filling meal. Al Sheraa Golden Restaurant has that same charm, despite being more of a seafood joint and two or three time the size of your typical Lebanese eatery.
The place is well-used, and often full of families and screaming kids. It’s built for that too, and when we visited we watched in awe as a waiter caught a flying kid (she’d jumped from a table) in mid-air and quieted down her screaming by offering some fruit; 10 points for family-friendliness, zero points for parenting.
We sat down to a vast spread of mezze and seafood, and it was all straightforward and filling. The salads got a little sloppy but the hummus, moutabel and grape leaves were spot on. The place specialises in seafood, and the long bar (that sometimes holds a buffet) is more often than not covered with a large, open display of fresh fish on ice. What this means to you is that the restaurant will always smell faintly of fish (or not so faintly, depending on where you sit) but it also means that all the seafood is as fresh as it gets anywhere else in the capital. In fact, many people come to Al Sheraa to buy fresh fish by the kilo, and cook it at home.
A mistake, that, because the guys really know what they’re doing when it comes to seafood. The menu only tells you what types of fish are on offer, and prices them per kilo, but the waiters can recommend the best ways to cook each one. Try the sayadi (fish with rice) or the samak harra (spicy fish) and the staff will be able to recommend what type of fish goes with it. Some more creative dishes (not on the menu, but rather on a nearby table) included fried fish heads and barbecued crabs; the first filled us with dread, the latter looked delicious.
And all this for a very reasonable price means we’ll be heading back next time we’re in the mood for fresh seafood. Hopefully, no flying kids will interrupt our meal this time.
The bill (for two)
Hummus Dhs15
Moutabel Dhs15
Fatoush Dhs15
Vine leaves Dhs18
Hammour (1kg) Dhs95
Total (excluding service) Dhs 158
