choices - yas island rotana

the all-day dining restaurant for the hotel, set beside the pool which gives it a nice sunny ambiance. we have tried their friday brunch and its generally okay. nothing too special but not that bad either for the price, good value actually. loved their desserts section, it was extensive. and they have arabic specialties which can be good for tourists.

iftar call from yas island rotana was nothing short of a memorable experience along a delightful celebration with my loved ones during the holy month. we enjoyed a delectable iftar buffet, specially prepared with a unique blend of arabic ramadan specialties along with our usual favorite at choices like beef stroganoff & vegetable baked pasta. their exquisite buffet is inclusive of authentic ramadan drinks.all in all it was a great experience, i just found ouzi lamb a bit dry. but otherwise we took a great delight in an unexpected experience this ramadan at choices. you must try an all time favorite of ours, fatteh! yas rotana’s chef anas shares his personal recipe with mahiblog readers too.

their brunch is one of the best brunches in town..
evrything is great from a to z ..
they used to have arabian night on saturdays,but unlucky us coz they changed it to sea food night
we met their chef once mr anas , would like to thank him.for his amazing lebanese dishes :)

spent last weekend in yas island with friends visiting from the philippines and stayed at yas island rotana. for saturday breakfast, we decided to try the hotel's buffet breakfast, instead of going out elsewhere.

from experience, the name of the restaurant says a lot about the food or the restaurant concept or the place. with choices, i expected to be spoiled with options, but it was the opposite. it was ironic that a restaurant with the name choices actually lacks choices. the buffet spread was very limited, with only a few hot dishes.

food quality was average. there was not a single memorable dish. the quiche was good, the pancake and noodles were ok and sausage and bacon were so-so. some breads look better than they taste.

as a rotana rewards exclusive member, i was completely underwhelmed by this experience. it was also disappointing the rewards benefits do not apply to this restaurant. i would have understood had the food been exceptional but for this?!

the most disheartening about this restaurant is the service. imagine grumpy looking staffs serving your meal. what tone will it set?! that was our experience. smile just escaped a number of staffs that day - from the one who welcomed guests in the restaurant to two staffs who serviced our table. we don't know if they were sad or irritated. one thing for sure, we did not do anything to cause that.

this experience was simply bad and i felt doubly bad because i was showing friends around who are visiting uae for the first time.

choices is yas island rotana’s all day dining option and as the name suggests, there’s a whole lot of choice! a restaurant that successfully manages to transform itself during breakfast, lunchtime and dinner service. while rarely offering the same dish twice. 

thursday night is seafood night and provides an abundance of sushi, shrimp, mussels and calamari. aside from that the culinary offerings vary between indian favorites, asian delights and a host of western specialities. we especially enjoyed the beef wellington and lamb kebabs during our recent weekend stay at the hotel.

better still, ensure you don’t miss the chocolate cinnamon brioche that is served as part of the breakfast buffet. 

the venue is light and spacious in hues of vibrant orange, try and secure one of the leather booths away from the crowds if you want a more secluded dining experience. weather permitting, there is also the option to dine by the pool

our brunch was taken in choices in yas island rotana which is just next to our hotel. i was curious enough to see for a taste improvement when i saw the ouzi again as the highlight for the day. why i said that? i have a review of this dish during ramadan and you can read it here treasure of dates? that’s iftar in choices, yas island rotana.

i was recently invited for an iftar in choices restaurant located in yas island rotana, in the most promising land of yas island, abu dhabi. you’ll find choices between the reception and lounge area of the hotel. parking: there’s an underground parking available and you have the option to let the staff park it for you.

i was recently invited for an iftar in choices restaurant located in yas island rotana, in the most promising land of yas island, abu dhabi. you’ll find choices between the reception and lounge area of the hotel.

parking: there’s an underground parking available and you have the option to let the staff park it for you.

ramadan timings: it is open daily. for iftar specifically it starts from 7pm-10pm.

main part:

the moment i entered their premises, i felt welcomed right away. wonderful staffs to accommodate us and lead us to our seats. the interior design and table set-up are perfect for the ramadan theme. it’s very appealing and inviting.

as you can notice on the above image, the basic necessities ( dates & water) for breaking your fasting is placed already on the table.

you’ll be enjoying the handpicked choices of arabic specialities in their buffet. it’s divided into sections according to food categories. such as the main course, food finger foods, salad, bread, drinks, nuts & of course my favourite section, the dessert.

there were several delectable arabic dishes prepared for the guests. i’ve tasted few of them which are as follows:

– lamb harees – which is one of the famous ramadan dishes. it’s a mix of coarsely ground wheat and meat with a finishing touch of olive oil around it. the consistency is almost like of a porridge. it’s not on my expected taste though, it’s on a medium level taste. can’t find the taste of lamb in it that much and the presence of olive oil on it is not enough.

– seafood biryani – not a spicy kind of biryani. kids can eat this too. i was able to scoop with the shrimp portion. i enjoyed this one because i love seafoods. taste is great and flavoursome.

– lamb biryani – not a spicy kind of biryani too. which ok for me since i can feed our son with it. the flavour of the lamb won’t separate on the rice. it’s flavour is stemming on the rice itself. however the lamb is not that juicy. although the meat is tender i find it a bit dry.

– mix grill – meat is tender and the flavour is flowing with its juiciness.

– dawood basha – is an arabic meatballs in tomato sauce. i’ll prefer to have this on a plain rice.

– shish barak – is a most likely similar to ravioli. tiny meat of dumplings cooked in the plain yoghurt. the flavour of the dumplings are brimming in the intense flavour of the cooked yoghurt.

– vermicelli rice – if you’re looking for something sweet rice, this is it!

there were around 6 kinds of ramadan beverages on a table. such as tamarind, hibiscus, yoghurt, apricot, etc. the salad section is overflowing with fresh vegetables that you can choose from. by the way, there’s the pickle section too! this is really a complete variety of foods.

i’ve tried some of their dessert and oh boy! even if i want to have them all my tummy says stop! already. what can i do? it’s a mix of arabic and international sweets were there.

after all these mixed in your tummy, you can request for an arabic coffee or tea. all these are inclusive to a price of 165aed.

a lot of people come here and even after iftar people keep on coming in! it’s a recommended place, a family-friendly one.

my brother and i were starving for some decent food and because we were staying in rotana hotel, we decided why not we just check out this restaurant... and so we did. it was absolutely disappointing.. they were serving a bbq buffet and all the food was just very cold and eating the meat was equivalent to eating chewing gum! very hard to chew, cut and awfully cold! my brother and i ended up paying 325 in total for a meal that was worth 50 dhs max... never gonna make this bad decision again that's for sure... the only light in all this was the deserts which are of course supposed to be served cold so no way they could go wrong there..

every time i go their i regret that i was not their last week. whenever you would like to have a lovely time with your family and friends you can call and book a table , you will really feel that your eating at your home.

v were here for dinner on the asian theme. and man, the food is so amazing. the variety was awesome. more than the food, the hospitality of the staff was out of the world. it was my daughters birthday and the moment one of the staff came to know, all of them came with the cake to make my daughter feel special. thank you so much guys.

nice iftar buffet, but nothing special. i have been there with the family. although it was full, but you don't feel it is crowded, because of the way they distributed food stations.

went for the seafood buffet and was thoroughly disappointed with the quality and variety of food. it's not worth the money you pay but service and the wine option was great!

terrible. expensive buffet for the quality of food. service is ok but could be much better. unless you have no choice in food selectons; there are better places to go.

if you are planning to reward yourself for having a good week at work going to choices of yas island rotana is the perfect way to start off a weekend.

we arrived around 2:00 pm and it was still packed. we figured if we arrived a bit late the place won't be so crowded. good thing we had a reservation. we were seated near the bread table. so we started with the bread. plenty of choices of bread and jams. they also have a sushi bar with only a few choices. the mains, i must say is very filling. i was pretty excited as they have chicken biryani and the curries were to the tongue. asian cuisines, were not so appealing. the roasted chicken was juicy and tasty. they have a crepe station where you can choose any fillings from chocolates to fresh fruits. it was a shame as i was expecting some waffles and pancakes but they don't offer that. or even an omelette station. the roasted beef was also something you'd want to control yourself from eating too much. it was that good. the dessert was something you'd rather not visit. there was not much to choose from. only the kids frequent the area because of the chocolate fountain. other than that, nothing memorable was served.

because the crowd was buzzing with so much diners, it was difficult to get the attention of the waiter/waitress for our bill. to sum the experience, the food was absolutely filling but the service just lacks a little polishing.