choices - yas island rotana

as the dreamy state of the approaching sunset takes over the consciousness, the view from theyasplaza hotels soothes the soul and tempers the spirit. in fact, it is the busiest time for the good people at choices & rangoli, as they rush to put the finishing touches on their main iftar dinner event – remarkably, the venue covers both restaurants and the pool area, and the choices of seating is fantastic!

nice breakfast during our stay at rotana,yasisland, abu dhabi. the recipes were mouth watering and satisfactory. i loved their club sandwich with house french fries.

choices is an all day dining eatery inyasrotana, i had their dinner buffets. the ambiance is perfect and staff attentive, the food also tasted fine. the spread wasn't very impressive though, specially the mains. choices lack choices.

the most beautiful, luxurious breakfast i have ever had in my life was at this place!! we stayed for a day atyasisland rotana and i wish we had stayed for more days!
the food was perfect with a live egg counter, fresh fruits and veggies, perfect english toast, really good indian upma/ noodles, lovely potato hash browns, tumblers filled with hazelnut spread, orange marmalade, raspberry jams and much more.

there were pancakes with chocolate and maple syrup, along with some indian fried rice, roti- sabzi and fresh herbs of course.

tall shelves filled with good quality bread loaves and a variation of croissants.

there are boxes of krispies and kellogg's of all sizes with a variety of soya milk, low fat and cream milk.

fruit yogurt, plain yogurt and another item named dessert sundae- in cute tiny glasses which are so healthy and presentable!
three kinds of juices- apple, orange and mixed fruit i guess all of which were amazingly sweet!

what was i excited to taste the most-
mango and strawberry coulis- which was something i had heard of only in masterchef but never tried. thank you for giving me a great first memory of this- management folks at choices!

the most attractive counter- the coffee brewer undoubtedly!

what i missed un-intentionally inspite of spending 1.5 hours here-
fig , apricot and prunes compote.

but one question - what was wasabi doing there? (not that i regret it, it was lovely again!)
also, the swimming pool view is the best!

iftar call fromyasisland 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!yasrotana’s chef anas shares his personal recipe with mahiblog readers too.

spent last weekend inyasisland with friends visiting from the philippines and stayed atyasisland 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 isyasisland 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 inyasisland 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,yasisland rotana.

i was recently invited for an iftar in choices restaurant located inyasisland rotana, in the most promising land ofyasisland, 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 inyasisland rotana, in the most promising land ofyasisland, 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.

if you are planning to reward yourself for having a good week at work going to choices ofyasisland 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.

i had the pleasure of spending a weekend inyasisland rotana a few moons ago for that well-deserved treat and i was excited about it - though i will not spend time in babbling about how wonderful the hotel was, as this is a food review thingie, id just have to say i had a wonderful time. :)

after the long going around and sleeping in the fluffed up pillows, the warm bed, the amazing view the circuit and the oh-i-so-love little toiletries, i headed down to choices to go and feast. and feast it was.

i was fascinated by the amazing choices of breakfast goodies they have - the buffet table is really a smorgasbord of everything i want and everything else i wanted to try. i didnt even bothered to check what i was shoving in my plate as everything looked deliciously enticing. i loved though the - of course - omelet station where i get to have my omelet stuffed with everything i want: from mushrooms to peppers to cheese and tomatoes and it ended up all piled up. the bread station was amazingly filled with wheat, multi-grain, and all sorts of other types of bread for each one's liking. the cheese station is fantastic. i had my fill of all the jams, the yoghurt and juices i can healthily fill my system with.

the fruit station is not to be missed - all colorful fresh fruits cut out to bite sized pieces cooled down to retain their flavor was nicely presented. the nuts and oats and yoghurt on the side is a health buff's corner.

i know i said i will healthily fill up my system, but with all the yummy treats they prepared for breakfast, i wouldnt want to waste their efforts by not trying most of them, so i ended up all full and happy. before going up, just to cap off this wonderful breakfast, i had to sneak in one yoghurt drink to finish off this heavenly breakfast and go for that walk around the circuit.

all in all, this is a good on the buck treat ---- a luxurious rest and a giant breakfast to start the day is a great weekend escape.