THE RETREAT

Located at The Westin Abu Dhabi Golf Resort and Spa, The Retreat is a favourite amongst residents. Famed for its Fish and Chips, The Retreat offers traditional pub grub as well as a great venue to enjoy live coverage of international sports events, with three large LED screens placed around the bar.

Today we are visiting The Retreat for lunch, we take a seat outdoors on the spanning terrace which overlooks the golf course. The weather is perfect, so we want to make the most of it before the summer heat arrives.

The menu serves an array of modern dishes, from quick snacks and salads to hearty mains and tasty desserts. We decide to order a range of dishes to share, we opt for the Messy Nachos with melted jack cheese, jalapeno, guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo, the famed Battered Fish and Chips with mushy peas, gribiche sauce and malt vinegar, alongside the Spiced Calamari Crackers with black pepper aioli and lime and from the salad menu we order the Crusted Blue Cheese and Jalapeno, green leaves, celery, cherry tomato, cranberry, cilantro, honey and mustard dressing.

All the dishes arrive at once, as requested and are piping hot. The portions are enormous and can easily be shared by two people. The Messy Nachos, true to its name, does get a bit messy, the mountain of warm crisp nachos has been topped with layers of gooey melted jack cheese. The Fish and Chips, our favourite dish of the day, is a taste of home. The fish is perfectly battered with the batter remaining crisp to the bite yet the fish flaking off the fork. Credit to the chef the mushy peas are done perfectly, and the thick cut fries also get the thumbs up from the team. The Spiced Calamari Crackers provide a spicy kick and are not for the faint hearted but if you like your food spicy this is a must try. Our final dish, the Crusted Blue Cheese and Jalapeno, at first, we were a bit hesitant to order this dish as sometimes blue cheese can be slightly overpowering. However, chef does well to coat the cheese just to the right amount, ensuring that you still get the essence of the blue cheese without the overstated flavours.

The desserts range from Apple Pie, Deconstructed Snickers, and an Ice Cream Trolley. Although they are extremely tempting the portions of our dishes are that large that we don’t even manage to finish them so sadly on this occasion we have to pass on the dessert.

Overall if you are looking for a relaxed place to enjoy the sport, grab a casual bite to eat or just relax with a bevvy The Retreat is a firm favourite. We would recommend this venue for men or couples wanting to go out for a few drinks over some casual food, be it in the week or over the weekend. Worth noting that The Retreat gets very busy during match days so arrive early if you want a good seat.

The Retreat, Westin Abu Dhabi, 02 616 9999

The Retreat is a Dining and Nightlife Discounts App partner and is offering 2-4-1 on its Super Saturday Roast and 50% off on food! Download the app today and visit The Retreat!