Fanr Restaurant, Saadiyat Island

UPDATE: As of mid 2017 Fanr Restaurant has sadly closed. Larte Restaurant, ‘la trattoria moderna’ is now open in its place.

Have you been to Fanr Restaurant yet? If not, you really must. Every time I visit this place I’m impressed. It’s located at the Manarat Al Saadiyat arts and culture centre so it’s a little bit out of the way unless you live on Saadiyat, but believe me, it’s really well worth a visit – in fact, I’m convinced it’s one of the hidden gems of the city and here’s why…

First of all, the feeling when you walk in is just so lovely – it’s light and airy and reminiscent of a high-end delicatessen in London or any major city in the world. It’s just such a pleasant place to sit and have a coffee, or stay for a meal, and testament to that is the number of regulars that visit the place even when there’s no exhibitions on.

They make good coffee. There’s nothing worse than visiting a new place that is impeccably decorated, but then finding out the coffee is not up to standard. Thankfully, this is not the case here. They also have some really delicious juices, smoothies and mocktails to choose from.

The food is really blooming good. Surprisingly good in fact, and not at all what you might expect from a restaurant attached to a gallery. I ordered the Eggs Benedict and since it was late morning, Mr. Arabian Notes decided to have lunch and ordered a camel burger from the new camel menu. Yes, you read that right – they have a whole menu of camel options to try including soup, stew and even camel ravioli! Yep, camel ravioli – they’ve thought long and hard about how to bring something different to the table!

Eggs Benedict

Eggs Benedict is always a classic and I wasn’t disappointed, and the Camel Burger was incredibly juicy and tender. Camel meat has a bit of a reputation as being tough and dry, but the Chef told us that they spent a lot of time and care working out the best ways to ensure this wasn’t the case – and really the resulting dishes are the absolute proof of this.

Camel Burger

They also make amazing soups – I’ve tried the Tuscan Tomato and Basil Bisque on a previous visit and it is just gorgeous. If you love soup, the flavours in this are a surefire winner.

Tuscan Tomato and Basil Bisque

Even though I’d gone for a breakfast option, by the time we’d finished eating it was well after midday so I decided it was ok to indulge in a dessert! Breakfast followed by dessert – that should totally be a thing 🙂

Peanut Butter Cake

Mr. Arabian Notes went for the Peanut Butter Cake and I decided to choose from the camel menu and try the Bread Butter Camel Milk pudding with chocolate chips! Certainly an unusual dish, but the saffron flavoured camel milk ice cream is something in itself!

Bread butter camel milk pudding

I’ve eaten at Fanr a few times now, and each time it never fails to impress. They also have a lovely outdoor area that is perfect for a spot of weekend relaxing with a newspaper or a leisurely bite and catch up with friends in the cooler months.

It’s also a place that is a hit with families – there are baby change facilities and a little spot for kids to play indoors under the stairs as well as a large grassed area outdoors with plenty of space to run around. There’s even a whole load of foam activity pieces for kids to build and play with…! It seems like they’ve just about thought of everything to keep every member of the family well fed and entertained!

As well as being open all day for breakfast, lunch and dinner they also have a few special events that are worth a look too. There’s a cheese and wine night every Thursday, a Barbecue night every Friday, and even a summer Brunch every Saturday from 12pm-4pm!