Camacho Guido - A unique combination.

Who would have ever thought a restaurant would serve Italian and Japanese cuisine together? Camacho Guido definitely did think that way and came up with this unique concept of serving both these brilliant cuisines together.

I had never heard about this place until 17th august which is also my birthday when my friend and I were craving Arabic food and decided to go to Sheesh Shawarma which was really packed that day and hence we thought of entering Camcho Guido.

We absolutely loved the interiors of this fine-dine and immediately thought of the place as an expensive joint but this wasn't the case, the food here was quite reasonable.

I believe most people were here for the sushi but unfortunately I'm not a fan and decided to go for Italian and called for their Mexican Pizza, this was undoubtedly one of the best pizzas I had ever had. The toppings included red chilly, sweet coconut chilly, cheese, jalapenos and grilled chicken. This thin crust pizza literally melted in my mouth. This is suitable for 2 people.

Mexican Pizza

I had also ordered for the raspberry smoothie here, which was very refreshing and tasted quite good.

Raspberry Smoothie and another smoothie that my friend had called for.

I was really glad to stumble upon Camacho and shall definitely visit the place soon to try out their other dishes.

The staff here was quite friendly and as I already mentioned before the prices are quite reasonable and the interiors are beautiful.

I would rate this place a 4.5./5.

Zaatar W Zeit

Zaatar W Zeit has a very unique, or as we Indians would say 'Hatke' concept, it's a blend of Lebanese and Italian food. 

The menu comprises of salads, wraps, pizzas and a few appetizers. I tried out two variations in the pizza and two variations in the wraps.

To start off with the pizza, I called for the Ultimate Cheese Pizza and Chicken Barbeque Pizza. 

The ultimate cheese was a complete delight for a cheese lover like me; it was smothered in 4 cheese and oregano. There wasn't too much of tomato sauce thankfully. The crust was thin and crispy. This was priced for 33 Dirham’s.

Ultimate Cheese Pizza

Moving on to the BBQ Chicken Pizza, this obviously was loaded with barbeque sauce along with chicken that was very well cooked, mushrooms, green pepper, onions and cheddar and mozzarella cheese. Here again the crust was brilliant. Also I think it would be safe for me to say that it was one of the best BBQ chicken pizza's I've had. This was priced for 42 Dirham’s.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

The quantity of the pizza is suitable for 2 people.

Next we have the Wraps; we called for the Baked Falafel Wrap and the Spizy Chicken Wrap (and no that isn’t a typo for spicy) I'm usually not a fan of spending 30 Dirham’s or so on a wrap when I can have a main course for around the same price, but thought might as well give it a try.

Starting with the Spizy Chicken, this was basically marinated chicken with bell pepper, spinach, onions, melted cheese and a spicy sauce on top. The sauce was very mild, it was barely spicy, or maybe that's just the Punjabi in me talking. But the melted cheese was extremely breath taking. This was for 33 Dirham’s.

Spizy Chicken Wrap

Lastly the Baked Falafel Wrap which was a delicately spiced falafel mix seasoned with sesame syrup topped with parsley, tomatoes, turnip, radish and mint. I think it was absolutely bizarre for my friend to pay 22 Dirham’s on a falafel wrap, you could get almost 70 falafels for that (just saying) anyhow coming back to the wrap, it was no doubt good, it was minced falafel with all the right sauces complimenting it, but not sure I would want to spend that much on falafel. (I could be a little too judgmental sometimes)

Baked Falafel Wrap

The common factor between both the wraps was that it was really filling. 

The ambiance of the place is like any other fast-food joint, but their prices are slightly more than a casual fast food restaurant. Also since I visited the branch on Salam Street there were no tables catering for larger groups. But for that you could always visit the branch at Abu Dhabi Mall. 

What I absolutely adore about Zaatar W Zeit is that, it is one of those very few brands who go all out with Social Media presence and that has also helped them create such a strong brand identity.

Overall  it was a great experience, I would definitely recommend the place and looking forward to visiting Zatar W Zeit soon. 

I would give it a 4/5

Olive Garden - Yet another fake authentic Italian restaurant

Olive Garden, one of the places that has been on my check list for quite some time, thanks to my colleague who had the best things to say about this place. 

There were several plans made to visit Olive Garden, but unfortunately everything used to get cancelled for some reason or the other. Finally last week, a friend’s farewell was planned here.

First came in their complimentary garlic bread, which was very fresh and almost melted in your mouth. After which came the drink I called for, the Strawberry Fresco which was THE best strawberry drink I've ever had, it was sweet and sour at the same time. It was very refreshing. In fact I also sipped on to the same drink in peach flavour, that my friend had called for, that was equally good.

 

Garlic Bread

 Strawberry Fresco

Now since everything here was going great, I couldn't wait for the main-course since my expectations were really high. And I opened the menu and there was an attractive photo of a dish called Stuffed Chicken Marsala - This was basically chicken breast stuffed with cheese and glazed by Marsala wine. Appearance wise this looked quite rich and hearty and brought happiness to me and my tummy. The garlic mashed potato that was accompanying the chicken was quite good in taste, but the chicken was very average, and tasted like the fried chicken you get from KFC with a little topping of cheese and Marsala wine. This was definitely not worth 65 Dirhams. The Chicken Marsala came along with Chicken Creamy Soup (You can also opt for Salad) this was disastrous as well, the cream was so thick and tasted awful. 

 

Stuffed Chicken Marsala

 Chicken Creamy Soup

I also tried the Chicken Parmigiana, which is Parmesan- breaded chicken breast, fried and topped with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese. Here again the chicken tasted like the KFC fried chicken, just that this was a little tangy and had more flavour to it as compared to the Chicken Marsala.

 

Chicken Parmigiana

Food wise, this place definitely turned out to be a disappointment. And Olive garden just happened to be yet another Italian restaurant with overblown pretensions of authenticity. 

The interiors of Olive garden are calm and cozy, and the place is really huge, so it shouldn't be very hard to find a place here.

Olive Garden is on the expensive side, a main course would cost you approximately, 65 - 85 Dirhams.

The staff wasn't very friendly, but that's maybe because we are just a bunch of loud Indians. In fact we were asked to reduce our volume, but that's something you can't really blame them for, when there are a bunch of 22 year old loud Indian girls dining.

Red Lobster, which is located right next to Olive Garden is also owned by the same owner apparently and serves great sea-food from what I've heard. But I won’t believe it, until I personally try it.

I would rate this place a 2.5/5.

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Pascucci

Thanks to my office location, I've visited Pascucci quite a few times. And I say this because had it not been for my office, I doubt I would ever come to Al Nahyan Camp. However this place is an upcoming commercial area in Abu Dhabi and I'm sure would be brilliant in a few years.

Though the 1st time I visited Pascucci was because my friend was really excited on seeing the Pascucci board as she had tried this place in Bangalore and had good things to say about it.

Even though I'm a person who loves experimenting with food and I like trying out new things. The Margarita pizza here is so good that I have to eat it on every visit. This is by far the best Margarita Pizza I've had, it's fresh and over-flowing with cheese, just the way I like it.

They also serve special complimentary fresh bread here, which tastes perfect with the Lurpak (butter) that comes along with it.

I've also tried the Alfredo Chicken & Mushroom Pasta, which is very average. The chicken was very well cooked. However the pasta was extremely bland.

Pascucci is a nice place to sip on some coffee as well. They also give you this complimentary iced coffee shot after your meal here, which could lead to a brain freeze. But it's totally worth it. 

The ambiance of Pascucci is very cozy however its seat definitely aren't. The sofas here are decent but the low height-ed chairs here makes it almost impossible to sit on. 

The staff is friendly and welcoming. It's pricing is on the higher side, but it works out fine when you're in a larger group.

I would definitely recommend this place and its margarita pizza. 

My Rating - 3.5

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