Atlon Bar & Bistro — Restaurant in Abu Dhabi

The husband and I managed to win an Atlon Sunday Roast and popped down yesterday for a late lunch. We had to change the booking once due to sickness but this was not an issue and all got sorted easily. We arrived a bit early for our 3pm booking, so had a wander through Souq Qaryat Al Beri which is where the restaurant is located. Plenty of parking. We also had a look at the grounds of The Shangri-La hotel which also looked lovely (see photos of canals). We were welcomed to Atlon Bar & Bistro by the lovely staff and we had our pick of the tables. We sat overlooking the water, across to the Ritz Carlton and with the Grand Mosque in the background. This was a superb view that got better as we watched the sun go down. We selected a drink and the staff were keen to take our food order but we wanted to wait and enjoy our surrounds. When we did place our order, there were a few more guests in and our food took quite a while to arrive HOWEVER this is a good thing because it was reflected in the freshness of our meal. A decent roast needs to be hot and fresh, and it absolutely was - juicy sliced beef, freshly roasted, caramelised carrots & parsnips, crispy roast potatoes, firm brussels sprouts with pancetta and balsamic glaze, cauiflower gratin with bubbling golden cheese atop and a fresh, light Yorkshire pudding. I am a Yorkshire girl and only came back to AD on Saturday from a culinary tour of the UK visiting my folks.....but roasts are something that I never tire of. It was all delicious - the sprouts were excellent - and the Yorkshire pudding put me to shame! We were also treated to try the vegetarian option, the Heirloom Tomato tart - fresh and sun dried tomatoes with a creamy filling, a herby oil garnish encased in light, homemade pastry. This was super tasty and we both enjoyed it. Now, we were fit to pop but I can't go past a sticky toffee pudding and this one didn't disappoint. Light sponge, toffee sauce, caramelised banana, cream. Despite our best efforts, we couldn't finish it because the portion was very generous. The staff were attentive with our drinks and plates. The food was explained to us on service. We were looked after. There were families with young children, couples and a few other groups of varying ages. In addition, we were entertained by a gorgeous young chap who sang for a couple of hours whilst we were there. He was a lot of fun and it really added to the atmosphere of the place and to our experience, as he interacted with the guests to make sure that his set was appealing to everyone. Overall, we had a super afternoon and happily recommend. We thought 149AED for the roast plus 3 drinks (alcohol or soft) was excellent. There was plenty of food (we absolutely did not need the extras we ate!) and it was good quality. We look forward to a Winter afternoon out on the deck, watching the sun go down. Thank you Atlon...

Hands down the worst brunch I have ever to..

1. Noise. The music is so loud you can hear absolutely nothing.
2. Seating - like a primary school canteen.
3. price - it’s deceptive. Entry package at 250 is not gonna work. Next package up is for beer, and for an over 500 package you get same drinks as other normal brunches. But with the extra noise on entry you can’t hear or process that. You find out later.
4. drink - the alcohol on base package is disgraceful. It is some really cheap array of spirits that taste like turpentine (bad moonshine quality) and too much could leave a person very sick, for those capable of drinking too much at such low quality. The gin would make gordon’s gin seem like a world class gin, it was undrinkable.
5. food - all i got was a pizza similar to aldi/lidl/lulu frozen pizza. Didn’t see the other food as i had to go outside to avoid headache from the noise
6. Service - non existent during the brunch. I had three orders that never came, thank God it turns out.The paid service after the brunch had ok service..

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To respond to owner comments, thank you for acknowledgement by the way. I think that is important and respect to you given a fairly blunt post.

Photos of roast look good.

I understood on loud music, tbf though this was different level of loud for a food eating setting middle of day. It was impoosible to hear the person right beside you, and i have good hearing.

I think the real and most significant issue of all my points is the 249 package alchohol. Your house spirits are not comparable to other brunches. Most brunches have bombay sapphire as the house gin for example, with lower end brunches using gordons, which is still acceptable. But the house spirits in your 249 package are incomparable to other brunches at tge same cost in Abu Dhabi. They are bordering on unsafe to drink. You really should address that. The more premium stuff like grey goose and hendrix is not what i was asking for at all, you skipped the standard stuff served at most other beunches in your response.. just entry level quality house spirits is what i think will vastky improve the experience. Btw, a lot of people commented on this house drink issue , not just me…

On mentioning to bar men on my concern, yes, i mentioned and the guy got defensive with me. He appeared to not realise just how bad the house spirits were and told me to try beer instead, then that entry package doesn’t even cover that… so i either pay more for beer or alot more for normal spirits. So, on principle, i had one very ‘slow sip’ of a rough whiskey with a lot of diet coke for the whole brunch. Not much value for my 249 entry.

The indian bar waiter post brunch where i eventually purchased a normal gin or two was a nice guy, great service and...

We did the Saturday Brunch which starts at 3pm, so I’d say it’s more a lunch/dinner than a brunch 🤣 Either way, it was a brilliant price for a delicious brunch! I believe it was around AED 250 for the drinks package which is pretty good nowadays 👍

There are multiple cocktails included in the brunch, my favourite being the Passiontini, along with various spirits, wines and beers - something for everyone 🍻

The food was table service which was a bonus! The starters were all super yummy & you get to choose 1 main each; I went for the chicken & waffles, best choice in my opinion 😍 I couldn’t finish the whole waffle, but the chicken was so juicy and fresh that I had to get that down me!

When it comes to atmosphere, it is classic Atlon which means loud music and party-vibes! Always fun, but I found it was a little too loud at the start when you’re trying to have a catch up and chat away, however I also understand that people like loud music at brunch so, I think that’s down to a personal preference 😉

Service is pretty decent; friendly and fairly speedy, no complaints here. The DJ even asked us what we wanted to be played, which is always fun🤣

Overall a lovely experience and I would consider returning for their brunch in...