Erth Restaurant AlHosn — Restaurant in Abu Dhabi

I start by saying that I found this restaurant from the Michelin guide, filtering out by one Michelin star at least, so I had some expectations on the experience.

I can say the atmosphere and the customer service are very good. However, for having one star, there have been many errors in the service, and I want to share them because there's room for improvement and I'm sure there is a willingness to do it from the restaurant :) Dishes were never explained. They were just named. Appetizers were served with shared plates, together. They should have been served separately and on different plates, forks and knives. Plates, forks and knives were never changed between appetizers and main courses. This is fundamental especially when there are many sauces like in the emirate cuisine. The time between the first and the main course was too short, leading to eating with a kind of rush because of warm plates. Drinks were served just a bit before the appetizer arrived, which is a bit late. Not a big deal, but I think we want to enjoy drinks while waiting for the appetizers. Our glasses were never refilled with water. This is something you also have from service of Michelin plate- or just Michelin selected- (with no star) restaurants. The service wasn't bad in general and I appreciated the attention and the kindness we had, but with that certification, you expect specific practices.

The location is very nice, not so easy to find, but once you reach it you will feel good and relaxed, thanks to the attention to the interior design, the music, and the attentiveness of th waiters.

The food was good. I cannot say if it is authentic emirate cuisine, but I really enjoyed it. It's unfortunate for the missing presentation, because I think that those plates deserved a lot more.

Overall, it was a good experience. I really like intimate settings and this was one of them. For a one Michelin star I expected a lot more from the service, but I can say the price was good and below the average on Michelin star restaurants. So good value for money. I...

Our recent visit to Erth, a one-star Michelin restaurant in Abu Dhabi, was overshadowed by the way my wife’s gluten-free requirements were handled. While the service was exceptional, the approach to gluten-free dining was significantly lacking.

It’s important to clarify that the dishes served to my wife were gluten-free, which we appreciated. However, the kitchen’s modifications were unnecessary and not communicated to us. My wife, who strictly has to avoid gluten, provided a card in Arabic explaining her dietary restrictions. The dishes we initially selected were labeled as not containing gluten, yet, after presenting her card, the kitchen altered these dishes significantly without informing us beforehand.

For example, the asparagus dish we chose, which included shallots, pecorino, walnuts, and mizuna, was supposed to be naturally gluten-free. However, what was served to my wife was a completely different version, lacking key gluten-free ingredients like shallots, pecorino and walnuts. The same issue occurred with the main course. The sea bass fillet, accompanied by gluten-free components like walnuts, olives, pomegranate relish, and roasted red pepper jus, was oversimplified to just the fish and some basic vegetables.

This approach not only compromised the integrity and excitement of a Michelin-starred dining experience but also showed a misunderstanding of gluten-free requirements. The unnecessary exclusion of gluten-free items and the lack of communication about these changes were major drawbacks. While we acknowledge the effort to cater to gluten-free needs, the execution and the failure to inform us about these significant alterations were disappointing.

We hope Erth takes this feedback to heart and improves its approach to gluten-free dining, especially in terms of communication and maintaining the culinary quality expected at such an esteemed...

First of all, really inexpensive for a Michelin starred restaurant. I couldn't believe the food was such high quality for such a reasonable price. Everything we had was inventive, well balanced, and delicious. The chef really likes hazelnut. The setting, from the dining room both indoors and outdoors, was gorgeous and even the plates and silverware were works of art. The most impressive dish to me was the deconstructed dates cake dessert, and I usually am not a big fan of dessert. Amazing textures, flavors, and not overpoweringly sweet. It looked like a desert landscape. Other dishes we liked include the cauliflower tabbouleh, Emirati shrimp taquitos, and the green egg. Portions were rather large too for this type of restaurant. The cuisine feels like it's French Emirati fusion.

The weakest part was the service, some of the staff felt untrained and didn't understand what to do. They left many dishes sitting on the counter while they got cold, and brought items too quickly together and didn't clear plates at the proper time. They also didn't know much about the food other than what other people like to order. This is a general Abu Dhabi problem, where the waitstaff don't taste the food and don't know how to recommend, but we were hoping at a one star place it would be better. We usually don't complain about the service, because food is usually all that matters to us, but here it was so bad that it impacted the food.

We will definitely be back soon to try the rest of the menu, and insh'Allah we hope that the staff will be...