Khayal Restaurant — Restaurant in Abu Dhabi

I have had the opportunity to eat at this fine restaurant for the past five months and I am delighted to write this review for potential visitors to the Marriott Khayal Restaurant as it serves delicious fare with flare.

Everyday I am graciously received by Anissa, Aillene, Nopur, Kevin, who kindly find a nice seat for me.

My favorite meal at the Khayal Restaurant is breakfast. They have a wonderful selection of prepared to order dishes including salmon Eggs Benedict, omelets, eggs, and a vast selection of breakfast menu items. During the Covid pandemic the staff were the "go between" for the breakfast bar. They are always very attentive and eager to please the customer. I especially like their fresh juices and their daily rendition of "healthy juice."

One of my favorite things to order are poached eggs over Ful Madames, gladly prepared by Chef Hamid, who takes much pride in the cooking of the restaurant. French toast is another favorite prepared by Prasanna, Nuwan, or Prashant. I really like it when Prashant uses fresh whipped cream, blueberry compote, and real maple syrup.

Maricris often goes beyond the call of service and offers me green tea with sliced ginger - a great way to start the day. Dominic, Anissa, Salah, Aillene, Nopur are superb at going over to the lounge and asking Lino and Shantih to prepare a decaf cappuccino as well. Kevin, Max, Hamza, Sara, Jezra, and Mina all go out of their way each and every day to ensure that I had a great experience at the fruit bar, salad bar or dessert bar.

One night I asked for a Tiramisu - Ayman working with one of the dessert chefs named Halima especially prepared a batch that night for me. This happened again today when Akhil had the chef slice up some watermelon for me.

The chefs at the Asian counter custom-order the most wonderful Asian soups including Tom Yum and other varieties, depending on the night. I also enjoy asking them to prepare stir fry vegetables and often partake sampling seafood dim sum.

Jitendra, Shovit, Putu, Jezra, Jinesh, and Kalendra, always serve with a smile and bring such positivity to their work, by engaging with clients, brightening the experience of many travelers who often eat alone. Even when the restaurant is busy the staff is so well-trained and self-directed that you'd hardly notice the difference.

Kazi, Antony, Anwher, and Sameem are the management team who fill in the gaps, ensuring a pleasing experience for those dining at Khayal. They set a positive tone and create an atmosphere of family and trust. They know that when the staff is happy, clients are happy. I remember when I was there the management staff created a wellness and mindfulness training for the staff - I was very impressed by their attention to the needs of their team. If I haven't mentioned someone, it is because I didn't remember their name and not representative of their service and intention. I am very grateful for all the staff at the Khayal who have made a positive impact on my stay by their consistent attention to detail, initiative, rapport, and care for their customers at the Khayal.

Thank...

We have been visiting so many restaurants and cafes lately because we are self proclaimed foodies and we simply enjoy exploring new places serving quality food. Food is one thing which leaves its mark on my mind but the people serving and cooking that food leaves their impression in my heart which lasts forever. It’s the first time ever that I am going to put the names of the staff/team who has won our hearts by their innovation, skills, recipes, and warm hospitality. Chef Pradeep, chef Eleazer, Chef Hamid, Chef Pranov, Chef Chao, Chef Sue, our server Kalendra in fact every single person in this restaurant puts his/her heart and soul and has made it a place where we were forced by our heart to visit again within the same week. This restaurant is serving theme nights dinner throughout the week. My words will never be able to do justice of the deliciousness of the cuisines they are serving with passion. We have attended their sea food special theme dinner on Thursday and wallah what a stupendous dinner it was. Apart from sea food they were hosting Thai, Arabic, Indian and Japanese cuisines. One of the best dish which we had thrice during our stay over there was Chef Eleazer’s secret recipe of Thai chili hummour fish. It’s simple delectable. Dessert section was rich of choices as well. Every Tuesday night is a Street Fleet which covers street food of Thai, Mediterranean, Japanese and Indian origin. They turn the restaurant completely into famous Streets of India in particular, where they serve pani puri, gola ganda, keema pao, cotton candy, pop corn, shawarma bites and other countless options. It’s by far the best restaurant from all aspects. Definitely recommending this to my readers and I too am going there again and again. They have special discounts for kids buffet dinner apart from adults. It’s a must try restaurant and I bet you’d love to go there every week to try different theme dinners. I wish I could...

I've been staying in Marriott Hotel, Al Forsan, Abu Dhabi for more than three months now (due to COVID-19) and I've been enjoying it so far.

During the first two weeks, the food prepared by Khayal were delivered to my room. It was A la carte. The plating and quantity/amount of food was on point and delivered on time, or sometimes earlier. Then it was changed. To make the long story short, now they opened the restaurant to have "dine in" experience. It's been more than a week since they opened and been complaining for the same issues (during dinner):

Fresh/green "salad" delivered after more than 30 minutes for four consecutive days. Can you imagine, fresh salad prepared in the kitchen for more than 30 minutes???

Inconsistent, very inconsistent. A.) Salad dressing is changing depending on the chef. B.) Missing ingredient (serving feta cheese instead of mozarella). 🙄 C.) The amount of salad is changing every day. D.) Steak sauce and sides are changing depending on the chef again. They do not talk or discuss their menu with each other?

Now, to avoid delays they are serving salad and main course (I ordered steak), at the same time. How can you enjoy your salad if you are in a hurry coz you do not want your steak to get cold? This is just common sense. Just to avoid delay you want to rush your customer?

This "a la carte" thing is their decision. They should be prepared beforehand and at all times! They should talk in the kitchen, be well organized and consistent.

So dissappointed!!! This is...