Shang Palace — Restaurant in Abu Dhabi

My updated review: After my most recent disappointing visit, it will be my last visit to the Shang Palace for brunch.

I called and booked the dim sum brunch for my birthday - it was on a week day so it was never going to be crazy busy etc. The guy said he would note it would be my birthday and get the chefs to prepare a little birthday cake for me. I said that would be nice if possible.

The new menu had just been released and I was very excited to try the new menu.

Unfortunately I was not inspired by the new menu. In addition, when it came to dessert time, not only was there no birthday cake (which was fine but just don't bother mentioning it to customers and setting the wrong expectations?!), a repeat of my 2019 visit happened: most of the dessert items were "not available". No egg tarts. No milk buns. No milk cream stickers. If this were my first time, like it was in 2019, fine. But this is now 100% of the time where the menu was not available.

This is not really great when the menu is released in advanced and the expectation is everything that is on the menu, should be available on offer. I'm actually surprised why Shang Palace don't also list lobster, filet mignon, foie gras, etc because they can just say "oh, that is not available" after people have started sitting and ordering.

I am a Golden Circle member so was able to get a discount but this will be absolutely be the last time for me considering I could have chosen to go anywhere else for my birthday lunch (Zuma, 99 Sushi, Dai Pai Dong etc).

My 2019 review: I went to Shang Palace for the dim sum brunch priced at 115 AED which was for food only. There are not many places for good dim sum in Abu Dhabi. Shang Palace is part of the literal "handful" to go to.

The food was good - we tried many dishes and my favourites were the 🥟 bbq buns and 🥟 sea bass.

We were told the coffee pao we ordered for dessert would be egg tarts instead, which then turned out to be a plate of fruit (no pao or tarts).

However, our lovely waiter said I could grab a dessert item from the...

Upon entering the place, we were greeted warmly. We were served crackers which were stale. Instead of crunchy it was rubbery which gives the restaurant a bad impression. I've been served crunchy crackers at much less expensive restaurant, not to mention this is a well known restaurant and in Shangri-la hotel. Maybe Shangri-la should reconsider other names of restaurant that can serve better food and service. I had no idea how fresh this could be. Then the lady gave us a tea demo which was interesting. Ordered XiaoLongBao, Claypot seabass, white chicken, mapo tofu, peking duck, chicken herbal soup. Wanted to have Long Jing tea which was in the menu but not available. Peking duck and white chicken is alright. The soup definitely was not boiled upto 12hrs, a little bit of chicken chunk, then the others was mushroom, a little of cordyceps flowers and one scallop unsure if it was hokkaido dried scallop. Overall, more of mushroom flavour than chicken herbal soup. Maybe they should remove the word 'herbal' as that is not what a herbal soup should taste. It lacks aroma from cordyceps flower. Peking chicken was crispy which turns out the only dish that was good. We had one the rice shared, and we aren't provided fork and spoon because we're eating on a plate instead of the bowl. Some might say its a fine dining, maybe they should visit Gordon Ramsay Hell's Kitchen in Dubai, then you realise what is truly fine dining and real good food. One thing I realise, the people will tell you thank you without having eye contact which does seem rude. Is it worth the money for the food, no. More for the atmosphere and tea dance which was...

We've always had a pleasant experience at the Dubai branch so, influenced by the largely positive Google reviews as well as word-of-mouth recommendations from Abu Dhabi residents, we booked lunch during our visit to the city.

Nobody was at the entrance when we arrived. Upon calling out, we were seated (in the empty restaurant) and orders taken promptly. The atmosphere wasn't particularly striking, with the staff all huddled near a counter, but maybe it's different during dinner. There's nothing much available for vegetarians. The food is pretty ordinary. Despite the place being empty, the service was rushed. The main courses arrived while I was still eating the starter. We asked the waitress (Wah) to serve us the noodles. But her rude response was: The food is for sharing so you have to serve yourself. I cannot serve the noodles on your plates. It's a rule. When we mentioned that every Chinese restaurant we've been to (around the world) either does this voluntarily or happily complies with our request, she reluctantly picked up the serving fork, stabbed into the bowl of noodles trying to twirl some of it but, predictably, everything kept slipping back into the bowl. Sensing the negativity, I told her to stop. She was glad to leave us. Attitude, much?

Fyi, I have a condition which sometimes makes it hard to grip things so I ask for portions of certain items - like noodles - to be served onto my plate. (Obviously, I can't go around giving my medical details to everyone I meet. I just make a polite request and not one person has ever...