Eeten is located on the ground floor of Marina Mall, and offers International and American cuisine where the only thing better than the conversation is the food and coffee.

The interiors are cozy with an eclectic mix of furniture -  a fine blend of stripped-back counters and monochrome tiled walls with contemporary leather chairs and super-sleek lights. Effortlessly fusing New York casual with London luxe and embodying Dubai’s own brand of cool. Trailing plants brighten the grab-and-go coffee bar, while booths offer cozy nooks to relax. I loved the outdoor seating option and as far as te weather does permit, it’s amazing to sit back and relax with the view of the walk and the hustle and bustle of the city.

An American theme runs through the menu, but there are Asian influences too with a tempura starter and wasabi-glazed salmon.

The avocado hummus dip is thick and creamy, and when we run out of crostini, the staff are only too happy to bring us an extra plate of the crunchy herb-infused mini toasts.

The zucchini fritters are crunchy and a good starter over conversation.

For mains we ordered Herb crusted tenderloin beef filet medallion and Oven baked wasabi glazed Salmon.

For the Beef filet, we went for Herb and butter sauce with fries on the side. Perfection.

For the Salmon, I asked to go with the 4s sauce, but it was a little overpowering for me. So, I just ate the salmon on it’s own, and it was moreish. And the kale and spinach soup as a side was flavorsome. The portions are quite huge and can be easily shared among two in my opinion.

Now comes my favorite part of the evening – desserts. We ordered the Affogato ice cream and the chocolate chip cookie with macadamia. OMG, both were out of this world desserts and I’m running out of words to describe how good both the desserts were. The Affogato ice cream is a soft serve that tastes extremely good. I would highly recommend this.

I expected the chocolate chip cookie to be hard when I dug into it, but I was pleasantly surprised as to how effortlessly by spoon slipped into the warm cookie dough. Combined with ice cream and the crunch of macadamia it was pure bliss. Love, love, loved it.

I would highly recommend both the desserts!

The service is good. Min zao was extremely helpful, and both he and Sandeep (the restaurant manager) came to notify us of the fire alarm and explained why our mains would take longer. I felt it was a nice touch and it didn’t keep us guessing as to what was happening.

I loved the ambience, service and most importantly the food.

It's a nice restaurant to unwind post or mid shopping at the Dubai Marina mall

 

Tanuki is the newest addition to Dubai Mall’s gastronomical delights. It’s situated on the lower level offering Japanese cuisine, close to the water fountain. It makes for an ideal place with a beautiful view while dining especially at night, where you can watch the fountain and the Burj Khalifa – its one view that never gets old.

With both outdoor and indoor seating, Tanuki offers an amazing dining experience. We chose to sit inside as it was more private and cozy inside. The interiors were done in earthy hues of browns and greens with a pop of colors using the furniture and wall décor,  with an open kitchen. 












A friendly fun robot welcomes you inside the restaurant – you can place your order with the interactive robot. I also loved the Japanese live wall art which was a constant throughout the dinner with anime and et al. The place was truly a mini modern Japan.

The Menu is simple, which makes the ordering process easier. Images of how the food looks like aids selection.

We started off with Avocado Mint and Kiwi Celery. Of the two I loved the Kiwi celery.  Both were fresh, however I loved the taste of Kiwi Celery more, and would definitely say it’s a must try (P:S – I love KIWI).

We were then served a delicious bowl of chili garlic edamame, and it’s so addictive – I just couldn’t stop eating them. When the miso soup was served, it looked really tiny for a one person portion – but it was equally filling and sumptuous.

For the next course, we ordered for maki’s – Philadelphia maki, mango ebi, Tanuki Kogase and Philadelphia unagi.

The Philadelphia maki had salmon, cucumber, avocado, green onion, soft cheese and sesame seeds . This was a huge bite but delish at that.

It was my first at tasting Unagi and what better way than a Philadelphia Unagi. It was a beautiful explosion of smoked eel, cream cheese, cucumber with unagi and Caesar sauce. One word – Yum.

Mango ebi was another delish dish which had Shrimp tempura, cucumber, mango and tobiko. The flavors were very nice and it is definitely a must try.

The star of what we ordered was undoubtedly the Tanuki Kogase. It’s served warm, and literally melts in your mouth. The lightly seared salmon and eel mixed with cream cheese are definitely a delight to one’s palate. It’s definitely one of their signature dishes and it’s a loss, if you don’t try this at Tanuki. It was so sumptuous we ordered a second helping.

We tried the chicken and mushroom XLB’s. I liked the mushroom more than the chicken bao. However, the maki’s were definitely the star in our tasting session.

We completed our dinner with Kuro Eru and Manila Roll. Being a chocolate lover, my choice may be a little biased towards the Kuro Eru. It’s sweet kiwi maki with fruits like pineapple, strawberries, banana, almond and cream cheese. It was novel for me, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.  

The service is quick, our cutlery was changed post every meal. The staff was extremely warm and friendly and were making sure all their patrons are comfortable.

I would definitely recommend Tanuki, if you love Japanese food. And if you don’t, Tanuki would be the right place to start with.

The Venetian Village is Abu Dhabi’s newest dining destination. Located within the grounds of The Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi, Grand Canal and overlooking Khor Al Maqta, the Venetian Village brings together a collection of internationally acclaimed artisan restaurants offering exquisite cuisines from around the world.

The Mega Brunch included four of its restaurants – Bar fly by Buddha bar, La Brasserie, kaizen and Todd English’s Olives.

The service was prompt, the staff were extremely polite and warm and assisted us with out food dilemmas.

Post a good hour and half at Bar fly, we ventured out to try La Braserie which had a cheese counter, Crepe and waffle station, cheese counter and a fresh seafood counter along with a Martini Bar.

Our next pit stop was Kaizen, they had a sushi and sashimi station along with a salad counter, with some far eastern cocktails. Needless to say the sushi and sashimi were an absolute hit. I loved how the staff were dressed in traditional Japanese outfits. The staff were extremely pleasant and helped us with our orders.

Olives had some fun live entertainment complete with live pasta and risotto counter along with a salad and bread station with a complete Mediterranean buffet.

The weather is perfect to enjoy the brunch one’s own pace. It is a wonderful concept to be able to savor from all four restaurants, while enjoying the amazing view overlooking the canal.

I would definitely recommend you all to try it out. They have entertainment activities for kids as well. 

The packages are as mentioned:

AED 290 - soft drinks

AED 390 – House beverage

AED 490 – Bubbly package