Abu Dhabi food hall The Botanic Atrium is now open - in pictures

The space inspired by the Harrods Food Halls features indoor and outdoor seating

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  The Botanic Atrium, a new food hall, has opened at WTC Abu Dhabi. All photos: Pawan Singh / The National

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  A Rolls-Royce on display is customised by Dutch art collective AAAFresh123.

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  The food hall consists of five restaurants including Baan Thai and Feilong.

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  T's Teabar, one of the outlets in the food hall, is a concept that originated in Amsterdam.

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  The Botanic Atrium's indoor seating surrounded by greenery.

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  There's also extra seating in the atrium of WTC Abu Dhabi.

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  The food hall has its own app that allows visitors to order while seated at the table.

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  The Botanic Atrium features greenery and artwork by AAAFresh123.

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  The stir fried chicken cashew nuts from Baan Thai.

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  Macho Matcha latte from T's Teabar.

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  Sohni chicken handi with roghni nan by the Tamarind Club.

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  A rose milk cake.

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  Prawn curry dumplings.

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  Tamarind Club at the atrium is a fine dining Indian concept.

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  The Baan Thai counter.

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  There is also outdoor terrace seating.

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  The entrance of the Botanic Atrium at WTC Abu Dhabi.

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  T's Teabar makes a Lychee Lady Green Tea using a special straining process.

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  There's plenty of seating at the Botanic Atrium.

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  The Macho Matcha latte and Passionate Apple tea from T's Teabar.

Abu Dhabi now has its first food hall. The Botanic Atrium has opened its doors on the ground floor of the souq side of WTC Abu Dhabi.

The space is home to five dining options: Baan Thai; Tamarind Club (a fine dining Indian concept); Momo's for Asian dumplings; Niwaki for sushi and Feilong for Chinese fusion. It also has T's Teabar, a concept that originated in Amsterdam, where you can buy loose tea or try a mocktail menu.

The idea behind the food hall is to offer guests the freedom of choice when it comes to food, meaning that diners can mix and match from the different menus on offer. Orders can be placed through an app called Coolio, so once visitors arrive, they do not need to interact with staff unless they want or need to.

There’s indoor and outdoor seating as well as extra seating in the atrium of the mall. Surrounded by greenery and contemporary artwork from Dutch collective AAAFresh123, The Botanic Atrium is bright and airy. There’s a customised Rolls-Royce that’s been painted by the artists that will remain displayed in the hall.

“When we visited food halls in the region, we realised that people sometimes compromised by going to the same vendor or wasted time in lines ordering at different restaurants. This is time that could otherwise be spent socialising,” co-founder Shabaz Rasool told The National previously.

“I’ve been travelling to Abu Dhabi for years now and was amazed at how things were developing at such a rapid pace. However, we noticed that it was missing a food hall – which is why we hope this will add value to the local culinary scene.”

The project by SRW Holding, has been inspired by the Harrods Food Halls in London, the Foodhallen in De Hallen, Amsterdam and the Markthal in Rotterdam.