Zali review: Lebanese restaurant in Abu Dhabi reminds me of home

Every dish I try seems straight out of my teta’s kitchen

From the salads and spices to the meats and potato cubes, Zali is the only restaurant serving home-cooked Lebanese food in Al Bateen. Photo: Zali

I’ve lived away from Lebanon, my home, for three and a half years now. While I’ve settled down and built a life of my own in Abu Dhabi, missing my mama’s food has yet to get easier.

Sure, I am surrounded by Lebanese restaurants everywhere, but eventually, the cravings for mixed grill sandwiches die down. Sometimes all I need is a hearty bowl of home-made chicken and rice, or kafta and batata. That’s why I’m ecstatic to have finally found a spot in the capital that serves exactly these dishes, and so many more.

Born in Bali, Zali made its way to Abu Dhabi this year. The Lebanese restaurant tells the story of my home country’s warmth and love of food. By its nature, Mediterranean cuisine is healthy, but Zali goes above and beyond to offer wholesome, hearty dishes.

Located in Al Bateen, it’s an addition to the area’s versatile dining scene. Its home-cooked meals take me back to the happy years I spent in Beirut.

Where to sit and what to expect

The restaurant will add outdoor tables once the weather cools. Photo: Zali

Before my dining companion and I even set foot inside the restaurant, an Arabic phrase printed on the door captures my attention. “Ahla w sahla,” it reads, which means welcome. Saying it out loud transports me to summers spent in Lebanon, when my grandparents would stand at the door of their home, ushering me inside for our ritual Sunday family lunch with these very words.

The ambience inside Zali is no less warm and welcoming. We are greeted warmly by the staff and ushered inside to find a table of our liking. The interior is sleek and rustic, and sunshine pours into the restaurant through ceiling-to-floor windows. Our table of choice is one by those windows, which offers a beautiful view of the marina.

The menu

Clockwise from top, kaftah fatteh, manti and shawarma bowl at Zali. Fatima Al Mahmoud / The National

This is comfort Lebanese food done to a tee. All my favourite home-made dishes are listed, leaving me genuinely confused as to what to get without over-ordering. A typical Lebanese feast begins with hot and cold mezze, so we order spiced meat hummus (Dh53), at the recommendation of our waitress. The hummus is delicious and creamy, topped with minced beef in a spice mix for extra protein. Served with freshly baked saj bread, this dish is the perfect starter.

Next, we order the kafta fatteh (Dh53), a protein-packed twist to traditional chickpeas Lebanese fatteh and, dare I say, an even better version. The tenderness of the warm kafta with the tanginess of the garlic yoghurt and the crispiness of the saj bread makes for a lip-smacking concoction. A light and fresh side salad comes by way of the beet and feta (Dh55).

Beet and feta side salad. Photo: Zali

The two mains are the true stars of this show. The beef shawarma bowl (Dh97) and mante (Dh87), a traditional Armenian dish, seem straight out of my teta’s kitchen. The shawarma bowl meets the approval of the gym buff in me. Usually, when I think of eating shawarma, I immediately worry about how oily it’s going to be. But this bowl ticks my macros and tickles my taste buds with its generous portion of beef and batata harra (spicy potato cubes). The aubergine moutabbal dip drizzled with olive oil is the cherry on top.

I can also safely say the manteh at Zali is the best I’ve had. In a unique twist on the traditional Armenian dish, the restaurant swaps out the usual thick meat dumplings with mini triangular meat sambousek. The pastries are so light and crispy I could gorge on the plate alone, coupled with fresh yoghurt.

To wash it all down, the waitress recommends the refreshing desert llama juice (Dh39), made with coconut cream, green apple and lemon.

A chat with the owner

“We prepare each dish here the way we would in our family kitchen,” Joelle Maalouf, owner of Zali and daughter of the chef, tells me. She explains they brought the restaurant from Bali to Abu Dhabi to fill a market need for home-cooked rather than mass-produced Lebanese food.

Other than the dishes I try, she recommends mudardara, a lentil and rice dish that is a staple in every Lebanese household, and kafta and batata served with vermicelli rice.

As the weather gets better, Maalouf says tables will be added outside right by the marina, which is where I’ll be, sipping on my desert llama.

Price point and contact information

Dishes on the lunch and dinner menu range from Dh35 to Dh113; beverages are from Dh35 to Dh45 and desserts from Dh35 to Dh59.

Zali is open from 9am to midnight, and can be contacted on 050 797 6951.

The review was conducted at the invitation of the restaurant