Founding Flavours is a new series from The National celebrating the UAE’s culinary pioneers and the restaurants that helped shape the country’s cultural identity
The sea bream lies on the board as Fishmarket's chef Sawai Jampakaew slices it open lengthways with the skill that comes from decades of repetition. The knife glides beneath the spine, then the belly, until the fish lies butterflied.
“He wanted the fish to be served elegantly, but without too much fuss,” the Thai national recalls. “So it was seasoned lightly. And because he knew we specialised in Thai food, he ordered a green curry, not too spicy, to be served on the side. He was a very elegant man. His team said he liked things very organised.”
Jampakaew is referring to then French president Jacques Chirac, who dined at the restaurant at InterContinental Abu Dhabi in 1997 during a state visit to the UAE.
Instead of using the private room upstairs, reserved for guests of his stature, Chirac and entourage chose to sit among weekday diners at one of the tables along the restaurant's circular wall.
The sea bream remains on the menu to this day.
The moment lives on in more than memory. A photograph of Chirac with Jampakaew and hotel staff hangs on one of the restaurant's curved walls, part of a gallery documenting decades of distinguished visitors.
There's also Muhammad Ali who visited the restaurant in the early 1990s, according to Jampakaew, with former staff recalling how tall he was and that he indulged in a seafood platter.
Fishmarket opened in 1989 on the InterContinental's beachfront promenade, nine years after the hotel itself. The restaurant became one of Abu Dhabi's early ventures into luxury hospitality, offering a fresh concept for the capital: a Thai-run seafood spot where diners chose their own fish and the menu is on ice rather than the page.
Guests would walk to the chilled display counter showcasing the freshest catch, select what they wanted, and instruct the chef on the cooking style and accompanying sauce – usually Thai green or red curry, sometimes Chinese-style with ginger and soy. Fried rice and noodles are offered on the side.
The growing buzz reached the ears of Jampakaew, who had worked in small seafood restaurants in Bangkok before moving to Saudi Arabia in 1989 to work in industrial kitchens in Riyadh. He was ready to return to restaurant work – this time leading a team and cooking dishes he knew intimately.
“I didn't really hesitate, as this was the opportunity I'd been looking for,” he says.
“I arrived in Abu Dhabi and I remember we only had a total of six staff, so basically we were doing everything. Prepping, cooking, advising customers on which seafood to try and share, serving and cleaning.
“And you know what? This is what I loved about it immediately. For such a luxury hotel, this had the soul of a family restaurant, where everyone worked together without complaints. This was something the visitors maybe hadn't seen before in these kinds of big hotels.”
Three decades on, Jampakaew is the longest-serving member of staff – greeting regular guests by name, remembering their favourite orders, and rarely changing the menu or its cooking methods. One exception is his version of the popular dynamite shrimp, made with a red Thai curry–based sauce instead of the usual mayonnaise-heavy mix.
“In the 1990s there were not many Thai chefs like there are now,” he says. “For many, I was a point of contact, and I would advise them that Abu Dhabi was a great place to really show what you can do – because people here are good and provide good work environments.”
Jampakaew didn't foresee the wider Thai hospitality footprint in the UAE, with hotel brands such as Anantara and Dusit Thani opening popular properties, and Thai chefs now working across the country. But a certain VIP guest did.
Jampakaew says cooking for former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in 2009 – also seated in the general dining area – was not memorable for what he ordered (a stir-fried noodle dish with mussels and squid), but for what he said.
“He comes in, sees me, and says, 'You see? I see nearly 100 Thai people working in the UAE now,'” Jampakaew recalls. “Then he looked at me and, in a very nice way, said 'thank you' for what I was doing to represent Thai culture in the UAE. That just made me feel so proud.”
The famous visitors made headlines, but the real draw was consistency. “You know why people come back?” asks Jampakaew. “Because we don't change. Same fish, same way of cooking. I make butterfly fish the same way I learnt in Thailand. If the fish is good, don't touch too much. Make it clean. Let the flavour come out.”
The restaurant itself has received only minor updates during broader hotel renovations over the decades. The original brown chairs were replaced with indigo-cushioned seating, and the gravel path leading to the restaurant became a wooden walkway.
“The rest is the same, and they didn't touch my kitchen. The food counter is the same,” Jampakaew says. “I remember we were thinking 'why change something when it's working so good'?”
That loyalty runs both ways. When he retired in 2018 after 26 years of service, former staff and long-time customers gathered to bid Jampakaew farewell in a tearful send-off. After a few months at home in Bangkok, he was surprised by how much he missed the kitchen, the regulars and the routine.
So when he was asked to return to help galvanise Fishmarket as it emerged from pandemic-induced closure, Jampakaew didn't think twice. He rejoined in 2021. “I wanted to come back because this restaurant deserves to get back to where it was,” he says. “I knew I made the right choice because the customers were so happy I was back, and they made me feel like this is my home.”
Now, he no longer knows when he will leave – and it doesn't matter.
“As you get older in this job, what you remember really is not how much money you made or what you did with it,” he says. “It's about how you make people feel happy with your skills. I learnt that, like life, every customer is different. Some like spice, others don't. Some want extra lime, others prefer less herbs. Everyone is different – but if you remember what they like, they feel special.”
After our conversation, Jampakaew returns to where we found him – at his cutting board, blade in hand, fresh fish waiting on ice. Fishmarket stands as a reminder that some things are worth keeping exactly as they are.
