Royal Meal: Dinner at the Ramadan tent in Emirates Palace

The focus of my camera readjusts a million times. Under the shining golden dome adorned with geometrical patterns, I stand pointing my camera towards it. White and gold are the two colours that reign in the interiors, manifesting a certain warmth in the design of this place—The Emirates Palace.

All the shopping at WTC Souk has wearied me out and I yearn to sit down, but, I am not prepared for what awaits me. There has been too many firsts today. My first touchdown outside the Indian subcontinent, my first time in the Middle-East, my first time donning an abaya at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and now I am in a touted seven-star hotel on my way to catch the first Iftar dinner of Ramadan!

Initially run by the Kempinski Group and then by the Hong-Kong based Mandarin Oriental (since January 2020), the Emirates Palace Hotel is one of the most expensive hotels in the world. In the central building, most of the suites are reserved exclusively for the ruling family and their guests. The suites in the east and west wings of the hotel are available to paid guests with deep pockets.

Being 1 kilometre from end to end in width, walking from the lobby to the suites takes 10 minutes. I hear the suites are equipped with everything, from complementary sweets to eye gel. The guests are even provided a personal butler to cater to their whims. The Emirates Palace witnesses many wealthy Indian marriages per year.

This ultra-luxury hotel hosts a range of high-end restaurants, bars and lounges that are open to non-guests (like me) as well. You can also tour limited parts of the hotel if you have a reservation at any of its restaurants. To add to your list of bizarre, in this hotel one can drink gold coffee, which is literally coffee with edible gold!

I am not signed up to eat or drink gold but have a sumptuous dinner appointment at the hotel’s temporary Ramadan tent—a luxurious tent put up only during the month of Ramadan for iftar. Someone from the concierge desk whisks me off into the tent. A moderately long walkway later, I arrive at the dining zone.

I sit in front of a marble-top table on a high back leather chair. Several stars shine in the mock-sky above. A chandelier lights up the centre. The walls are bedecked with yellow light decorations. If I would have been blindfolded and brought here, I wouldn’t have believed it is just a tent.

There are some locals but most of the guests seem to be either expats or tourists. The food spread is unbelievably diverse. I sample some from its Asian, Indian, Continental and Mediterranean buffet. Being sweet-toothed, I leave no stone unturned and try all the sweets that I could lay my eyes upon.

After overeating like a glutton, I decide to wait for the drop-off vehicle at the private beach of Emirates Palace. The tiled yard before the beach is intermittently populated with aesthetically lit palm trees and gazebos. At the beach, fabrics rustle from the plush cabanas. It seems empty but I don’t dwell much on that and just stand still on the sand.

The ebb and flow of the gentle waves of the Persian Gulf steal the sand from beneath my feet bit by bit. To my left, the shiny domes of Qasr-al-Watan or the Presidential Palace sparkle in the horizon. To my right, city lights twinkle. With my driver’s phone call, the adventures of the day ends.

To watch my Abu Dhabi video on Youtube, please click here.

Do you plan to pamper yourself with gold coffee anytime in future? Have you been to Emirates Palace or Abu Dhabi? Share your thoughts by commenting below!

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Disclaimer: Tania was hosted by Abu Dhabi Tourism Board. All thoughts and opinions expressed in the post are of her own.

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