Cho Gao is known for serving great pan-Asian food. Having only tried delivery from their original branch in Crowne Plaza, I was very excited to dine at their newer, cosy restaurant at the Marina Walk (Intercontinental Abu Dhabi). They have a spacious patio area to dine with a view, which you also have access to through large glass windows in case you choose to sit inside.
We ordered crispy spring rolls, wasabi prawns and the tom yum soup to start with. The wasabi prawns were delicious and saucy, however the wasabi flavor was a little overpowering for my liking, but I’m sure it was loved by all the wasabi lovers at our table. The spring rolls were perfectly fried, with fillings of either prawns or veggies. I do judge Asian restaurants on their ability to make good tom yum soup, and Cho Gao passed the test with flying colors. I loved the tom yum soup – spicy, flavorful and made to perfection. We also got the sesame crusted tuna and the Cho Gao speciall roll. The tuna was a great start to our meal.
For mains, we got the Bakmi Goreng (noodles), Black pepper beef, Roasted duck red curry and Chilli prawns, together with Bok Choy, Egg fried rice and Crab fried rice. The fried rice lacked flavor, however the Bakmi Goreng was great on its own. The beef and prawns were alright, nothing to rave about, but oh, the red curry.. this is by far their winning dish – creamy, delicious, perfect texture and just not enough!
We ended with the green tea cheesecake, bitter chocolate cake and mango sticky rice. I have had better mango sticky rice, and thought theirs lacked a little in coconut and cream. The bitter chocolate cake was delicious though.
The chef and restaurant manager were super friendly and made sure to check on us. I was a little disappointed with the service, which was slow and inefficient. Food items weren’t explained to us properly. Shame, because this could really have been an amazing dining experience if the service matched up to the food and ambience.
FilmyFarah 