Graphic by The Gazelle

Welcome to “Feed Me,” The Gazelle’s restaurant review column. Every week we’ll be writing about the best, and sometimes the worst, of Abu Dhabi’s culinary scene. We’ll be reviewing all sorts of restaurants from cheap, hole-in-the-wall Indian joints to fancy, fusion restaurants atop the city’s finest hotels.

Looking to live it up with your pals on the cheap, at least relative to Abu Dhabi standards? Well, then look no further than Stratos, a rotating restaurant at Le Royal Meridien Hotel. Now, we realize that at this point many readers may be turning away from their screens in laughter, shock or both. Let's be clear, however, we are aware that we are reviewing a restaurant with the ultimate, cheesy restaurant gimmick: a revolving dining room.

This is all beside the point, however. In fact, we can’t even say anything about Stratos’ extremely expensive and tasty-looking dinner menu. What we’re really here to talk about is a small strip on the side of the menu: the lounge selections. Here you can find appropriately fancy and suitably delicious versions of bar food classics like Jalapeño Poppers with brie and a confit duck burrito. And the best part is not just the comfortable portion size, but Stratos’ lounge ambience, complete with couches, gold, snakeskin pillows, Picasso line drawings and, of course, a rotating view. Additionally, a gentleman sitting next to us spoke extremely highly of the cocktails, recommending the Fume and the Queen of Tarts, in particular.

Price: Lounge selections for 50-80 AED and drinks around 50-60 AED

Location: Le Royal Meridien Hotel — not to be confused with Le Meridien Hotel.

Cab Ride from Saadiyat: 25 AED

Serves alcohol: Yes

Accepts credit cards: Yes

Phone: 02 674 2020

Recommended Dishes: Jalapeño Poppers, Duck Confit Burrito, Chicken Fritters

Perfect for: An end of semester blowout with your pal

There’s definitely a lot of students on campus who know about Russian Kitchen or have eaten there once before and, yet, this restaurant remains fairly under-the-radar. If you would allow us some pseudo-intellectual speculation, we would say that this is because the restaurant often seems to be pigeonholed as a cultural experience rather than a place to eat.

To explicate these suppositions, think about Saudi Kitchen, a place that people usually only go to once because eating mediocre food while sitting on the floor isn’t much better than eating mediocre food while sitting at a table, no matter how authentic you feel. The point is that people go to Saudi Kitchen for the experience, not because the Meal Club options on Tuesday night aren’t doing it for them.

Although our Russian peers do tell us how much Russian Kitchen House reminds them of home, we think it is important to clearly state that this restaurant is worth going to just because it serves good food at a very reasonable price.

Now let’s get to the food, because it may be unfamiliar to many of you, as it was for us, and is worth explaining. You might be confused or uninterested by the large part of the menu that is devoted to salads. As we have now learned, salads in the Russian context refers to something like what U.S. Americans and Europeans call potato salad and what everyone else can recognize as vegetables mixed with a boatload of mayonnaise. Russian salads are delicious and, in particular, we recommend the herring salad, if herring worries you, know that the salad is mostly veggies.

Additional clarifications: the vareniki are what some people might know as pierogi and the pancakes are what some might know as blintzes. As far as the rest of the menu goes, be sure to try the succulent and flavorful beef tongue — if tongue worries you, know that it looks like any other meat — as well as the sweet and fragrant fresh cherry compote drink.

Price: Most dishes around 15-25 AED

Location: Near the Russian Embassy, which is near the Le Royal Meridien Hotel. There is no better way to find this place than to get as close as possible to embassy and then to ask around for directions.

Cab Ride from Saadiyat: 25 AED

Serves alcohol: No

Accepts credit cards: Yes

Phone: 02 674 4342

Recommended Dishes: Herring Salad, Borscht, Vareniki, Pancakes, Beef Tongue, Fresh Fruit Compote

Perfect for: A cheap and delicious meal in the city for when you are tired of Lebanese and Indian