Abu Dhabi · United Arab Emirates
Healthy food in Abu Dhabi: where to eat well.
Written by Gillian McKeith
Abu Dhabi has a reputation for hotel buffets and enormous portions, and it is only half deserved. Away from the towers there is a small, stubborn group of kitchens cooking with actual vegetables, and they are worth finding.
Wild & The Moon at Al Hisn is the simplest clean meal in the city: entirely plant-based, largely organic, nothing added that should not be there. Alkalime sits on the water at Mamsha Al Saadiyat doing vegetarian food that is light without being stingy, and Feels along the same stretch was built with nutritionists alongside the chefs, so the balance of protein, fibre and fat is right and you leave full. Life is Nectar is homegrown and honest, and Marl's Organic is the most back-to-basics kitchen in the capital, organic food cooked plainly.
My test does not soften in the heat: purity, wholesomeness, organic wherever the kitchen can manage it, and an abundance of fresh fruits, vegetables, pulses, grains and seeds. If you are looking for healthy restaurants in Abu Dhabi, start with these and ignore the buffet.
Not one restaurant on this page has paid to be recommended, and none ever will.
5 restaurants in Abu Dhabi
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Alkalime
$$Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Vegetarian cooking on the Saadiyat shoreline, calm and genuinely light.
Best for: Vegetarian breakfast by the sea before anyone else is awake.
Feels
$$Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
A health food kitchen built with nutritionists, and one that still tastes of something.
Best for: A properly balanced bowl when you are actually hungry.
Life is Nectar
$$Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Homegrown Abu Dhabi health kitchen with clean ingredients and no sugar smuggled in.
Best for: Clean everyday eating with nothing smuggled into the dressing.
Marl's Organic
$$Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Organic from the ground up, and the most back-to-basics kitchen in the capital.
Best for: Organic shopping and eating in the same trip.
Wild & The Moon
$$Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
The Abu Dhabi outpost of the plant-based kitchen, and the easiest clean meal in the city.
Best for: A fully plant-based lunch that does not send you to sleep at three o'clock.
Eating well in Abu Dhabi: your questions
- Where can I get healthy food in Abu Dhabi?
- Start with Wild & The Moon at Al Hisn for plant-based bowls and cold pressed juice, Alkalime or Feels on Saadiyat for a light meal by the water, and Marl's Organic if you want organic food cooked plainly.
- Are there vegan restaurants in Abu Dhabi?
- Wild & The Moon is entirely plant-based, and Alkalime is vegetarian with real vegan choice rather than one sad option tacked onto the bottom of the menu.
- Where should I eat on Saadiyat Island?
- Mamsha Al Saadiyat has both Alkalime and Feels within a short walk of each other. Alkalime for vegetarian plates and a quiet room, Feels for a bigger, nutritionist-built bowl.
- Do I need to be vegan to use this Abu Dhabi guide?
- No. This guide is plant-forward, not plant-only. Meat eaters are looked after. What I insist on is that the vegetables are the reason you came in, not an afterthought on the side.
- Can a restaurant pay to be listed in Abu Dhabi?
- It cannot. I choose every entry myself on sourcing, freshness and what genuinely reaches the plate. Money has never bought a line in this guide and it never will.
Every Abu Dhabi restaurant in the Gillian McKeith Restaurant Guide
Every Abu Dhabi kitchen in the guide, with my notes on each.
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About the author
Written by Gillian McKeith
I'm Gillian McKeith: television presenter, creator of the global hit show You Are What You Eat, writer, nutritionist, and the editor behind this guide. Every Abu Dhabi entry here is chosen and written by me. I judge kitchens on the things that actually matter: real ingredients, honest sourcing, vegetables cooked with care, and food you feel better for eating.
Nothing on this page is a paid placement. Restaurants cannot buy a recommendation, and any listing marked as sponsored is labelled as such. If a kitchen slips, it comes out of the guide.
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