1. Maté Restaurant & Bar

Location: Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi Hotel & Villas

Maté Restaurant & Bar on Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi Hotel and Villas is a Michelin-Guide restaurant, and a culinary destination serving Argentine cuisine with an invigorating Lebanese touch. It is generally acknowledged to be one of the best, if not the best steakhouses in Abu Dhabi’s Saadiyat Island district. 

Smoky and woody, just the way a lot of people like their steaks, are the signature flavours of Maté’s grilled meats because this steak restaurant in Abu Dhabi does most of its cooking on a brick grill, sometimes with the meat cooked directly on fiery charcoal embers.

If you’re at Maté for their steaks, jump straight to the Carnes a la Parilla (grilled meats) and Carnes Maduras (dry-aged meats) sections of the menu. Must-try options include:

• Ojo de bife, a 500-gram Argentinian, grain-fed Black Angus ribeye steak
• Bife angosto, a 500-gram Australian M4/M5 wagyu striploin steak 
• Asado banderita, a 350-gram Australian grain-fed cattle short rib steak

Maté opens daily at 5:00 p.m. for drinks, with dinner service commencing at 6:30 p.m.

2. Turtle Bay Bar & Grill

Location: Saadiyat Rotana Resort & Villas

Turtle Bay Bar & Grill may be the best meat restaurant in Abu Dhabi if you’re looking for a romantic place to dine in Saadiyat Island. Located poolside at the scenic Saadiyat Rotana Resort & Villas, this restaurant offers an exquisite setting and the finest cuts of meat, the freshest catch from the sea, and a lavish dining experience.

Here are Turtle Bay Bar & Grill’s must-try steaks:

• Surf & Turf, Black Angus tenderloin and lobster on a plate served with sunchoke chips and herb jus
• Angus Tenderloin, a 260-gram USDA prime tenderloin served with mashed potatoes, broccolini, herb butter, and peppercorn sauce
• Angus Ribeye, a 320-gram USDA prime ribeye served with mashed potatoes, grilled vegetables, herb butter, and thyme jus
• Wagyu Tenderloin, a 250-gram grain-fed wagyu beef tenderloin served with mushroom puree, oyster king mushroom, herb butter, and yellow cauliflower puree

Turtle Bay Bar & Grill is open from noon until 11:00 p.m. every day.

3. Buddha-Bar Beach

Location: St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort

Buddha-Bar Beach is a stunning beach-front restaurant at St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort. Dine overlooking the Arabian Gulf while revelling in the feel of the powdery white sand on your bare feet.

The Buddha-Bar Beach concept fuses Eastern and Western influences into exquisitely crafted food and drinks. Most of the menu is devoted to Japanese dishes (sashimi, maki rolls and nigiri). However, if you love steak, the restaurant offers a rare treasure: a 300-gram wagyu +7 striploin. This may easily qualify Buddha-Bar Beach as one of the best steak places in Abu Dhabi.

Buddha-Bar Beach Abu Dhabi is open from noon to midnight, Sundays through Thursdays, and from noon to 1:00 a.m., Fridays and Saturdays.

4. L’olivo Ristorante

Location: Rixos Premium

L’olivo Ristorante is an à la carte restaurant serving traditional Italian cuisine. Come here if you want steak and Italian dishes.

The main course of Sous Vide Beef Tenderloin served with asparagus, baby carrots, mushroom duxelles, and demiglace sauce will satisfy your meat cravings. A pizza (we recommend Pizza e Gamberro), pasta (how about the Rigatoni with Ossobuco), and risotto (especially the Mushroom Risotto with forest mushroom and truffle powder) will complete your experience.

L’olivo Ristorante is open for dinner service daily, 6:30 to 10:30 p.m.

5. Raclette Brasserie & Café

Location: Jacques Chirac St, Mamsha Al Saadiyat

One of the best Mamsha Al Saadiyat restaurants also makes it to our list as a potential best steakhouse in Abu Dhabi. Raclette Brasserie & Café serves dishes from the popular regions of Paris, Lyon, Provence, and Marseille. Enjoy classic French favourites, such as foie gras, escargot and bouillabaisse. Their eponymous raclette (melted cheese) dishes are also highly recommended.

Your steak choices include:

• Striploin Parisienne, which is part of the brunch menu
• Steak à la Parisienne, which is a main dish offered in the Best Bites Menu, a four-course set menu composed of four dishes and five drinks
• Steak Frites, which are steak and chipped potatoes. The Steak Frites lineup includes:
  • Entrecote à la Parisienne, a 200-gram traditionally prepared tenderloin
  • Chateaubriand: a 450-gram, good-for-two chargrilled Angus tenderloin served with a frites trio of grilled tomatoes, pommes frites, and Béarnaise sauce, other sides and other sauces
  • Surf & Turf: a 300-gram Australian Angus ribeye with a whole lobster, jumbo prawns, foie gras, mini Angus burger, and fried calamari rings, served with grilled vegetables à la Provence and three sauces: herbed Parisienne butter, chimichurri, and Béarnaise
  • Tenderloin Steak Frites, a 200-gram Angus tenderloin served with the frites trio
  • Ribeye Steak Frites, a 300-gram ribeye served with the frites trio plus sautéed rainbow carrots and asparagus.
  • Striploin Steak Frites, a 250-gram striploin with the frites trio and sautéed rainbow carrots and asparagus.

Raclette Brasserie & Café opens at 9:00 a.m. daily but closes at midnight from Sunday to Thursday and at 1:00 a.m. from Friday to Saturday.

6. Valgerand Nordic Grill

Location: Jacques Chirac St, Mamsha Al Saadiyat

Valgerand is the Estonian word for ‘the white beach’. The restaurant’s name is a reference to both the Valgerand beach in Estonia and the immaculately pristine Saadiyat Island coast. Come to Valgerand Nordic Grill if you’re interested in sustainable gastronomy; Nordic cuisine emphasises fresh, natural, locally sourced, and seasonal ingredients.

Valgerand Nordic Grill offers the following steaks:

• Grilled Ribeye Steak, a 250-gram ribeye with Nordic parmesan fries, onion confit and demiglace sauce
• Grilled Tenderloin Steak, a 220-gram tenderloin with potato terrine, grilled asparagus and green pepper sauce
• Picañha Steak, a 220-gram sirloin cap with potato wedges, chimichurri sauce and tomato salsa

Valgerand Nordic Grill is open daily from noon to midnight.

7. The Director’s Club

Location: The WB Abu Dhabi Hotel, Yas Island

People rave about this steakhouse in Abu Dhabi. The Director’s Club has a dedicated steak menu, which includes the following:

• Premium Black Angus (ribeye, filet mignon, New York striploin)
• Premium Wagyu (filet mignon, New York striploin, ribeye)
• Japanese beef (filet mignon)
• Chateaubriand
• The Tomahawk
• DC Surf & Turf Mix Grill

The Director’s Club is open from 5:30 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. daily for dinner service. It’s also open from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday.

8. Oak Room

Location: Al Bateen Marina

The Oak Room steakhouse in Abu Dhabi has a meat sommelier whose job is to introduce patrons to the restaurant’s steak selection and signature butcher cuts. The restaurant offers a steak and wine menu for two, inclusive of steak (1,000 g), wine (one bottle), two sides, and two sauces. You may also choose specialty steaks from the à la carte menu.

The restaurant’s extensive steak selection includes:

• Saroma Wagyu Striploin, A5 Wagyu from the Hokkaido Prefecture
• Stockyard Black Angus T-Bone, 21-day dry-aged
• Wild River Full Blood Wagyu Ribeye,  450-day grain-fed, grade 9 

Oak Room is open daily from 6:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.

9. Steak Chef Restaurant

Location: Corniche St., Al Bateen

Steak Chef Restaurant may be the best steak restaurant in Abu Dhabi for steak sandwiches. When it comes to steaks, it offers:

• Ribeye
• Prime steak
• T-bone
• Tenderloin
• Tomahawk
• Short ribs
• Japanese wagyu

Steak Chef Restaurant is open daily from noon to 1:00 a.m.

Steak, Anyone?

Looking for the best steakhouse in Abu Dhabi? Try all of the above-suggested restaurants. Saadiyat Island has some of the best steakhouses in Abu Dhabi, so start your search from there, and you’ll soon discover your favourite steak restaurant.