Al Safadi: Cheap as chips

The destination for people seeking outstanding and affordable Lebanese food in the capital.

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In an area almost devoid of small local eateries, Al Safadi is the destination for those seeking outstanding and affordable Lebanese food.

With KFC and Subway to the right of it and Burger King to the left, it's in a valley of fast food, and the shawarma certainly hits the late-night-munchies spot.

Beyond the dead-man's-leg meat skewers and the busy front desk is a rather charmless, often empty restaurant that serves some of the most authentic Lebanese dishes in Abu Dhabi. It's worth braving the glaring lighting and isolated tables; once you taste the food your qualms go out of the window. Hummus, moutabal, fattoush... so far, so perfectly normal.

Venture a bit further into the menu for chicken livers, hot sausages and the tawook provencale, and you'll discover the restaurant's trademark flavours: lemon, garlic and butter. Lots of each.

If you really don't like lemon or garlic, this isn't the restaurant for you. The chicken livers, tender and perfectly cooked, come with a mouthwatering sauce of, yes, lemon and garlic. The tawook provencale, tender barbecued chicken pieces, is drizzled with (you guessed it) lemony, garlicky butter. The hot sausage is fairly spicy but fragile in consistency, cooked in a moreish tomato sauce. Dinner for two costs around Dh150, with some to take home.

Khalidiya St, opposite Khalidiya Garden, Abu Dhabi 02 666 0201.