Sho Cho Japanese Restaurant – Abu Dhabi, UAE: Located in Shangri-La Hotel, Qaryat Al Beri, Abu Dhabi, the Sho Cho Japanese Restaurant is a very chic and trendy place, almost to a fault (as many opulent upscale places in UAE go). It is a franchise of the original Sho Cho in Dubai, which has been around for more than a decade and is known in the UAE for serving good Japanese food. The décor was contemporary sleek with a predominantly white motif. An outdoor terrace with a wooden deck and white leather chairs looked out to the gulf where yachts bobbed in the distance, as well as the Sheikh Zayed Mosque.

We sat out on the deck since it was a bit cool that evening. But any warmer, we would not have opted to sit out there. The table sat low, almost to knee level, which while chic, was just too low for eating dinner. The set up would have been just fine, if we were merely having drinks.

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The menu was typical of any Japanese restaurant with all the typical dishes and not much else to set it apart. The food, while beautifully presented, was average at best. The slices of sashimi were small and the fish could not be described as fresh. The rolls (spicy tuna and a shrimp tempura roll) were just as so-so. Service was friendly and helpful but did not do much to make up for the high prices and low quality of the food.

Would I come back to Sho-Cho again? Not to eat! Maybe to sip cocktails on their cool deck or trendy bar, but for dinner? Definitely not. Overall rating—Between bombastic and not.

What I liked: The cool deck and view

What I didn’t like: The mediocre food and the unjustifiably inflated prices

Rating: Between bombastic and not

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