Restaurant in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Two Michelin Plates. Book early or miss out.
Maté is Abu Dhabi's most serious Argentinian restaurant, holding two consecutive Michelin Plates (2024 and 2025) and a 4.7 Google rating across 275 reviews. At $$$$ pricing on Saadiyat Island, it earns its place for fire-forward cooking and a South American wine angle that no other venue in the city replicates. Book two to three weeks out minimum — tables are hard to come by.
If you are planning a serious celebration dinner on Saadiyat Island and want something that breaks from Abu Dhabi's default luxury-hotel Italian or French format, Maté is the most compelling Argentinian option in the city. With two consecutive Michelin Plate recognitions (2024 and 2025) and a Google rating of 4.7 across 275 reviews, this is a venue that has earned repeat attention from both critics and diners. It suits couples marking a milestone, small groups who want a red-meat-forward menu with real cooking ambition, and anyone who finds the city's proliferation of European fine dining interchangeable. It is not the right call if you need a casual weeknight table or are working to a mid-range budget — the $$$$ price tier puts it firmly in special-occasion territory.
Maté sits within the cultural and residential belt of Al Saadiyat Island, a part of Abu Dhabi that skews residential and cultural rather than commercial. Visually, Saadiyat's dining district tends toward considered, low-density spaces , a contrast to the denser, neon-lit restaurant corridors of Yas Island. Without confirmed interior details in our database, we will not invent atmosphere. What the address and the venue's positioning within Saadiyat's dining circuit do suggest is a room designed for the kind of dinner where the conversation matters as much as the food. Argentinian restaurants that operate at this price point internationally , think Los Fuegos by Francis Mallmann in Miami or Michel Rolland Grill & Wine in Buenos Aires , tend to invest heavily in a warm, unhurried room. That is the register Maté is playing in.
Argentinian cooking at this price tier is built around fire, provenance, and precision with protein. The tradition draws from asado technique , wood or charcoal heat applied with patience , combined with South American cuts and accompaniments that do not have direct equivalents on European fine-dining menus. For Abu Dhabi diners accustomed to French or Japanese tasting menus, this is a meaningfully different format: it rewards sharing, it leans on texture and smoke rather than sauce complexity, and it pairs naturally with Malbec and other Argentine reds.
On the drinks side, this is where Maté's potential as a destination becomes clearest. Argentinian-led restaurants at the $$$$ tier have strong commercial reasons to build a South American wine list with real depth , Argentine Malbec from Mendoza, Torrontés from Salta, and Cabernet Franc blends that rarely appear on Abu Dhabi wine lists anchored to French and Italian producers. If the drinks program here reflects that opportunity, it would be the most distinctive cellar angle available on Saadiyat for this style of dinner. We cannot confirm the specific list without verified data, but the cuisine logic makes a strong case for it. For the Abu Dhabi diner who has worked through the usual suspects, that specificity is worth booking for. Compare this to the broader fine-dining options across the city covered in our full Abu Dhabi restaurants guide , Maté's Argentinian focus is rare enough to be genuinely distinctive in this market.
For context on how Argentinian fine dining travels internationally, Zoilo in London and Gaucho Piccadilly operate at comparable price ambition in their markets, while Charrúa in Madrid and Beba in Montreal show how the format adapts across markets. Maté is doing something similar for the Gulf.
Two Michelin Plates in consecutive years is a meaningful signal. The Plate recognition does not carry the headline weight of a star, but it indicates food that Michelin inspectors considered worth flagging , cooking that is technically sound and consistent enough to survive repeat, anonymous scrutiny. At $$$$ pricing in Abu Dhabi, you are in the same bracket as Talea by Antonio Guida and Hakkasan Abu Dhabi , venues with strong international brand equity. Maté does not have that brand recognition, which means it carries less of a premium for the name and more pressure to justify the price purely on the plate and the glass. The ratings suggest it is doing that. A 4.7 Google rating across 275 reviews , not a small sample , points to consistent execution rather than a single strong opening run.
For diners benchmarking value across the city, the practical framing is this: if you want a large, ambitious wine list and fire-based cooking that you cannot find anywhere else on Saadiyat, Maté is the spend. If French technique matters more, Bord Eau by Nicolas Isnard is the alternative at the same price tier. If Italian is the preference, Talea by Antonio Guida is the comparison. Maté wins on format differentiation.
Booking difficulty is rated Hard. For a Michelin-recognised restaurant on Saadiyat Island operating in the $$$$ tier, that is not surprising , the island draws a concentrated pool of residents, hotel guests, and cultural-district visitors who book in advance. Plan for a minimum of two to three weeks' lead time, and more if you are targeting a Friday or Saturday evening. The venue address is 52007, Al Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi. Website and phone details are not currently confirmed in our database , your most reliable booking route is through the reservation platform or concierge channel you already use for Saadiyat dining. If you are staying nearby, the hotel concierge is often the fastest path to availability at restaurants in this corridor. For broader planning, our Abu Dhabi hotels guide and bars guide can help structure the full trip.
Maté sits alongside other serious options in Abu Dhabi's Saadiyat dining circuit. For a different register , modern Emirati, French, or Japanese , Erth and LPM Abu Dhabi are worth knowing. For something lower-key before or after, Marmellata Bakery handles the casual end of the island well. And if you are planning a broader UAE dining trip that includes Dubai, Trèsind Studio is the comparison benchmark for what the region's leading end looks like with a star. Also worth exploring: La Pulperia in San Antonio de Areco for those curious about the Argentine source material. Our full Abu Dhabi experiences guide and wineries guide round out the planning picture.
Without a confirmed menu in our database, we cannot name specific dishes. What we can say: Argentinian restaurants at this price point centre the experience on fire-cooked proteins , expect the kitchen's handling of beef cuts to be the most technically involved part of the meal. Order around that, and ask the front of house to steer the wine pairing toward the Argentine side of the list. That is where the distinctive value sits relative to Abu Dhabi's other $$$$ options.
Book at least two to three weeks in advance, and extend that to four weeks or more for weekend evenings. With two consecutive Michelin Plate recognitions and a 4.7 Google rating, Maté has established a consistent following on Saadiyat Island , tables do not hold long. This is harder to book than most comparable Abu Dhabi venues at the same price tier, including options without Michelin recognition. If you are flexible on day of the week, a Tuesday or Wednesday booking is your leading chance at shorter lead times.
We do not have confirmed dietary policy information in our database. Argentinian fine dining is protein-heavy by format, so vegetarian or vegan guests should contact the restaurant directly before booking to confirm what the kitchen can accommodate. Do not assume flexibility without checking , the cuisine structure is not naturally suited to significant substitutions at the $$$$ tier. Use the reservation platform or hotel concierge to raise this before committing to a booking date.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maté | Argentinian | $$$$ | Michelin Plate (2025); Michelin Plate (2024) | Hard | — |
| Talea by Antonio Guida | $$$$ · Italian | $$$$ | Michelin 1 Star | Unknown | — |
| Al Mrzab | Emirati Cuisine | $ | Unknown | — | |
| Bord Eau by Nicolas Isnard | French | $$$$ | Unknown | — | |
| Otoro | Japanese Contemporary | $$ | Unknown | — | |
| Mika | Mediterranean Cuisine | $$ | Unknown | — |
Key differences to consider before you reserve.
Maté's Argentinian format means the protein and fire-cooking dishes are the reason to come — that is where the kitchen's focus sits at this price tier. Skip light grazing and commit to the main event; $$$$ pricing here is justified by the craft around the grill, not by side dishes. For comparison, if you want a broader Mediterranean menu, Bord Eau by Nicolas Isnard is the alternative on the island.
Book at least two to three weeks out. Booking difficulty runs Hard for Saadiyat Island's Michelin-recognised restaurants, and Maté's consecutive Plates in 2024 and 2025 have kept demand steady. For a Friday or Saturday dinner, push that to a month. Last-minute availability exists but is not something to rely on for a celebration.
Argentinian kitchens at this tier are built around meat and fire, so plant-based or pescatarian guests will find the menu less accommodating than at Abu Dhabi's broader Mediterranean options. check the venue's official channels before booking if dietary needs are specific — a $$$$ venue at Michelin Plate level will typically adapt where possible, but the format is not naturally flexible.
Maté is primarily known for Argentinian in Abu Dhabi.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
