The region’s favourite restaurant, leisure and entertainment awards are back…

Each year, Abu Dhabi levels up its dining, leisure and entertainment offerings, and few years have seen as many new openings and experiences as 2024. To celebrate it all, we’re delighted to announce the return of the What’s On Abu Dhabi Awards to salute the efforts of the movers and shakers making the city tick. The What’s On Abu Dhabi Awards are the largest food and entertainment industry awards in the capital, and the only awards voted for by the public.

The What’s On Abu Dhabi Awards attracts hundreds of entrees from outlets and individuals hoping to take home a coveted trophy. Attended by the crème de la crème of the country’s hospitality and entertainment professionals, it is the industry’s most glamorous night of the year.

Registrations for the awards are now open, so if you are a F&B professional, or know of a venue or event that you want to sign up, all outlets are encouraged to sign up soon, ahead of the voting period. You can register now here.

Voting opens on December 1, 2024 and if you want your venue to be in with the best chance of winning, you’ll need to register ASAP. Voting will remain open until mid-February 2025. We’ll be announcing the shortlist at the end of February 2025, so you’ll then have just over two months to get your votes in.

What’s new for 2025?

This year, we’re shaking up the way we categorise restaurants and rather than via price point, we’re dividing up the restaurants by experiential offering, separating each cuisine into fine dining and casual.

There will be a few exceptions. There will be just one restaurant category for:

Favourite Indian Restaurant
Favourite Seafood Restaurant
Favourite Steakhouse Restaurant

Also new this year, we’re splitting out brunch into Favourite Brunch: Hotel and Favourite Brunch: Independent Restaurant, to reflect the increasing number of brunch offerings across the city.

All other cuisine categories will be split by fine dining and casual:

Favourite Casual All-Day Dining Restaurant
Favourite Fine Dining All-Day Dining Restaurant

Favourite Casual Asian Restaurant
Favourite Fine Dining Asian Restaurant

Favourite Casual Mediterranean Restaurant
Favourite Fine Dining Mediterranean Restaurant

Favourite Casual Italian Restaurant
Favourite Fine Dining Italian Restaurant

Favourite Casual Middle Eastern Restaurant
Favourite Fine Dining Middle Eastern Restaurant

The Food Concepts, Leisure, Entertainment and Nightlife categories return as normal.

In Food Concepts, you can register for:

Favourite Afternoon Tea
Favourite Breakfast
Favourite Business Lunch
Favourite Café
Favourite Pub Grub
Favourite Burger
Favourite Pizza

In Leisure, you can register for:

Favourite Beach Hotel
Favourite Luxury Staycation
Favourite Pool and Beach Day
Favourite Spa

In Entertainment, you can register for:

Favourite Attraction
Favourite Concert or Festival
Favourite Family Show
Favourite Sporting Event

In Nightlife, you can register for:

Favourite Bar
Favourite Evening Brunch
Favourite Ladies’ Night
Favourite Sports Bar
Favourite Sundowner Spot
Favourite Wine and Cheese Night

Then, the What’s On team casts their judgement over four Editor’s Choice Awards in Abu Dhabi and the rest is all up to the general public.

In the Editor’s Choice Awards, team What’s On will crown winners for:

Homegrown Restaurant of the Year
Chef of the Year
Newcomer of the Year
Restaurant of the Year

REGISTER NOW