RFK Rankings · Abu Dhabi
Best Wine Lists in Abu Dhabi 2026
Restaurant cellars & sommelier programs · Abu Dhabi · 6 lists ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published June 21, 2026 · Updated June 21, 2026 · Reviewed by Fredrik Filipsson, Editor-in-Chief · How we rank · Corrections
In December 2025 a restaurant in Abu Dhabi won a Star Wine List Gold Star for the first time, which tells you the emirate's wine scene has grown past the point of token bottles. Alcohol here is served only in licensed venues, almost all of them inside hotels and a few destination addresses, so the serious cellars cluster in a handful of rooms. The city now has its own Michelin guide too, in its fourth edition. Prices below are in dirhams, with a dollar figure at about 3.67 to the dollar. Six rooms, ranked on cellar depth, the by-the-glass and pairing program and value, not trophy labels alone.
1.LPM Restaurant & Bar
The first Star Wine List Gold Star in Abu Dhabi, a French floor deep in rose and Piedmont; book it for the city's most serious wine room.
LPM, the Abu Dhabi outpost of La Petite Maison, sits in The Galleria on Al Maryah Island, and in December 2025 its list took a Star Wine List Gold Star for best medium-sized list, the first such award in the emirate. The cooking is French Riviera, the warm prawns with olive oil and lemon the signature, but the wine is the headline: a French-dominated cellar with real Piedmont depth and what the floor calls the largest rose-by-the-glass selection in the region. The business lunch runs AED 135 to 180, near 37 to 49 dollars, with a signature wine pairing at AED 200, about 54 dollars. It also placed 47th on MENA's 50 Best in 2026. Reserve a week ahead and let the floor lead on the bottle.
Reserve through LPM Abu Dhabi; name a budget and let the sommelier build the night.
2.Hakkasan
A Michelin-starred Cantonese room with a deep, collector-grade cellar; book it for serious bottles next to the Peking duck.
Hakkasan sits inside the Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental and holds one Michelin star in the 2026 Abu Dhabi guide, the rare room here where the cooking and the cellar are both destinations. The list ranges from approachable by-the-glass to collector tiers, built to carry Cantonese cooking from dim sum to the Peking duck with caviar that runs near AED 2,000, around 545 dollars for the showpiece. The floor knows the pairings cold, from Champagne with the duck to aromatic whites with the seafood. It suits a celebration where the food leads and the wine keeps pace. Reserve two to three weeks ahead and ask the sommelier to pair the set menu.
Reserve through the Emirates Palace or Hakkasan; ask for a pairing with the set menu.
3.Butcher & Still
A 1920s Chicago steakhouse the Michelin guide flags for its wine list; book it for big reds and a Tomahawk in the Hideaway.
Butcher & Still occupies a 1920s Chicago-styled room in the Four Seasons on Al Maryah Island, and the Michelin guide singles out its wine list among the reasons to go. Executive chef Marshall Allen Roth runs a steakhouse built for big bottles, the Tomahawk Chop the centrepiece, with a Prohibition-era bourbon program alongside and a hidden room, the Hideaway, for a private night. À la carte runs high, a single Tsarskaya oyster near AED 50, about 14 dollars, before the steak and the cellar climb. It suits a long red-wine dinner with a group. Reserve a week or two ahead and ask the sommelier for an old-world red to match the char.
Reserve through the Four Seasons Abu Dhabi or Butcher & Still; ask for a big old-world red.
4.Marco Pierre White Steakhouse & Grill
Around five hundred bottles over a creek-side steakhouse; book it for breadth of cellar and a steak with the skyline.
Marco Pierre White Steakhouse & Grill sits in the Fairmont Bab Al Bahr on the Al Maqtaa creek, looking across at the Grand Mosque, and carries one of the broadest wine selections of the city's steakhouses, around five hundred references. The MPW prawn cocktail and the dry-aged cuts are the draw, and the list is built to put a serious red next to the beef or Champagne and caviar before it. The Great Steakout set runs from AED 245 a head, about 67 dollars, before the cellar. It suits a steak dinner where you want range on the wine and a view across the water. Reserve a week ahead and ask the floor to range across the reds.
Reserve through the Fairmont Bab Al Bahr; ask the sommelier to pour a flight of reds.
5.Zuma
Two-time Star Wine List By-the-Glass winner in the UAE; book it for the city's best wines and sakes poured by the glass.
Zuma on Al Maryah Island took the Star Wine List By-the-Glass List of the Year for the UAE in both 2024 and 2025, which makes it the room to drink at without committing to a bottle. Head sommelier Marlon Nuque runs a list that pairs the contemporary izakaya cooking, the miso-marinated black cod the signature, across sake and a wide-ranging wine program built to taste by the glass. The scene is loud and stylish, the floor knowledgeable enough to lead an exploratory night. It suits a group that wants to graze the menu and try several pours. Reserve a week ahead and ask the sommelier to build a by-the-glass flight.
Reserve through Zuma Abu Dhabi; ask Marlon Nuque's floor for a by-the-glass flight.
6.Bord Eau by Nicolas Isnard
A relaunched French room with a sommelier built around the menu; book it for classic pairings beside the Grand Mosque.
Bord Eau relaunched in 2024 as Bord Eau by Nicolas Isnard inside the Shangri-La Qaryat Al Beri, the French chef bringing a one-star pedigree from Burgundy to the creek-side resort across from the Grand Mosque. The cooking is classic French, a modern onion soup among the signatures, and the floor pairs it course by course, reaching for Chablis with the seafood and Bordeaux with the meat. The tasting runs around AED 500 and up, near 136 dollars, before the cellar. It suits a formal dinner where the pairing carries the evening. Reserve a week or two ahead and take the wine flight with the menu.
Reserve through the Shangri-La Qaryat Al Beri; take the sommelier's pairing with the tasting.
Avoid for a wine night
Fashionable, but not a wine destination
COYA is one of the most stylish tables in the city, but its drinks program leads on pisco and Latin cocktails rather than a deep cellar, so it is a night out more than a wine night. Have the ceviche and a pisco sour, then drink seriously at LPM or Hakkasan.
Lost the star, never the wine room
99 Sushi Bar dropped its Michelin star in the 2026 guide and was always built around sake and sushi rather than a wine floor. Go for the omakase, not for a cellar. For a genuine wine night, stay with the six rooms above.
How to drink well in Abu Dhabi
Name a region and a number and let the floor work inside it; at LPM, Hakkasan and Bord Eau that conversation reliably turns up a better bottle than the label you would have reached for. Reserve direct with the hotel or restaurant, two to three weeks ahead for the headline rooms, and tell the sommelier in advance if you are chasing something rare so it is confirmed and standing up before you sit down.
Because alcohol is licensed to hotel venues, plan around the occasional dry day and confirm service when you book. Zuma is the room for drinking by the glass; LPM and Hakkasan for a serious bottle; Butcher & Still and Marco Pierre White for big reds with steak. Prices above are in dirhams, converted at about 3.67 to the dollar, and the cellar climbs fast past the headline set menus, so set a budget with the floor.
Frequently asked
Which Abu Dhabi restaurant has the best wine list?
LPM at The Galleria on Al Maryah Island holds the top spot. In December 2025 its list won a Star Wine List Gold Star for best medium-sized list, the first such award in Abu Dhabi, built on a French-dominated cellar with real Piedmont depth and the region's largest rose-by-the-glass selection. The French Riviera cooking, the warm prawns its signature, is the match. Reserve a week ahead, name a budget, and let the floor lead on the bottle.
Does Abu Dhabi have good wine restaurants if alcohol is restricted?
Yes. Alcohol is licensed to hotel venues and a few destination addresses, so the serious cellars cluster there: LPM and Zuma on Al Maryah Island, Hakkasan at the Emirates Palace, Butcher & Still at the Four Seasons, Marco Pierre White at the Fairmont and Bord Eau at the Shangri-La. The scene grew enough that one room took a Star Wine List Gold Star in 2025. Confirm any dry-day closures when you book.
Which Abu Dhabi restaurant is best for wine by the glass?
Zuma on Al Maryah Island. It won the Star Wine List By-the-Glass List of the Year for the UAE in both 2024 and 2025, so it is the room to drink at without committing to a bottle. Head sommelier Marlon Nuque runs a by-the-glass program across sake and wine built to pair the izakaya menu, the miso black cod its signature. Ask the floor to build a flight across several pours.
Is there a Michelin guide in Abu Dhabi?
Yes. The MICHELIN Guide Abu Dhabi is in its fourth edition, with the 2026 selection released in late 2025. Among the wine-led rooms on this list, Hakkasan at the Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental holds one star, while Butcher & Still at the Four Seasons is Michelin Selected and flagged for its wine list. The guide is young here and growing, so check the current selection when you book.
How much does a good bottle cost at Abu Dhabi restaurants?
Plan high. These are hotel cellars, so a genuinely good bottle starts in the mid-hundreds of dirhams and climbs quickly at the destination rooms. LPM's signature wine pairing runs about AED 200, near 54 dollars, and the headline dishes and tasting sets, Hakkasan's duck near AED 2,000 or Bord Eau's tasting from AED 500, sit well above that before wine. Set a number with the floor and let them find the interesting bottle inside it.
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