Le Petit Chef in Abu Dhabi — Pillows & Potatoes

I just got back from an adorable meal at The Forge in Abu Dhabi. Le Petit Chef will be available until the end of January and it is basically a 3D animated cooking demonstration by a mini-chef that appears on your table via a projector.

Service

I emailed twice for a reservation and did not get a response. Then I called and it took awhile for someone to actually pick up the phone. Eventually, I got hold of someone on the phone at it was easy to make a booking. The Le Petit Chef experience is held twice a day 7pm and 9:30pm. I thought that was a little limiting but it is understandable that they want to ensure that as many people as possible enjoy Le Petit Chef.

This was my first time at The Forge, Heline was our server and she was great. She was knowledgeable about the menu and very accommodating, patiently waiting as we recorded parts of the experience. When I mentioned the difficulty I had with the reservation, she immediately said that she would make a note and take action.

Pillows & Potatoes video of Le Petit Chef seafood soup at The Forge in Abu Dhabi

I chose to go with the set menu and I would recommend that you do the same for a couple of reasons. The first is the cost as you would be hard-pressed to come up with a three-course meal from their a la carte menu for 245 AED, the second is so that the food being cooked by the mini chef is actually the same as that on your plate. I paid an extra 50 AED to switch the rib eye to tenderloin.

Experience

As soon as you sit down, you notice the projection onto your plate, which builds up the excitement for the meal ahead.

For the opening act, the little chef climbs out of the table in full scuba gear and fishes for the seafood to put in your soup, narrowly escaping the angry tentacles of an octopus with a vendetta. The soup I got sadly didn’t quite resemble that in the video in color and I think that took away a little from the magic. In addition, there was a pause between the video and the soup being served when we were served bread. I did not think that was necessary.

Next, the chef has to handle an entire steak for your main course, quite a feat for such a little chef, especially as he needs to work with fire to make this course possible. Luckily, he manages to cook your steak just the way you like it. I was expecting this course to be the star as The Forge is a steak restaurant and it was quite good but not life changing. My tenderloin was quite filling but the sides were a little sparse for my liking. While I ordered the peppercorn sauce at first, Heline was kind enough to give us different sauces to try and my favorite was the Béarnaise.

For his final act, Le Petit Chef travels to a snow-covered land to serve your dessert, emerging from an igloo with a large portion of vanilla ice cream and using a lever to decorate your plate with raspberries. The dessert was good as well but I could not finish it, as it was quite a generous serving.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I think Le Petit Chef is a great experience for people of all ages. It is a unique experience that will not break the bank for an entertaining night out with a small group of friends. The food is standard for a hotel at a 5 star hotel and my only major comments are that I would like my food (unless I made substitutions) to visually look more like the ones prepared by the mini chef, and I would prefer that my food be served right after the end of each presentation.

As only three tables at the restaurant are equipped for the concept, you will need to call ahead for reservations. Click here for more information.