Solidaire Settles In for El Clásico
There is a particular theatre to watching football’s most storied rivalry unfold in a room where half the guests are convinced the other half are simply wrong. Solidaire understands this dynamic rather well, and has arranged itself accordingly for El Clásico, the midnight encounter that divides football followers as cleanly as it has done for more than a century.
The restaurant will be open through the night, the big screen tuned in, the room gradually settling into that peculiar camaraderie that only passionate disagreement can create. There is shisha to accompany the occasion, that gentle ritual of smoke and conversation that has long belonged to the fabric of Abu Dhabi’s social evenings.
More importantly, there is the kitchen. This is where Solidaire distinguishes itself from the ordinary viewing establishment. Plates emerge steadily from the opening whistle onwards, the culinary rhythm refusing to slow or falter as defensive formations shift and arguments flourish. The kitchen keeps pace with the drama unfolding on screen, understanding that proper dining and proper football watching are not incompatible pursuits, but rather complementary ones.
The timing is generous enough to allow guests to arrive with leisure, to eat well before the match begins at midnight UAE time, to settle into their chosen corner of the room and prepare whatever observations or explanations they believe the evening will require. There is no rushing, no cramped anticipation. This is dining as a considered event, not a frantic interlude.
The intimacy of one room, divided by sporting allegiance yet bound by shared experience, carries its own appeal. There is something rather dignified about gathering in one space where genuine feeling runs high, where the stakes are understood, where no one pretends to be neutral and everyone accepts that Monday morning will sort out whatever the night has decided.
Reservations are now available for those who wish to secure their table and choose their allegiance before the room itself makes the choice for them.
Imagery courtesy of Solidaire.