Akira Back Dubai — Restaurant in Dubai

DO NOT GO HERE IF SOBER. Be it religious reasons, health or pregnancy.

Went to the Candypants brunch for a friend's birthday and paid for the non-alcoholic package as I'm pregnant and my friend is sober. We were given a wristband that showed we were on the non alcoholic drinks option.

On arrival you're offered a complimentary glass of bubbles, which we asked if alcoholic and upon being told yes we said no thank you as we're sober. Entered the restaurant and sat at the table, we were then given empty glasses and requested the non alcoholic bubbles they offer. We had our drink poured and began catching up with friends. Two drinks in a member of staff takes our glasses away and tells us we haven't paid for the alcoholic package, to which we say we know and we've been drinking non alcoholic bubbles. Turns out we've been served alcohol when we're both sober and were very clear when we asked for non alcoholic drinks. This caused a lot of distress due to my pregnancy and my friends long term sobriety so we asked to speak to the manager.

The manager, Apurba, was patronising and insulting telling me I should've informed the restaurant we were sober and placing the blame on me hugely. Apparently sobriety and pregnancy are to be disclosed like allergies according to Apurba. They also claimed we came in with the complimentary champagne you get upon entry, which we certainly did not. Handled very poorly and the manager was clearly trying to cover their back, very disappointing behaviour. We did negotiate a refund so we could leave as we didn't want to spend any more time there, but this obviously wasn't enough considering the damage done. The cherry on top of the cake is this is a Muslim country so you'd think they can follow Islamic law when people say they're sober, as I imagine a lot of sober people will be...

I'm going to keep this brief as far as the food goes: this place is excellent as far as food and atmosphere. Now, here's my beef, and I don't mean wagyu:

The waiter and hostess pressured me, my mom, and auntie into trying some sake, as they mentioned 'you cannot go to a Japanese restaurant without having sake'. I'm used to getting sake in NYC's Koreatown for no more than $15 during happy hour, so I wasn't opposed to having some.

I should have known by how much they were insisting we try it that something was up. They did a good presentation of it, but we were only interested in trying a small amount. They offered to pour us two flasks worth of sake. We drank it without requesting more and did not finish it, because it was "ok" at best.

When we got the bill, the sake was 4x more expensive than the individual items we ordered to eat or drink by choice. We never, ever would have consented to the sake if we had known the price. It added $321 USD (1180 AED) to our bill. I confronted the waiter about this and he apologized, but I'm sure it wasn't his idea to scam us like this.

While we were happy to come and spend money on some Michelin rated food, this was deceptive and wrong. As someone who works in customer service, it is absolutely unethical to hard sell something at such a price and not mention it to the customer.

If they insist on having people try this stuff, they should mention how expensive it is. If I was 1%-er or a celebrity, that'd be one thing, but I'm not. I'm certain they've gotten this complaint before and I'm sure it won't be the last time. I get that they were probably instructed to do this by upper management more than by their own desire to get a buck from us, and with that in mind, Akira...

Had booked a dinner for Self and Family 2 Kids for my wife's birthday; at Akira Back online at their website. In the booking had clearly mentioned 2 children. NOTE that the website has no mention on children age restriction and even during booking no age information is asked. I had received the confirmation mail. The confirmation mail had a kids policy mentioned stating that kids below 12 are not welcome post 9:00pm. This came as a surprise and I called the restaurant reservations, The lady informed me that since my daughter is 10 years old, this policy will apply. She recommended that we change our reservation to 8:30pm stating that once we arrive and are seated, then it would not be a issue. I agreed to this and she changed my booking only after I ensured with her that my dinner would not be interrupted or cut short. On the day of the dinner, to my surprise I got a call at 13:00 and the employee insisted that we have to complete our dinner by 9:00pm and leave ! (I Guess they expected me to have KFC and not a fine dinning meal !) I stated this was ridiculous and if this was the case then why did the previous lady provide me with inaccurate information. They offered a call back and later offered me extension till 9:15! (Here I assume that Akira Back has super quick chefs !) Any amount of trying to reason ended with the most ridiculous of alternatives. Hence I got frustrated and cancelled my booking. So Be aware if you have Kids or you prefer to deal with professionals, stay away...