Amelia Lounge — Restaurant in Dubai

I have been aggressed by the valet and the junior waiter. That never happened to me in Dubai I am still in chock and considering filing a police report for the waiter. His colleagues had to hold him back so he doesn’t physically attacks me (could be seen in cameras if they have cameras). It all happened when I arrived in front of the restaurant with my car and realised that I don’t have my car key. That happens to me a lot as my car is connected to my phone so I don’t use the key at all so I tend to forget it. In other places where this happened, the valet is usually accommodating and parking my car nearby so I can remotely open it and we would not need the key. So I explained to the valet the same situation and asked him if I can park in front of the restaurant so it would be easy to open the car. He replied it will be chargeable. I asked why and he aggressively said “I think you don’t see the VIP board over there” I said yes I see but I am a customer and it’s summer during the week literally almost all places were empty so instead of aggressing me he could just accommodate my request as it should be in a hospitality sector. He said no and continued being very rude and asking me to park my car in the boulevard public parking so I called my friends who were already seated in the restaurant to send a manager to resolve this issue. A junior waiter came to me and repeated exactly the same things as the valet to which I replied can you please send someone who can help because you are not helping you’re not the manager. When I said that, he also became extremely aggressive, almost shouted at me and rolled his eyes and walked away without calling anybody. Clearly, the staff is not trained to keep their chill. Anyway I called my friends again and FINALLY a manager came and resolved the issue and found a solution immediately because it wasn’t a big deal at all. I parked in front of the restaurant. When I entered the restaurant I saw the aggressive waiter was there and I told him that he will not serve me today and I don’t want to see him around my table. Then his colleagues had to hold him back because he walked towards me to I don’t know? Hit me? Keep in mind I am a woman and this is a “man”. I never felt so unsafe in Dubai than in the middle of a restaurant. I wanted to leave immediately but it was my friend’s birthday and she asked me to stay because it was already too late for looking for another restaurant. For my friend’s birthday I stayed because I didn’t want to ruin her day. However, except the manager who managed the valet situation, no other manager has been helpful, no excuses, nothing. It seemed normalised for them. Such a shameful situation for a restaurant. Not at all in Dubai’s standard of hospitality. I am still really in total chock because this never happened to me in my...

My friends and I went to the soft opening of Amelia. It didn’t feel like a soft opening at all (I’ve been to a few). The staff were already well trained, the food was some of most flavorful I’ve had in Dubai, and the overall service was fantastic. If this is a sneak peek into what the operation will be once Amelia is officially open, I think it’ll blow minds away then too!

The design of the venue is gorgeous. Super high ceilings made me feel like I was in a gothic church from Barcelona with a good amount of greenery to balance it out. The DJ was spinning really great tunes and his stage was epic. It was behind what it looked like a short brass pipe organ.

Onto the food and drinks which is the most important factors in a restaurant for me.

The nigiris were delicious. My favorite was the Hotate. Reminded me of a spot in Lima, which combines Parmesan cheese with scallops. When I come back, I’m gonna get at least 6 of these. The Maguru nigiri had foei gras and blue fin tuna, yummmm! I didn’t try the Sake nigiri but I will next time.

The classic ceviche was well marinaded. They call it the Lubina Cancha. It’s a must try if you like Peruvian food. The Sake Nikkei was also great (more Peruvian/Japanese fusion)! The tuna taco cone was yummy. I wished though that the avocado was distributed better in the cone so you take a bite of a mix of avo and tuna every time you go for it.

We had a bunch of sushi rolls which were yummy, but not wow like the other dishes mentioned. What was wow was the Calamares (cazuela). Probably one of the most flavorful dishes I’ve had in Dubai. Please try it. If you love meat, you won’t be disappointed with the Machu Picchu dish. You cook your meat at the table with delicious veggies. It was one of my favorites and super instagrammable if you are into that. We tried other dishes and loved them.

I honestly can’t wait to come back. Management is great too. Ognjen was kind, friendly, and really cared for his guests. This restaurant will be top 5 in Dubai in no time. It has all the right ingredients!

Tips: If you want party, try to score a table downstairs closer to the DJ If you want quieter and an easier place to talk with friends, try the upstairs The bar area was happening. I’d come for happy hour for sure! The Amelia cocktail and Passenger are beyond good! Have a few of them Go for the nigiris as they are truly innovative versus most of the rolls Even the bathroom is beautiful. Ladies, take your time and...

Let me start by saying that Elie Jarrouj Is one of the worst managers I have seen in my life.

Amelia is one of my favorite places to go to, I am there every weekend without exception. Unfortunately, my experience last night was let down by the manager. Elie was extremely disrespectful, unprofessional, and made me feel so unwelcome. It’s a shame for such a beautiful place like Amelia, because the staff deserve much better leadership.

I called and booked as I always do and confirmed my booking 3 times with the hostess because I had guests coming with me. Once I reached, they tell me to wait 5 minutes which is normal. After waiting 15 minutes like idiots around everyone there with my guests, elie comes and tells me, the people that are on your table were suppose to leave an hour ago and they still want to stay so just stay by the bar and when they leave I’ll sit you down. I told him but it’s my table and you should tell them that their time is up. Elie tells me, “ if I do that they’ll write a bad review about me “. Then when I told him what about if my friends write a review about you, doesn’t it matter to you? He answered “ then go ahead and write the review “ as if he didn’t care about our opinion.

What’s worse than that is when the second manager Patrick tried to help us by kindly speaking to the people at our table to leave, Elie interviens and tells him “ don’t you dare talk to them, these guys are staying until they want to leave, let them ( us ) sit at the bar for now” right in front of my face !! I heard that and couldn’t believe it, so I started arguing with him and moments later he tells my friends “ in your dreams you will get a table here again “ as in I’m banned from the place. What an unprofessional manager who should be fired immediately.

Eventually, after 30 minutes of arguing, the people left and they sat us down and we had an amazing night as I always do in Amelia, thanks to the amazing vibe and partners...