Asia Asia The Palm — Restaurant in Dubai

If you’re in Dubai and looking to overpay for underwhelming food, clunky service, and a stunning lack of hospitality, Asia Asia might just be your perfect match. Especially if you’re an Average Joe who’s never tasted real excellence — because frankly, only someone unfamiliar with quality would find this acceptable.

We dined here with friends expecting a luxurious brunch. What we got felt more like a bad airport lounge — minus the free drinks.

Let’s recap: • Food? Bland and forgettable. If this is “Asian fusion,” I’ve had better from a microwave. • Mains weren’t refillable. Only starters were. No one tells you that upfront. • Coffee? Not included. Yes, really. • Drink selection? Limited. As in: “we-don’t-even-try” limited. • Service? Rigid. Robotic. Rude.

Then came the true show: 15 minutes before brunch ended, our waiter told us to make our “last drink orders.” We did – few drinks to enjoy our time after desserts at outside terrace with some cigars.

Only one arrived. When we asked where the others were, we were told, “They’ve already been served.” Spoiler: they hadn’t.

The manager arrived. Eight interruptions later — yes, I counted — I asked him to let me finish a sentence. Politely. With fingers. That offended him. So what did he do? He walked away mid-conversation and declared, “There’s nothing more to discuss.” Well, at least on that, we finally agreed.

A second staff member came over and kept the same energy: talking over us, dismissing our points, and showing us exactly how little this place values customers. According to them, their “internal policy” means drink service stops 15 minutes before brunch ends and only one drink per client (not even double gin tonic which is absolutely standard here) — something they never inform guests about in advance.

Let’s be brutally honest: this is a place built for Instagram, not for enjoyment. All aesthetics, no authenticity. All posture, no polish.

And speaking of aesthetics or instagram — no, I don’t have pictures. Not of the food, not of the setting, not of the view. Why? Because this place didn’t deserve a single byte of storage on my phone. Not one pixel of that dull décor, mediocre ambiance, or loud, terrible music — which, by the way, blasted through the space like a Spotify playlist gone rogue — was worth capturing.

Asia Asia is for those who don’t know better.

I do. And now, so do you.

There are far better places to spend your time and money in Dubai — like Attiko, Jou Jou, Ce La Vi, or Nikki Beach.

But this?

I would only my worst enemy...

After having celebrated New Year's Eve several times at Burj Khalifa, we thought it would be an experience at the Palm Jumeirah. We went to Asia Asia and booked VIP tables outside. It was a disappointment and not worth. I can only advise against it. The food was good quality and tasty, but not very much. The service was completely overwhelmed. It took a very long time for the food to arrive. After ordering, we waited over an hour for another course. The drinks we ordered also took ages to arrive. Sometimes 40 minutes. But that wasn't enough... We thought that as a VIP table outside, we really would have an outside area to ourselves. We were looking forward to a beautiful fireworks display and the staff confirmed this. Well... it turned out differently. We saw nearly nothing, as all guests were allowed to enter the terrace. The security did nothing. Other guests climbed on our chairs and left their drinks on our table. At this point, we had finished a main course and were waiting for dessert. How are you supposed to enjoy your evening and the meal like that??! They did apologize, but the experience was ruined. This evening will definitely be unforgettable... in a negative sense. We won't go there again and wouldn't recommend it to anyone. For that money you can party right next to Burj Khalifa and have a really great experience.

I've attached pictures from a video I made, which show that the terrace was very full. You won't find any exclusivity here. On the evening itself we complained to the manager on site, who suggested contacting them via email. We followed this. Incredibly poor service. They realized that things didn't go well. They answered us very late and only after we had sent several emails. When we booked they replied very quickly, but when we had any criticism it took forever... And that in a city that is dominated by service. The operators' solution as compensation is to offer a few drinks. As if you were flying to Dubai from Europe and making that long journey to get a few drinks. Far from good...

We went for the sunset brunch on Saturday with 8 people, I wouldn’t go again.

Food:

Cold Starters - Sushi was ok, the rolls were small. Hot starters - Again, was ok most of it was pretty tasteless. - However, the shrimp gyozas were quite good.

The major issue was the quantity, there simply wasn’t enough food for 8 people and when we asked for more we were told “it’s not an unlimited brunch”. Which is fine if you bring out the correct amount of food in the first place 😂 - They finally brought out some extra hot starters approx 45 mins later.

Mains:

Black cod tasted good, but again the portion was quite small. The steaks were all overcooked and were TINY.

Dessert:

I enjoyed the cheesecake and fresh fruit, everything else was poor.

Service:

Was extremely hit and miss, some drinks took ages to come out and some came out quickly.

My father no longer drinks alcohol, so we called ahead of time to see if there was a 0.0 beer included. The answer was no. We asked if we could bring some. The answer was no. We asked if it could be included if we paid for the full alcohol package. The answer was no. - Disappointing, considering 1 bottle of Peroni 0.0 was AED 49!

Overall, it was not up to the standard that I have come to expect for the Asia Asia brand. It did not feel premium, the offering just felt stingy.

If you want the full experience just go to the one in...