Cello Restaurant & Cafe — Restaurant in Dubai

I do not usually write such an extensive review but under the circumstances feel it necessary for others considering visiting to take into account.

Due to my husbands work our family do not get to spend much time together therefore I had decided to take our daughter to surprise him on his lunch break.

On occasion my husbands colleagues are kind enough to buy him lunch, and unbeknown to myself or my husband this was one such occasion as they had purchased him a small tray of pie and chips before we arrived.

As myself and my daughter had not yet eaten we decided to visit Cello for the first time so as we could all sit down together and get something to eat before taking my daughter to the park where my husband could eat his lunch.

As I went to sit at one of the tables with my daughter my husband went to the desk to order, as he approached the desk he was told by a member of staff that he could not eat food from elsewhere in the cafe. To which my husband explained the situation of why he had brought in the food and that he had no intention of consuming the food himself in the cafe.

At this point I was sat at a table across the room with my one year old daughter who was getting hungry, therefore thought it innocent enough to discreetly give her a few chips while we waited. As my husband came back to the table he proceeded to tell me what he was told; as he was explaining this another member of staff abruptly approached the table with our drinks and sharply interrupted with what my husband was in the middle of explaining to me.

I explained that myself and husband had already purchased food and drinks from the cafe and that my daughter was hungry therefore I was simply giving her a few chips while we wait for the food to arrive.

(We were not all sat consuming a three course meal we had deliberately purchased from elsewhere, this was a hungry one year old having a few chips while she waited for some food)

At this point the member of staff whom had spoken to my husband decided to loudly dispute the matter across the room in front of others. It was at this point that myself and my husband were made to feel extremely uncomfortable and unwelcome and decided to ask for a refund; to which the staff at the desk refunded the food and handed cups so we could take our...

Nice looking restaurant to the eyes but behind the good looks came not such a good experience, seems like they’ve had a renovation to make it look good but that doesn’t combat the rude staff and terrible service ,seems like they are trying to be a shisha bar that serves food instead of focusing on being a restaurant like they claim to be , the starters were perfect , the mozzarella sticks and the sausage and cheese pide however that was the only good part of the night , all our food was stone cold as were the plates and tried to get a waiters attention but no one was interested so having not eaten all day we were forced to eat the cold food, no one came to ask how the food was whilst we were eating they came and asked at the end which was useless and we were told we would be getting bread and olives which never came , having finished the mains we then complained to the waitress who said she would get the restaurant manager , he was also very rude and could not care less he showed her his phone to say he’s on the phone to someone and he left , and then they came back with a pathetic excuse of a free fruit platter and almost harassed us to eat it as we said we don’t want it maybe 10 times when they brought it but they were adamant we must eat , also a waiter walked past talking to himself under his breath saying our food was cold because of the aircon , however this is not the case the food was cold as soon as it arrived at the table , and despite all this we still had to pay the full bill of 500 aed with no apology etc , SHOCKING no sense of hospitality what so ever would not return

Also if your a tourist please note you can smoke cigarettes and shisha inside the restaurant and it is poorly ventilated and smoking and shisha isn’t listed on their website so be cautious if you know someone who has asthma etc as my son does and this has affected him massively , something like this...

Entering into a fairytale décor, fountain and garden like setup in a huge lounge with glass-topped tables. A row of large windows facing the Sheikh Zayed Road on one side, and beautiful Chandelier lightnings in the evenings plays well off with the wooden flooring and the gas fireplace with live cooking at the far end of the room. Pretty mesmerizing ambiance!

Starting of with famous and irresistible lebanese starters Fried Kebbeh, Yalangi , hummus and the delicious Ras Asfor something that i tried for the first time and fell in love with it... fried lamb meat in garlic and pomegranate sauce sweet, tangy and delicious. Just couldn’t stop eating this one.

For the main dishes i went for the authentic Lebanese Mix Grill platter, Juicy and tender meat , all items were carefully cooked and seasoned, and it comes with a nice side of grilled and raw baby onions. It included the the lamb chop, chicken kebab and kufta kebab, ground lamb and beef mixed with fresh parsley and garlic sauce all of that which make up Cello finger licking Mashawi dish.

Perhaps the best entree we tried, though, was the intensely flavored and quite eye catching while they prepare the dish right at your table in a clay pot and serve sizzling hot, was the sheep meat stew with special Rice this one was a complete a knockout! 😍 The meat was so meltingly soft and broth so thick and creamy with onion carrots and potatoes all of which came together in a cozy harmony.

Nevertheless whichever way you go at cello, you might think about ordering a cup of rich Arabic coffee and soaking up the ambience a bit longer. You could easily find yourself dreaming of old Beirut. It’s that transporting.

The staff is friendly and helpful... price range is a bit high but the location, quality of food and...