Karma Cafe by Buddha Bar — Restaurant in Dubai

I just so upset with last night's experience that I just felt that I had to write this review. I would not rate this place at all if there was a negative or no star rating.

I had booked a table and specifically asked that as I had friends over from London it was important to get a fountain View. They told me it is always first come first seated and they would seat accordingly. So table booked at 7.30 I arrived at 7pm to try and ensure we got a fountain View. The whole terrace is empty. And yet they sat me at the back I specifically said I was told that it was first come first seated and yet they said no those seats at the front are reserved. I quietly sat down but inside I was not happy at the switch.

We ordered the food...everyone wanted to order the shredded duck. They said madam we don't have pancakes but we can give you lettuce as a substitute. Everyone was happy to accept that and said that is fine let's order it. First we had ordered an entire duck and we received 3 lettuce leaves. So I again asked for some more and Below are the photos of what I received. Seriously???? This is what I have paid 200 dirhams for ?? At this point, the food was cold and I called the waitress over and she told me to layer the lettuce. I said how exactly have you seen the size of the lettuce you have provided and now compare this to the cucumbers. Are you not embarrassed that to have put this on the table. There was not even enough for one person to which she replied well you can ask for more. I said I already have.....but why should I have to ask 4 times for lettuce in one meal. You don't ask for your meal to be served by the bite ??

There was, no, let us try and resolve this for you? Have a drink ? Or even we won't make you pay for the shambles of the duck....or the cold food. Just she told me how to eat the duck with the lettuce leaves the size of my fingernail and the cucumbers the size of bean poles. The patronising tone of voice to tell me how to eat was humiliating in front of my friends. My friends just laughed and said wow...this is level of service ? Common sense and customer service not very abundant here.

By the end of the meal I was so embarrassed and she very happily presented me with a 1600 dirham bill.

I would not rate this restaurant even a one star for service or food. I am totally furious as it was embarrassing that I had raved so much to my friends how good this place was and it turned out to be such...

The food was great, the staff were friendly and the view is wonderful - but we already know all that, so let me cut straight to the negatives.

1. Asahi is advertised on the menu, but it was not provided at the brunch. While I appreciate some options may be unavailable at certain times, the fact there was no like for like replacement was appalling. The only beer option was Heineken (bottled) - not even draught, which is not ideal. Honestly, had I known it was only bottled Heineken, we would have chosen a different brunch.

2. Furthermore, the restaurant has the nerve to charge extra for non-alcoholic beer. If you're paying for an all-inclusive brunch, it's frankly a joke that 0% beer is not included, when it's actually cheaper to buy than the alcoholic stuff. A premium location like this should be offering 0% beer for pregnant women or people who are driving, rather than stinging you extra money for every drink, which left a really bad taste.

3. After having our parking token validated, we left for the car park. When trying to exit, the gate would not open, because we had been there 4+ hours. The attendant told us that we needed to pay extra, but by this stage we were holding up a line of Friday night traffic behind us. No communication whatsoever from the restaurant.

As I said, the food was nice and our server was lovely, but these little details really let down the evening. Overpromised and...

Honestly would not recommend this to any vegetarian or vegan diners. We were so impressed by the fact there was a separate vegan and vegetarian menu and so were really looking forward to the experience this evening.

Unfortunately, the food was substandard it really does not warrant the price being charged for it.

We ordered the edamame which you can’t get wrong, the sushi that followed was 6 small pieces which carried little flavour, average ingredients, and more akin to conveyor belt sushi.

Then we had ordered the sweet potato dumplings which was basically four tiny pieces of sweet potato ravioli. Really disappointing.

We ordered some sort of cheese fritter which again had sweet potato but sadly no flavour.

Main course was udon noodles which the table agreed was not what we were expecting, the horrible flavour in the oil stayed in the mouth for hours. The second main was a Poke bowl which started well but then once the avocado was moved was just a bowl of rice.

The service was actually fine and I can’t complain about that, location and setting are beautiful with the fountain views. Drinks were fine, espresso martini was really good, mocktails were very average.

Again, would not recommend, vegetarians and vegans recommend you...