Reform Social & Grill Dubai — Restaurant in Dubai

The worst place I've ever visited in my life! I'm new to Dubai, having moved here just a month ago. A friend suggested we visit this place (usually held in high-regard by those who frequent it) for Xmas lunch. We arrived as a group of six, having pre-paid 550AED (about GBP112) per person for a three hour beer and wine window (that also included a four-course meal). For GBP700, it was a tad pricey but we thought we would fork out and enjoy ourselves before heading off to our individual evening plans.

However, it was absolute carnage when we arrived. Within the four hours we were seated, we only received our starters (the mains arrived at the final hour, and I had to scoff down my lukewarm Xmas lunch as I had plans after I had to rush off to). My friends stayed an additional hour or so more than me, and managed to get their deserts but no cheeseboard (the final course). I'm not much of a drinker, so it cost me 550AED for x2 Diet Cokes, x2 beers and a salmon starter. Literally.

Of the few wait staff that were there, they stayed huddled around the bar, chatting and joking around with each other, when they should have been serving drinks to the tables and ensuring everyone was okay. And on multiple occasions, I had to run up to the bar to serve our table/collect drinks, as the service was literally non-existent. None of the on-ground staff could offer us an explanation as to why it took so long to get our food and we were just left sitting around, waiting for our Christmas lunch. My friends finally got served but I had to dash off. Every other person in the restaurant was FUMING! Some people waited up to five hours to get their mains. And there was no sign of the manager.

While I was walking out, I could see a huge queue of people who had booked and paid their money in advance but couldn't be seated and missed out on their Xmas dinner and plans (absolutely ruined!). Most people were angry, some upset. I spoke to one girl who convinced her family to come over from London to celebrate Christmas in Dubai, only to have it ruined by this restaurant's greed and mismanagement. This is what happens when you have a "Jack-The-Lad" manager (common in Dubai), who was nowhere to be seen and left his mismanaged restaurant to be run on a very important and on one of their busiest days/events with inexperienced staff, who couldn't make decisions to save their lives. It's absolute greed on their part. My advice? Avoid at all costs.

Update: The restaurant has offered to give us some of our money back. Appreciated from our side. Thank you and - hopefully - lesson learned. I've changed this review to a three-star as they managed the...

Very disappointing and uncomfortable visit to Reform Social and Grill last Friday for their Family Brunch. Service was abysmal, food was average at best, we were packed in like animals, and the entertainment for kids was poor. We left ASAP after eating our main course.

More detailed review:

When we arrived we were half heartedly pointed to the brunch tent, and after being there for less than 1 minute we started questioning whether it was a good decision to go for brunch here. However, their pay upfront policy meant we were reluctant to give up so early and we decided to stick it out.

This was advertised as a family brunch with kids activities. So we were surprised that after squeezing past several tables to reach ours there was nothing for our son to do on the table. E.g. colouring, mazes, word searches etc.

Entertainment seemed to be focussed on one guy who was doing a few magic tricks, but it was an uncomfortable and unconvincing amateur performance. There was a band who were ok, but we were seated next to the speaker and it was extremely loud and intrusive. We couldn’t hear each other when shouting…

Also, the place was tightly packed, COVID rules changed a few days before and Social distancing regulations were reduced to 1.5m. That being said, we were not able to socially distance from others, as once people were seated, it was impossible to be more than half a meter from anyone. I was also worried that in an emergency situation we would have struggled to evacuate the tent, as one of the two exits was blocked by other tables and diners.

Mask wearing by the General Manager and Magician left a lot to be desired. But the rest of the staff were at least adhering to the rules.

Food was delivered without cutlery, no mention of sauces, no napkins, no side plates… and when we requested this the waiter walked off before we had chance to go through what we needed.

We ordered a ploughman’s sharing platter to start with, when it arrived it was very underwhelming and there was not enough to share between us. We sent it back and received a slightly improved platter, but still not what you would expect.

Once our main courses had been delivered and quickly eaten, we left (the main course was just about average - so it was quite possibly the highlight of the brunch). On the way out we mentioned how disappointed we had been to the General Manager, who after initially being defensive, offered to call us later and put things right. The call has not been forthcoming though.

I cannot recommend anyone visit the brunch...

Went for coronation and was very disappointed. Took over 40 mins for some of our table to get our first drinks at brunch. Starters lovely but mains very disappointing. Ended up being a platter to share between 7 - had 2 Yorkshire puddings that was supposed to feed all of us. The nut roast was served on same plate touching pork and beef. Beef was very poor quality and over cooked. Good job none of us veggy and in fact that was completely wasted. We were never asked so would have been better not to serve it. So much wastage. Eventually they agreed to serve us bottles of wine and jugs of pimms to table as we were waiting over 30 mins for each drink. Made sense but we had to prompt them to do it. They didn't have enough bar staff and ran out of glasses. We kept being told that things were coming. 30 mins later still nothing. Eventually we managed to get the attention of one of the more senior staff/owner (?) and things started to speed up but then they went overboard delivering an extra 7 Yorkshire puddings and a whole new platter (more nut roast!) and the bangers and mash that was originally missing. Puddings were so oily we couldn't eat them. They had over sold seats and it comprimised everyones experience, put the waiting staff under immense pressure and I saw so many tables complaining. The main thing we were upset about was a lady was sent around to gather payment just as our mains arrived and the king was about to be crowned. Very poor timing based on the occasion and the service that had originally been delivered. Go to reform a lot and recently, there is always something it seems that doesn't match up with what they advertise and the prices they charge. Drinks coming within a reasonable amount of time seems to be a common theme (quiz nights too). I hope that someone in a position of responsibility sees this and listens to the complaints today, ahead of any future events that are offered. It will make their lives easier and prevent major disappointment on special days like this when people put their trust in what should be a very slickly operated machine by now. It is far from this and it seems they are just being greedy- there was a large demand and they decided to chance it....