The Market Place — Restaurant in Dubai

Recently we had a family dinner at The Market Place located in Marriott Hotel Al Jadaf. I spotted some of my favourite salads and appetisers- loved the beef salad, fattoush, cheese board, moutable was so creamy and you can make your own salads as well. In addition to these they had an assortment of breads, cheese fatayers, fish fingers and pizzas to munch on. Catering to the basic cold salads, to middle eastern favourites they were fresh and perfect. We also enjoyed their juice counter(drop by my story to have a glimpse)- the flavours were- Frosty Forest, Passionfruit Mojito and Berrylicious- this was my favourite concoction for the night, perfect balance of tang, sweetness and sour notes.

Serving up a concise main course menu as well, from fresh grills, to curries, western/european cuisines and middle eastern favourites that we definitely enjoyed having. The chicken tawook and kofta had the right amounts of spices, pair that with their oriental rice- aromatic and fragrant cooked in cinnamon, minced meat, and sumak, this was scrumptious and the cinnamon wasn’t overpowering at all. I also enjoyed the chicken moussakan- something new, mellow, simple yet flavourful. They also have a live pasta kitchen- drop in your preferences and fresh pasta made right on the spot for you.

Moving ahead, their beef beijing with prawn crackers was another hit for me- tender pieces of beef tossed in thick soy sauce gravy and colored capsicums with a subtle hint of spice. The steamed sea bream bass with asparagus and baby corn was too good, I paired that with some mixed veggies cooked in béchamel sauce and that was a done deal. The chicken alfredo was thick and creamy, just as I’ve always loved it, deliciously made.

My most loved and favourite section of any buffet will always be the desserts. Servings of small portions of every desserts enticing my sweettooth cravings all in one go. Some of my favourites were the Baked Yoghurt- I popped in about 3-4 of those cute sized pieces with ease- so creamy and simple. Their Umm Ali was super scrumptious and rich with flavours, loved the puff pastry soaked in warm milk with nuts and essence, the mushy texture is what I enjoyed. The Pistachio Muhalabia and Halawet El Jibn(Sweet Cheese Rolls) were another classic, especially the Muhalabia had the perfect consistency and sweetness- middle eastern desserts done right! . The Cookie Cream Cake was so light and fluffy, a bit dry but the whipped cream compensated for it. Their Strawberry Baked Yoghurt was another favourite of mine as well as the Ice Cream counter- catering to chocolate and vanilla with toppings to settle on. These desserts got me sugar high.

We had a lovely family dinner here, everything being enjoyable and delicious. The staff were friendly and very professional, a shoutout to...

Terrible would be an understatement to describe my experience. I bought a voucher off Groupon for The Market Place - cost me AED 215 for two people. Was excited when I looked it up on Zomato - the live grill station and other top dishes such as the sea food selection and chocolate fountain. Decided to bring my dad here for iftar... Worst iftar ever!

I called on 4th June to make a reservation on 5th, the next day, as Groupon terms stated a reservation should be made 24 hours prior. The lady who answered said they were fully booked till that Friday. So I made a reservation for Sunday (10th June). She took down my details - full name and number, and informed me that the timing for iftar was 7-9 pm. That was it.

This evening before heading there I just called to confirm and another lady who answered said there was no reservation in my name. I got annoyed and she passed my call on to another person. The tone in their voice of ridicule angered me further. "How can you call it a confirmation if you didn't get a reservation number?" And when I argued saying it wasn't my fault and I had planned to come there this evening, they did something even worse. Told me I'm getting an "upgrade" to the ballroom for iftar. Sounded fishy but didn't think it could be that bad. They told me it would be the same food as served in The Market place.

We arrived at the Zabeel ballroom "Layaly Majlis" and realised it was a corporate iftar. Two companies' groups of employees and seemingly their families were seated in the ballroom, and we were given a "sofa" seat from which it was difficult to eat. We still ignored that thinking, we're here for the food... Let's focus on that!

And on to the food... It was extremely disappointing and tasteless. Needless to say - No live grill, no fresh seafood, no chocolate fountain, nothing! The voucher specified certain dishes and none of them were there. There were only some dishes that I'm sure were selected by the corporate that were hosting their iftar. Nothing was good. Not worth the money paid, not even worth half of it.

What angers me the most even now is how they misled me into joining a corporate iftar and tell me it was an "upgrade". Waste of money, terrible lying staff, and food that isn't worth paying...

Food: There was a decent selection for the seafood themed night although some of the dishes were exquisite, a lot of the others failed to justify the price tag. Some of the "grilled" seafood dishes were lukewarm by the time it I was served it. The desserts were what really stood out, especially the Jamaican cake was really good!

Staff: Our table was waited on by 2 servers. Their names are Francis and Evi. Francis appeared to be training Evi in how to wait on tables. They basically did an on-the-job training moment. Francis appeared cordial most of the time apart from an extremely rude comment he'd made when we asked him a question. We ordered alcohol from the all-you-can-drink menu, which had this ridiculous policy of an hour. We were not able to find Francis for 15 min and when we located him, we flagged him down to our table. We asked him why he was not around as we were worried about the limited time left. He also mentioned earlier that he's the only one who can take our drink order. He rudely replied that he cannot wait on just our table AND that there was only one server who could distribute alcohol throughout the restaurant, which coincidentally happened to be Francis.

TLDR: Rude and stressed work staff.

Ambiance: The interior looks to bring a refined polished look with a mix of modern and contemporary designs. Would recommend using brighter lighting since certain tables did not have adequate lighting.

Price: Funny enough, I used a Groupon for the restaurant and when I arrived at the restaurant, the rate quoted was significantly cheaper than the coupon purchased on Groupon. I felt extremely misled by the listing.

Conclusion: I would not go back due to the various factors...