We’ve been to Trader Vic’s many times in the past over various occasions – casual dinner with friends, lunch on a cool afternoon with guests, or just for a few drinks. So why did it take me so long to decide on this place, when I was hunting down a venue for a very (very very) dear friend’s farewell?

Someone please, put together more “Thursday evening dinner deal” options!

I spent ages researching where to go – this involved a lot of calling, emailing – which also prompted this post. To cut my rant short (or to save it for another post, before I scare you away 😉 ) – I finally decided on Trader Vic’s, cheers to AToZaatar ‘s recommendation on Twitter (cheers to everyone else who made suggestions as well, you know who you are!) 

Would I recommend it if you were planning a get-together with friends on a Thursday evening?

Yes.

And here’s why :

a) You can make a reservation for a large group on a Thursday night. A lot of places in Souk Madinat Jumeirah do not take reservations – be it for 2, or a group of 10. Well, to be fair just the ones that I enquired – McGettigans (when did Frioul shut ?!) and The Agency. So when I got in touch with them and they said I could make a reservation for a group of 10, I was more than happy! Which leads me to ….

b) They have an awesome reservations team. I got a bit (or should I say, very) peed off with a lot of other restaurants during this process, and when Trader Vic’s replied my email so quick, I was a very relieved, and happy girl. They don’t start work till later (ask them what time, I don’t know), so they won’t answer your phonecall in the mornings, so leave them an email and they will get back to you as soon as they come in. They also use Zomato for reservations which is pretty cool.

c) They have a pretty cool happy hour deal between 6:00 – 8:00pm. Click here  for details.  50% off selected cocktails and beers which comes to around 25-30 AED a drink. Not bad.

d) Their drinks are good, and very, very strong. Bang for buck 🙂 I recommend the Scorpion and Trader Vic’s Passion Punch.

e) You are allowed to “stock up” before happy hour finishes. I know of some places that don’t let you do that (grrr.) These guys do, which is pretty cool. So before 8:00pm I’ll come around with “last orders” and if you would like to order 5 more Budweisers, by all means do.

f) You can use the Entertainer 241 for the main courses. Food here isn’t cheap. Around 120 AED for scallops with fried egg noodles, to 290AED for a canadian lobster. But at least you can use the Entertainer to half the price! I don’t have much to comment on the food itself – I liked my scallops with fried egg noodles, but it was nothing to rave about. 

Now it was a really busy Thursday night so service was inconsistent throughout. Drinks took forever to come (sometimes 20 minutes, sometimes 5 minutes), so I would suggest if you got there a bit late to just order a few drinks before happy hour ends. They do let you pay separately so that’s good for large groups and the staff was friendly enough throughout (but not too much, as we were quite happy talking to each other!). Dinner and drinks (average 3 each) would come to about 180 AED per person.

So that’s that. Stuck for somewhere to go on a Thursday night with a group of friends? Give Trader Vic’s a shot. It’s getting cold now you might need a jacket, or…… have a few more cocktails 😉 Thanks to the team for having a great reservations team (phew!) and for taking care of us. We will be back on another night if I’m stuck on where else to go!

• Trader Vic’s Souk Madinat Jumeirah
• Thursday Evening Deals : Happy Hour 6:00 – 8:00 pm + Entertainer 241 for mains (max 8 people) 

Disclaimer : We paid for our meals. All thoughts are our own 🙂