I didn’t get on a good start with The Tap House.

When the strip of new restaurants launched in front of Tiara Residences two months or so ago, I went on my handy app to see if any of them have decided to offer a 241. Tap House was there. Ha, time to check it out 🙂

Club Vista Mare looked like a nice spot to have breakfast – sunshine, it was cool enough to dine al fresco, seemed perfect. There wasn’t many reviews on them online at the time, other than the usual cover by WhatsOnDubai and LovinDubai lot. I shot them an email, and got an automated response from ‘Mail Delivery System’ telling me that my email ‘could not be delivered’ bla bla bla. My attempt to contact them, plus trying to get info on their menu was a long and annoying one – click here, refer Item 5. I’ll keep the rant there and will try and save this blog for what it is – a review of our afternoon 🙂

Ah, just in case anyone is wondering – no, they do not serve breakfast. They start at 12:00pm which is lunch. A sponsored post on the outlet online actually stated “From breakfast right through to lunch and dinner…”….. *shakes head*, so now you can see what I meant by ‘not a good start’ 🙂

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First impressions

So two months on – just today, I was meeting a dear friend for lunch. Instead of the usual lot at The Beach, I thought it was time to give these guys a try. The website stated no reservations for Thursdays so we decided to just pop over. Parked the car, put the little girl in her pram and off we walked towards Club Vista Mare. First impressions – good. They have ramps for prams. Win.

The Experience

As I approached The Tap House – it was quiet. A lot of staff – possibly 6-8 of them, busy setting up tables, moving things around. No one too interested to get some business from this lady with a pram.  I approached one of them, asked if they were open for lunch : yes, and found myself a nice table in the terrace.

After being offered the menu, I was left to myself (and the little girl) for a bit. It’s quiet, probably the best time to try and promote the place to new guests, I would have thought. Odd. I asked for him to return and to recommend something to try. He suggested The Tap House Burger and when asked why – I was given the ‘because everyone who comes here orders this’ answer. Bizarre. He went on to recommend a few more dishes – the 9 hours slow cooked backed ribs, and the seafood linguine from the mains – but without a lot of understanding of how the dishes came about or why it was so good. Hmm. Not a very good start so far…

When my friend arrived, things got a lot better. Biased opinion I think, as I was in a better mood as well to see her, ha ha.

What we had

Her ice lemon tea and my water came (dare I say, local Aquafina for AED18 as well, good on you guys!). I requested for bread (which I later found out was complimentary) – and was not very impressed with three tiny pieces. Delicious though, toasted with garlic butter, and probably a good idea to have kept the portions small as the main deal was…huge!

She ordered their “Heisenburger” (AED 90) – which got both of ‘wow-ing’ for a bit and snapping away – I would expect to see a lot of this on instagram in the near future – a humongous towering burger, with their onion rings pilled in between and above. Unfortunately……. the taste was not to match. The supposed ‘crispy fried chicken’ was very greasy – with visible lumps of fat when bit into….boo. Disappointing. Fries, onion rings, salad… no issues.

My southern fried chicken and waffle (AED 95) was much better. Crispy, thick waffles with truffle maple syrup. Fried chicken was not too greasy. Generous portions as well. Even the little girl tried to steal some off my tray….. but no no, not for a 6-month old!

We spent a good time there. The staff returned, playing with the little girl….they were so sweet to her, as everyone normally are to little people 🙂 There were no issues with using the Entertainer as well during payment, and the bill came to only 70 AED per person. Pretty good for a whole afternoon spent, and we both were absolutely stuffed.

A lot of things to work on I’ll say –

a) Start with getting sponsored posts online showing correct information on the outlet… otherwise you’re going to have a lot of people ringing/emailing you up to ask if you serve breakfast 😉 Just google yourself and have a peek at what’s been published.

b) Would be good if all staff understood the menu better – i.e what to recommend, and why. It looked like a really good menu… prices are reasonable., and you have a large selection of beer (supposedly the biggest on the Palm?), so if staff could ‘sell it better’, there will be more returning customers.

c) There were only probably 3 tables occupied in the afternoon, and 6-8 staff around.. yet when we were trying to pay we couldn’t get anyone’s attention. 

d) Fix up the emails... maybe it is already fixed, I don’t know… I haven’t tried emailing you guys again, but I hope it’s no longer showing a ‘Mail Delivery System’ reply 😉

Overall Thoughts

Club Vista Mare… what Dubai needs. A licensed, beachside venue. Not the best first impression …but we will  return to give it another try (yay to 241s), possibly during ladies nights…. Tuesdays 5-10pm, apparently? 🙂 Still a great afternoon spent…cheers for being a doll with my little girl, and my apologies for leaving an absolute mess 🙂

Have you been to the other restaurants in Club Vista Mare yet?

• The Tap House
• Club Vista Mare, in front of Tiara Residences in The Palm Jumeirah
• Deal : 241 in Entertainer Dubai, which you can use for Burgers & Melts, Grills and Mains (check with outlet…)

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