Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Last Supper
Dined in September 2015
By Sean Overpeck
The Last Supper title may imply that eating at Wellington’s Lounge at the Royal Ascot Hotel in Dubai would be the last meal before death. Well, there was no death, but it would be the last restaurant meal I would have before returning to a work area for four months that had no restaurants, wether they be regular or fine dining, so this would be the last good meal I would have for a long period of time.
Scroll down to read the main review
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From the restaurants home page:
Fine Dining for the Discerning Palate When it comes to food, Guests at the Royal Ascot are spirit for choice. Take your pick from various restaurants & bars at the Royal Ascot and affiliate hotel next door – The Ascot. The wide variety of restaurants serving authentic European and Asian cuisine will take on a Eurasian Culinary adventure that you will savor for a long time.
Whether meeting friends or entertaining business guests, Wellington’s – the lounge bar of the Royal Ascot – offers a classy blend of music, drinks and ambience to start off the evening, spirits, or cocktails depending on your persuasion. Combined with the perfect savory snacks, you won’t notice time fly by as you and your guests revel into the wee hours.
If you ask, the bartender will willingly recommend the special of Wellington’s. In fact, we have some truly exotic potions for those adventurous enough to try them. All you have to do is ask!
Main review:
After arriving on an earlier flight into Dubai, and getting to the Royal Ascot Hotel and settling in to my room, it was time for some dinner, and to see what was available. I had not stayed at this hotel before, so it was an opportunity to see if they were a typical restaurant or an outstanding hotel restaurant group. Besides Wellington’s Lounge, the hotel also had restaurants and cuisine ranging from North Korean with OK RYU-GWAN, Middle Eastern with Ayam Zaman, two clubs with Indian cuisine, and full bar, and rooftop lounge with four action stations serving a variety of world cuisine. For the Wellington’s lounge, it was one large dining room with the bar and lounge in the front with leather couches, chairs, and small tables, that unfortunately allowed smoking. Towards the back side was the dining area with tables for two, four, or up to eight. I sat as far to the back as possible to avoid the smell and smoke from the cigarettes, but thankfully there were few people in the lounge and it was a weekday, so only two or three people were smoking. If it would have been anymore than I would have had to make my order through room service and left.
The Menu is all on one page broken down by smaller sections to include:
- Cold Appetizers
- Hot Appetizers
- Soups
- Salads
- Entree section called “Wellington’s Grill”
- Desserts
Their starter section included smoked salmon, prawns, polenta with eggplant, assorted kabobs, and a beef tartar with tomatoes and sesame oil. The beef was ground, with a scent of lemon juice, parsley, micro green garnish and a cracked egg yolk.
For soups and salads there was a wide selection, but I decided to bypass and go straight for the entree’s, though their gazpacho and minestrone soups did look inviting. From the salads, there was your typical grouping that you see in most restaurants including a caesar salad, Rocket salad or Arugula, and a hot steak salad.
The main entree group focused on the namesake for the restaurant being an English style lounge with assorted meats. For seafood they had the catch of the day, a grilled salmon, and a lobster thermidor. Besides lamb chops, and roasted duck, the steak selections was a cajun steak, Jamaican rubbed steak, Boston Steak, French peppered steak, ribeye, and a Chicago glazed T-Bone. At the bottom of the menu, they had a milk fed veal steak, two small cuts with a red wine sauce, asparagus, vegetable kebab and french fries for sides. The beef was extremely tender and could be cut with a fork. A very satisfying last meal before starting my 4 months without any restaurant experiences.
I did not have room for dessert, but the selection was inviting from apple tarts, lemon cakes, and selections of artisan cheeses.
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5 stars
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is Extraordinary
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4 Stars
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is Outstanding
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3 Stars
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Exceeded Expectations
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2 Stars
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is Above the Average
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1 Star
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is an Average Dining Experience
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No Star Rating
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The Restaurant is Basic, Poor, or Appalling
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Overall Star rating by Wine, Dine, & Play:
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2 of 5
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Ambiance:
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4 of 10
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Quality of the Food:
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7 of 10
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Plate Presentation:
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5 of 10
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Customer Service:
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4 of 10
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Wow Factor:
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5 of 10
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Wine Selection:
(See full list under review basics section)
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? of 10
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This Restaurant reminds me of:
Wellington’s Lounge in the Royal Ascot was a nice atmosphere, and great expense was made in artwork, couch lounges, and cutlery, raising the ambiance at first to an 8 out 10, but it dropped four points by having a smoking section attached to the dining section, and there is nothing worse than while enjoying the aromas of a fine steak or a great wine, to smell the burning tar of nicotine from a cigarette or a cigar. The quality of the food was at a much higher end as the starter and entree were outstanding. The vegetables were fresh, cooked to perfection and perfectly seasoned, giving them a rating of a 7 out of 10. The plate presentation was the same as most restaurants around the world, and because of the smoking dropping the ambiance rating, it also helped to drop the wow factor giving that and the plates a score of 5 out 10. The wine selection as not available, and inquires have been made, so once that information is provided, I will be able to rate it more accurately. The customer service was a lady from the bar who also worked directly for the hotel, so really she was more of an order taker than a server, so the rating for this is the same as ambiance as a 4 out of 10. I would compare my experience at Wellington’s to Perla’s Seafood and Oyster Bar in Austin, Texas, and Alex Restaurant in Dublin, Ireland.
Other Dubai favorites on Wine, Dine, and Play:
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Meerlust Winery in Stellenbosch, South Africa
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Leopard Hills Lodge in South Africa
Rioja, in Denver, Colorado
Food Prices
(excluding taxes & gratuity)
$£€¥ - Under 50.00
$£€¥ x 2 - 51.00- 99.00
$£€¥ x 3 - Over 100.00
$£€¥ x 4 - Over 200.00
$£€¥ x 5 - Over 400.00
**Currencies chosen reflect the world’s major travelers and restaurant connoisseur’s**
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My food bill:
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Currency:
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Price chart:
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200د.إ;
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United Arab Emirates Dirham (UAE)
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د.إ;
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$54.00
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United States Dollar (USD)
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$$
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£36.00
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Great Britain Pound Sterling (GBP)
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£
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€51.00
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European Union (EUR)
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€€
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$73.00
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Canadian Dollar (CAN)
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$$
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$76.00
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Australian Dollar (AUS)
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$$
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¥349.00
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Chinese Yuan (CNY)
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¥¥¥¥¥
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Cost of wines and other alcoholic beverages in $$ USD:
د.إ;70.00 AED
Review basics:
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Wine selections by region:
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? of 10
The wine list is not available on the webpage, however once provided to me from the inquiries the list will be added with a rating.
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Corkage fee’s:
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American Restaurant standard is $25.00 per bottle
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Restaurant style:
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Casual or Semi-formal dining
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Reservations:
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Not Required
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Walk-ins:
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Accepted, but not guaranteed
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Dress code:
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Business casual, Smart casual, or Conservative attire
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Child policy:
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The Restaurants reviewed on this site may have a child’s menu or cater to them; however for full enjoyment of food and wine, it is recommended for children not to be in attendance, unless they have been trained in proper etiquette.
Hire a Babysitter.
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Cuisine style:
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Contemporary, Bistro, Modern, Lounge, Steakhouse, Seafood, American, Middle Eastern, European, & Vegetarian
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Music styles:
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Background instrumental
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Experiences:
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Place for foodies, Lounge, Business parties, Hot spot, Beautiful décor, Intimate, Classy, Upscale, and a Neighborhood gem.
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Gratuities:
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Industry standard is 18-20% added to parties of 6 or more
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Payments:
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Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express
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Parking:
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Valet, or Street Parking
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Transport options:
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Bus, taxi, limousine, personal vehicle, and walking
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Wifi
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The restaurants reviewed on this site may have Wi-Fi, but do not require you to go online, because the excitement of the food and wine alone will keep you too entertained instead of checking your social media and emails.
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Noise level:
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Low
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Smoking:
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Warning — Smoking Restaurant
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Patio:
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No
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Restaurant address:
Royal Ascot Hotel
Khalid Bin Waleed Road
Bur Dubai; 3c Street, 62
Dubai 115160
United Arab Emirates
Neighborhood:
Al Raffa District
Cross streets:
18th Street and Khalid Bin Al Waleed Road
GPS Coordinates:
Latitude: 25.204849
Longetude: 55.270783
Contact Information:
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Maître d, Reservations:
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+971 4 3558500
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Restaurant Website:
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Email:
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Social Media & Accolades:
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Hours:
Standard Time (GMT + 3:00)
Dinner:
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Monday
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12:00 pm –1:30 am
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Tuesday
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12:00 pm –1:30 am
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Wednesday
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12:00 pm –1:30 am
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Thursday
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12:00 pm –1:30 am
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Friday
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12:00 pm –1:30 am
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Saturday
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12:00 pm –1:30 am
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Sunday
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12:00 pm –1:30 am
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Reviewed by:
Sean Overpeck (CFE)
Executive Chef
Christmas Day, Basra, Iraq 2015
About Sean Overpeck:
I am based out of St. Petersburg, Florida working as a chef and other areas of food service over the past twenty years, and is currently working with the American Embassy as the Executive Chef in Basra, Iraq. Formally I have worked with groups contracting in Afghanistan, Dubai, and Antarctica, and worked in restaurants in and around Atlanta prior to the wars. I have also owned a catering company and served proudly in the United States Army, in their food service program. The idea for the Wine, Dine, and Play Blog started in late 2012 after a trip to Jordan, when I was asked by others to write down the experiences in food from the Jordanian restaurants, wine from the region that I tasted, locations of interest such as Petra, and of course the culture so that people, not only friends could read about the adventures instead of just listening to me talk. Since that time, nearly 200 articles have been written on restaurants, including fifteen from the worlds top 100 lists of San Pellegrino and the Elite Travelers Guide; exotic world locations such as Dubai, Petra, and African Safari’s; food recipes & Grand Food Dictionaries; country cuisines such as Afghan and Peruvian dishes; and of course wine including vineyards from California, South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia.
Chef Sean cooks for soldiers in Afghanistan, 2012:
“Culinary perfection consists not in doing extraordinary things,
But in doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.”
-Angelique Arnauld (1591-1661)
TTFN
