olea - kempinski hotel mall of the emirates

worst date place. first of all, the african waiter told us the outdoor area is full, when we went out to check it, the place was not even crowded. and when he came to us, he was like "oh you found a comfortable seat". like a moron pretending it was a surprise for us to even manage to get a sofa seat.
next the waiter who took our order, gave it to the kitchen late, hence we waited 40 minutes for a simple meal.
and when we are about to leave they manage to make excuses that the place is busy and the kitchen has few crew working.
i will not recommend this place to anyone. such a waste of time, and unfriendly staff.

i was lucky to be invited to the launch of the leventine linner, which is their thursday levant themed dinner.
located in the kempinski mall of the emirates hotel, olea is a fine dining restaurant that have their master levant chefs deliver the best in class live stations and delicious food starting from the soup and salads up to desserts.
they have live entertainment including a singer, magician, henna lady and interactive ice cream station.
the food was spectacular, i couldn't stop myself from having the cheese saj that is freshly baked in front of you, or the amazing halawet jebn from the dessert.
there's also a kids corner, offering candy and face painting.
a great night with amazing value for money and a must try.

we have heard of the term brunch, but this place has coined the term linner,
it didn't strike immediately, but it's a meal between your lunch and dinner!
levantine cuisine at is finest and variety galore, the setting is classy, urban and lounge type,
as live music and tunes flow in the background, it transports you to lebanon, experience it as in words i can't describe.
with so much appetizing food around you, it's confusing from where to start,
your stomach gets confused and has to digest everything, enjoyment is all for the heart.
the regular dips were all flawless, be it the baba ghanoush, mohammara, hummus or moutabel,
we kept some digestive beverage handy, as tamarindi was served authentically at the table.
the fresh and warm saj was prepared right infront of the eyes,
cheese, zaatar and chilli paste fillings were excellent, bread so soft and sweet, in it the true essence lies.
the shawarma was decent, but the piping hot crisp felafel took me by surprise,
garlic paste was served on request, kudos to the hospitality and service staff guys.
the non veg was next, the quintessential kebabs i devoured as it was admirable,
the lamb one was delightful, the sheesh tawook so soft and commendable.
the main courses i went on to next, this was totally new for me and i am glad i tried a few,
the shrimp muttafa was exquisite, a bit similar to indian dishes, with spices subdue.
the wheat frikeh was one of a kind, similar to oats/porridge and chicken in it was smoky and well grilled,
the lamb makanek is a middle eastern take on sausages, but more spices and taste in it well filled.
makloba djaj was another nutritious dish, flavorful and aromatic and a healthier version of biryani if i can say,
we needed a break now, for desserts and sweets we needed to make some way.
the fresh kunefe was so authentic, cheesy and i loved its crusty part, overall not too sweet,
the arabic ice cream was a bit chewy, subdued flavors and sweetness, for my palette a bit offbeat.
the room full of desserts had lip smacking variety of arabic sweets and baklavas,
pistachio based, some filled with cream, all so unique, flaky and fresh that i really couldn't pause.
literally more than i could ask for, way more than i could digest, it was so overwhelming.
if you love levantine cuisine like me, or you want to try dishes beyond the obvious, this place i am definitely recommending.

super meh. i tried the tawook and the hummus here, both were a bit below average honestly. hummus was too runny, and the tawook was extremely bland. the atmosphere is just ok, nothing special about it. i can't comment on the pricing as this was part of a company lunch thing.

i went to the olea opening on thursday night. olea is a gorgeous restaurant at the kempinski moe that serves levantine cuisine.

the restaurant also serves alchohol and has a nice bar. apart from that they also have a salad bar, live manakesh corner, a long buffet counter a complete dessert room and a live singer for entertainment. they also have a traditional tamarind juice server who pours a glass of cold tamarind juice for guests.
they serve sheesha as well.
the restaurant has indoor and outdoor seating. the weather was amazing so i sat outside, the views are lovely!! you get a glimpse of the burj al arab and apart from that the outdoor seating is amazing and very comfy!
the food at the restaurant was delicious. i loved the live manakesh!
staff were extremely polite and friendly.

if you enjoy levantine cuisine or want to try it then i do suggest you try olea.

it was my first time visit to kempenski hotel, the hotel has its royal grandeur . loved the golden theme and chrystal chandeliers . the door man was dressed in arabian costume , khandoora with a fancy belt and he had their tradition sword too. he guided us to olea , which is in second floor.

olea , is been a year in kempenski , serving levantine ala carte dinner . now they have launched their linner buffet , so what's linner its lunch and dinner together. from 6pm to 11 pm . very apt for some one who wants to have late lunch and early dinner. scrumptious levantine dinner buffet is served here , which is priced at 195 per per person .

mr. abhijeet , their assistant manger was visiting all tables ,checking out the guests and he came up to us and explained the concept of olea . the seven levantine countries are all blessed with olives , and in french olea means olives so that how the name originated . and they have incorporated that olive shades into their interior designing aspects too. the cushion furnishings are in shade of a olive green colour . also a a big cart with olives are kept at the entrance.

it's a levantine fine dine with , expert chefs , they have levantine cuisine chefs only , the saj is syrian delicacy so the chef is from syria , the tamar al hind welcome drink is palestinian speciality so the chef is from palestine making it. that's their core factor , specialized chefs for each levantine cuisine served there.

the place has quite a good , inside and out side seating capacity for around 200 plus people. they have an indoor live band too , the musician was singing quite good arabic songs of all genres. i heard few popular songs also few folks songs. every one was enjoying it too.

they have outdoor shisha too , coming to the food the starters were kept to one side , the classic mezza and the salads were as starters , beside the starters were the cocktail counter , fresh juices and arabic speciality juices like vimto, jallab and apricot juice were served .
loved the fresh salads, spicy labaneh, shrimp cocktail, red hummus,the spicy mutabbal and the stuffed vine leaves .

even we were served tamar al hind welcome drink too.

the main course is served in another counter , which has open kitchen . the main course started with saffron rice and manasef. the rice was cooked well with slight flavour of saffron , the lamb manasef cooked to perfection , soft lamb cooked in yougurt base. then i had for first time dajaj fareek, looked like cooked lentils and fried chicken was delicious, had the kabaabas they were turkish style . the meat grilled was yum too . the vine leaves were just okay . the shawarma and falalfil were delicious . the lamb mutton okra stew was delicious , the machboos was yumm and the fish kabaab and prawn dish was super duper tasty not to miss out. the stuffed marrow wasn't that great as it should have been .
the palestinian mushkaan was yum too


the opposite counter had , wide varieties of arabic breads , two kinds of soup and few raw meat kabaab saw it for first time . like sushi they have minced meet too called nayeh , different flavours of it

they had live shawerma station and manakish station too . traditional manakish cooked with out oven in front of us , it was a great experience.

what i loved most was the traditional syrian ice cream , fresh ice cream made in front of us with a beat and music .

the kunafa station was the next one, huge kunafa pan with delicious yummy cheesey kunafa

the desert counter was at another side , the first time i saw a dessert counter just with arabic desserts .... yes it was presented very well and all traditional arabic desserts, baklawa, basboosa, arabic cream etc many desserts also they had fondue of strawberry and mango ..... they had wide varieties of arabic sweets .

for kids they had another kids dessert counter with , few balloons and variety of desserts like meringue , cupcake, candies, jollybeans, jelly,macaroon, lollipops etc. looked like a mini candy land .

over all we had a nice experience, they have around 80 plus dishes i just lost the count .this buffet is not one with so much quantity (many dishes) rather it's quality buffet with good selection of authentic levantine dishes ....

thank mr. abijeet , the ambience and service of your team is awesome, we really enjoyed our linner . i am sure this is the next place to keep up your office meetings or birthday parties . they have good food and good seating capacity too. do check out and let me know

the kempinski hotel has an impressive and royal grandeur and the restaurant olea reflects the same. 

olea has a good spread of salads, live stations serving fresh arabic breads, some good kunafa, turkish ice creams and a decent spread in the buffet. the place is huge with a lot of seating and the food is spread out. the salads are tucked in at one side of the restaurant and the other food is all at one side with the desserts enjoying their own private space in this huge space.the staff are scattered but are friendly and helpful when they visit your table. 

there was live music with a gentleman playing a guitar and singing arabic and english numbers. he was really good and kept the atmosphere lively.

we started with the salads and i tried the fattoush, the baba ghanoush, the hammous and the beetroot. the salads were fresh and tasty and the beetroot stood out to be a winner.

we then got some cheese and zaatar bread that was being made freshly. for our bad, the breads given to us were cold - probably made and kept for a while. while they were tasty, they would have been better if they were hot. we skipped the section where the cooked beans and sprouts were kept and there seemed to a good collection of fava beans, the chicpeas and other varieties.

we then tried some of the dishes from the buffet. we had the shrimp mutaffa, the chicken tawouk and the meat kebabs from the mix grill station. the shrimp tasted good and once again the mix grill could be better if they were hot. 

we then got ourselves a kunafa. the staff at the kunafa counter was very nice and friendly. he served us a large piece of the kunafa and also offered to make fresh cotton candy for us. the cotton candy was uncoloured and tasted so good. the kunafa was great as well. 

there is a huge variety of arabic desserts but we had satisfied our sweet craving with the kunafa and the cotton candy and decided to skip the desserts.

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olea offers incredible arabic cuisines. last night they held their annual levantine dinner and it didn't disappoint. 

there were a vast selection of items in each section, whether it was starters, mains or desserts. everything was fresh and delicious that you just can't help yourself but keep eating more and more.

as with the arabic culture, there was a large focus on lamb dishes with a few chicken items here and there. shrimp and one other fish cuisine was available and they were extremely popular with the crowd.

i was pleased with the amount of choices in the dessert counters, they had just about every traditional arabic dessert. if you fancy something else, olea also offered a strawberry and orange fondant. strawberry i have had elsewhere but orange was a new one to me. fresh turkish ice cream was also offered this evening and it was smooth and silky, definitely one of the best ice cream i have tasted.

the servers are attentive and are fast to clear plates, by the way you come back, your water will have already be refilled and you are ready to work away at your new plate. 

traditional arabic drinks were also available. the restaurant decor was nice, seats were comfortable and ambience was nice for night out.

having said all that, 90% of the items here as i mentioned are all arabic so if you don't enjoy arabic cuisines then you should go somewhere else. i really enjoyed that olea focused so much on making sure they have adequate spices in their food, particularly the herbs that you would expect in traditional dishes.

all in all there should be something for everyone.

visited this place last night for dinner buffet , as i entered i was absolutely stunned looking at the ambience as it was incredible , the seating arrangements , the buffet set up everything was just perfect . warm welcome by the staff people and one of them guided us to our respective table . as we sat down we were offered with water and fresh juices . as we went to the salad bar they had huge varieties and it was fresh and very good in presentation . for the starters they had grills which was quiet good . for the main course had their shrimps gravy which is also good . desserts were the show stealer as they had a wide variety and i got to try almost all of them and it was quiet good . over all , had a good experience at olea .

i landed up having breakfast here a few mornings whilst in dubai. what i really liked was the decor, it was clean and modern.

with regards to the food, while the selection is great, with everything from donuts and pastries to traditional breakfast options and a fresh fruit selection. the service was not too favourable. the table weren't set with the proper utensils, tables took long to be cleared, orders did not arrive as promised and i just felt like you constantly had to ask for everything.

i absolutely love this place . the service, the quality of food , the taste of the food they provide . everything about this place is really good. i've been here a couple of times and my all time favs are -batta harra, manaeesh,palestinian musakan. this is an amazing place for all lebanese food lovers .

this review is for the service. i'm not sure how to explain how disappointing their service is. extremely slow and when we complained they said "if you want to go you can go"

who says that? the staff needs to learn how to speak to their customers as even with decent arabic food, they're going to lose out on their customers.

disappointing and not recommended.

located in kempenski, moe ; olea really is a ritzy place. amazing ambiance with music sets the mood to feast.

as we were 14 of us. decided to go for the set menu they have. for salads had the famous smoked eggplant followed by, carrot sweet , bean salad and hummus. for starters had cheese sticks, kebbah and falafil all three filled with taste and flavour. main course was followed by a mix grill plate cooked perfectly followed with a palestinian rice dish served with a piece of tender chicken and vegetables. cheese kunafa and a plate of fruits are real treats for desserts.

overall a lovely place to celebrate an event with friends or family.

aliview
taste -4/5
staff - 4/5
ambiance - 4/5
value for money - 4/5

went during business lunch, very nice place to eat, if you really like to enjoy arabian dishes,  hot and cold mezzah both are delicious  and especially mix grill, properly cooked with the perfect mix of spices . i really loved fresh kanufa for dessert.

overall experience: 5/5
ambiance: 5/5
taste 5/5

went to olea for friday brunch and quite enjoyed it. i really liked the ambiance. the place was clean and had a lovely design. perfect for families. wasn't to loud, so it's good for communicating. they had a turkish guy making turkish ice cream , the lebanese cuisine was tasty, i really loved fresh kanufa for dessert. great deal of you use entertainers vouchers.