We were so excited to know that the Mall of Qatar had finally opened its door for the public. First we decided to wait for a while until the crowds settle down but to be honest we couldn’t resist! I mean knowing the fact that The Cheesecake factory, Eataly, UNO Chicago Grill had finally been launched in Qatar, who could stop!
The mall is quite far away from our house, so it took quite a lot of time to reach. We decided to first have a look around the whole place, what brands had opened, which ones hadn’t. After a bit of retail therapy and roaming around the whole place, which is quite big as compared to other malls in Qatar, we finally made our way to the ‘Green oasis’ where majority of the restaurants are located.
We were really exhausted and hungry by then. We had to choose between Eataly and The Cheesecake factory. The Cheesecake factory was really crowded and waiting time was more than an hour so we decided to go to Eataly. There was a small queue in front of the desk. We also joined the line and started waiting for our turn. The queue didn’t even move a bit for like 20 minutes or so. Suddenly a group of ladies came from the back and went right in front of the desk, asked for a table and got it within 5 minutes! We felt so dumb for a minute that how we had been waiting for our turn and what just happened right in front of us! Well we still kept our cool and patiently waited.
When we finally got seated, we were presented with the menu. The menu had quite a lot of options to choose from. For starters we ordered Mozzarella In Carrozza. For mains we had Salmone Alla Piastra, Rolatina Di Pollo, Pollo Arrosto and Margherita Pizza. For drinks we ordered Minted lemonade, Apple juice and Strawberry Mojito.
The drinks came in really quick. The apple juice was plain green apple juice while the minted lemonade was really good, cold and refreshing just the way it is supposed to be. The strawberry Mojito lacked flavor though.
The starter, Mozzarella In Carrozza and Margherita Pizza came in soon too. We found the pizza to be just average, there wasn’t anything special about it. While the starter was good, it was deep fried toasted bread stuffed with mozzarella fior di latte, sun-dried tomatoes and basil, which was served with spicy tomato sauce. It was appetizing and well balanced.
We waited for the main course for a long long time. While waiting for the food, we looked around at other tables, where customers who had arrived after us had received their orders. Also we noticed that every one was being served with this welcome bread and olive oil which we hadn’t received, when we had arrived.
After constant reminders and waiting time of almost 40 minutes, main course was served. By then, we had become really tired and as it was a Sunday, we were also worried about reaching home on time. Well coming onto the taste of food, the Salmon Alla Piastra was really good. It was grilled salmon topped with Salmoriglio sauce and mashed potato. The serving size was just right for us. The mashed potato was also good, it wasn’t gluey or gummy. Rollatina Di Pollo, which was chicken leg marinated with fresh herbs, wrapped in veal bacon was good too.
Well the real bummer of the night was Pollo Arrosto. It was roasted chicken, marinated with fresh herbs. Apparently it looked just fine. The taste was okay too, but as we digged in, we found it to be raw! The raw chicken just turned us off and we weren’t even a mood of sitting there anymore. The waiter just took away our dish and we asked for the bill.
Upon receiving the bill we found out that we hadn’t been charged for the raw chicken. But were shocked to see the price of the drinks. They were such a rip-off. Just imagine we paid QR. 26 for a glass of apple juice!
It was just a bad bad experience for us. Not to mention the attitude of the staff. We understand they had just opened and the place was really crowded, but the staff should still be prepared enough, as huge crowds are definitely expected in the initial days. And an international chain such as Eataly is expected to live up to a reasonable level.
For more information and reviews visit Zomato:
D-TOWN FOOD DIARIES 