Review: Drinks at Gold on 27, Burj Al Arab

For Christmas we had a voucher for dinner at Junsui (full review here) which is one of the restaurants in the Burj Al Arab. As you can imagine, we were beyond excited. It’s not every day you get to step foot in a 7 star hotel, never mind dine in one. We decided we should make a night of it and go for drinks beforehand to really get a sense of what the Burj Al Arab has to offer.

Location

As pretty much anyone who has visited Dubai will know, the Burj Al Arab is the iconic sail like building that stands on its own slightly out to sea on the Jumeirah Beach front. It’s unique and impressive and although it can’t compete on height with the likes of the Burj Khalifa, it still stands out as one of the most well known sights in Dubai. You need a reservation to visit and the cheapest way to steal a look around is by booking a table for drinks.

What’s the story?

For drinks, there’s really two main options to pick from (in my view) and these are bars on the 27th floor – the Skyview Bar and Gold on 27. Skyview bar is at one end of the 27th floor with expansive views over the sea. It’s next door to Al Muntaha, a fine dining restaurant that also shares the floor. Both have the same decor with blue and green interiors in a similar opulent style to the main hotel lobby. Skyview Bar offers light snacks, drinks & afternoon tea. If you’re after drinks, note that they don’t start serving until 7pm in the evening and there is a minimum spend of AED 350 per person here.

At the other end of the floor, Gold on 27 looks inland with views over Dubai including Downtown and the Marina so offers equally stunning views. As you might have guessed, there’s a lot of gold going on from the interiors through to the cocktails (more on the cocktails below). It opens at 6pm and the Gold on 27 minimum spend is less than Skyview at AED 200 per person (however this has almost doubled from the 2018 minimum spend which was AED 105). There’s actually quite a good deal (in Dubai terms) for 2 cocktails and a gourmet dish for AED 250 per person (when you consider that cocktails start at AED 100 it’s worth considering).

• *NOTE this has increased to AED 275 for two drinks (but it’s no longer restricted to cocktails though), however no gourmet dish is mentioned anymore! To see what drinks are included on the menu have a look here. There is also another menu offering a wider selection of drinks including Champagne!

Drinks – Gold on 27

The drinks are pretty unique here and not your standard bellini or mojito so if you’re after something familiar then you’ll be disappointed. But then again this is the Burj Al Arab so you shouldn’t really be expecting the norm. I wasn’t but I don’t think my imagination had stretched to considering that one of the cocktails would include Lobster Bisque! I gave that one a miss. The presentation of the drinks is special, mine came on it’s own dry ice presentation box which made for a great photo. They are pretty strong and although the presentation and the descriptions are impressive, we were weren’t as blown away by the taste, but that might just be because they were pretty unusual! They regular update their creations so have a look at their menu for the latest selection.

The bar snacks are to die for and we were treated to deep fried seaweed which was dangerously moorish considering we were meant to be saving ourselves for dinner downstairs!

Overall

This place delivers the wow factor and is definitely one for the bucket list. Make sure you ask to go and have a look around the Skyview bar so you get to see both of them. Whichever one you pick pre book in advance, you need your reservation at the main barriers to gain access.

The Guestbooks comment: “For a drink with a view and for a very special occasion this has to be on your list. I’d recommend Gold on 27 over Skyview because there’s a lower minimum spend (this was the case when we went but do check). I also preferred the interior but both offer amazing views and an experience to remember.”

Want to make a night of it? Have a look at our review of Junsui also located in the Burj Al Arab.