Having been on my to-visit list for a long time, it wasn’t without disappointment that I finally made it to Barbary - branding themselves as “Deli + Cocktail Club”, the expectations were far from met with impersonal bartenders, average cocktails and a volume more fit for a nightclub. The drink menu looks promising, where at least someone has put some love into the cocktails, on paper. Did the bartenders lose ambitions due to the guests coming for the party vibe instead of the cocktails, or did the demanding aficionados stop coming due to the lost ambitions? Your guess is as good as mine.
Come here if you’re in the neighborhood and are up for some pre-clubbing, but leave the cocktail anticipation at home.
Atmosphere: 4/8
Loud music, a lighting scheme worthy any of the big nightclubs, and just on-par cocktails make this place a miss in the hit-or-miss category.
Cocktails: 4/8
A cocktail menu with ambitions does you no good if you can’t deliver what’s in it.
Bartender: 4/8
The bartenders seem bored, if not lackadaisical - they do deliver a fair Negroni, but they can’t even muster an orange zest.
Ice: 5/8
At least they have big ice cubes - uneven, egg-shaped spheres, but still.
https://www.barbary.ae/
Wyndham Hotel
Barsha Heights