gottheTshirt

Went to book at the Mango Tree and told that all restaurants on the Pearl, by order of UDC, are no longer serving alcohol. Rumour is that one restaurant had been serving Qataris with falling over water: one of them had done just that and got his dish dash dirty. Now all the restaurants have been banned from serving alcohol. Cannot see any other reason to eat on the Pearl - generally all of the restaurants are grossly over priced and the food is at best mediocre.

co durham boy

It's been in place since last week , i heard a few little rumours about 6 weeks ago about complaints from Qatari's about the terrace brunch @ The Mango Tree , the local gentleman in question wanted a screen put round the whole terrace so that his wife wasn't subject to lewd behavior .

Some say it's a weeks grace , others say that it's cut and dried . Others think that there's a bit of a squabble over the Alcohol business here with only 2 actual companies holding a supply license and The Pearl who are U.D.C are offering individual licenses through themselves .
That is can more or less understand because Qatari's are just fu**ing greedy whatever they buy and sell whether it be houseboys or bottles of Stella Artois.

One things for sure it just shows how small minded and backward this place is . The Pearl is a really nice development , good build quality and great location and the whole thing will be fu**ed up because of incompetence.

Make no mistake these guys here could'nt give a toss if you never got a glass of wine ever again , if it suits them and it makes them money or benefits their own kind then you'll get it if not then forget it.

Welcome to Qatar and roll on 2022 !

scrubbedexpat141

Surely they'll be making a mint off booze anyway?

Is it not "Qatari Diar Booze Emporium" that supplies it?

Strange call this one, maybe will slip back a bit and just short term to appease someone 'important'

co durham boy

4* and 5 * Hotels are the only establishments in Qatar that can apply for an alcohol license to sell through their Hotel. The Hotels are split between 3 ruling families so they all get the cut of the pie in the booze trade .

Restaurants on The Pearl don't fall into that category and you've got some big operators on there such as Gordon Ramsay , The Mango Tree , Megu , Tse Yang , Bice and a host of others , all of which have different backers through different families.

All of these have been very successful over the last 6 months as more places came online and the development took shape. I would imagine that there's a few noses out of joint when they're counting the money in the Majlis.

gottheTshirt

By the way what happened to Garvies - that used to a rough and ready water hole, and has also lost its licence since I was last here in 2006. Probably the same reason.

I spoke to Carluccios (italian restaurant) on the Pearl. The do not expect to get the licence back for at least 6 months. Since their drink was less expensive than others but their food is crap they are not going to survive.

co durham boy

Yeah i know ,just another nail in the coffin for this place really , i didn't use The Pearl much to be honest because there's just not enough places open yet to constitute regular visits . I've had dinner there quite a few times but i've driven as it's a pain in the arse to get to .

The problem with the local mindset here is that they don't give a flying fu** about anything . There's that much money floating around this country it's obscene and that just creates arrogance and ignorance to levels which make the Emirati's look like Quakers !

Saying that you wouldn't think it by looking at the city itself , it's like one big giant landfill site stuck in the middle of the desert that's been shelled with a barrage of 105mm Howitzers .

The say Doha is the new Dubai ......more like the new Kabul !

abbey08

The place is so bad it makes you wonder where the petro dollars have been going for the last forty years - its not been spent on infrastructure like roads, metros or even good standard accommodation. As a country it boasts the highest GDP per capita and is building up a major property portfolio worldwide but 90% of the roads in Doha don't even have pavements. The country is one massive contradiction.

Paracletus

You don't need pavements on Doha, who is insane enough to walk around there? But I have found a similar case on moving to Norway. Also one of the highest GDP nations of the world, but with very low inward investment in infrastructure but also boasts a big overseas property portfolio. They keep going on about overheating the economy and inflation.

NorthernLad

They are not totally stupid. Once the oil/gas runs out they will be the first out of there, relocating to Kensington or the like to pester the locals in their cars:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ck_VH...eature=related

co durham boy

Qatar is the worlds biggest con mate , all fur coat and no knickers..... fake fur at that and Primark knickers !

It didn't take you long to get the lowdown on this place then mate

co durham boy

Yeah your right , they have a very interesting sovereign wealth fund that's managed very astutely .

Very clever at the very top but the other 95% walk backwards

abbey08

The dark ages mate - place, people everything, backwards doesn't even begin to describe it.

co durham boy

Keep at it mate , just wait until you see the effect national day has on these people.

Lock the door , fill the fridge up with beer and do not venture out .


It's like one massive Ali Baba Panto out there with Landruisers and swords !

Johnnyboy11

Well National Day has been shite so far.

Some random Landcruiser deliberately backfiring their vehicle all night to keep everyone awake.

Corniche and all surrounding roads are a no-go zone. Random roadblocks diverting all traffic towards the Industrial Area! Couldn't get to work (near the Sheraton) - gave up after an hour trying this morning.

Malls are all closed, so can't get any food.

21 gun salute just sounded off, and anytime soon it will be the F16's and attack helicopters flying overhead, reminding the inhabitants who's the boss.

Roll on Friday and a trip back to civilistion.

[J]

abbey08

The maniacs are driving along with kids hanging out of sun roofs standing on the tops of the front seats - kind of adds some credibility to the high child mortality rate and RTA's.

They are all f*****g retards - I am staying in to log on to my bank account to remind myself why I am putting up with this s**t.