Bye Bye

I am quite impressed with sajmarwab's sense of logic:

"Maze food is very very tasty, if food is good why you pissed at alcohol no coming?"

My gooooshhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and yes, this topic is about Maze. really aMAZE!

brit - local investors made their money at the launch....

who cares. move on....

I wouldn't be surprised if the local investors were compensated for their losses..

Jhopp, not everyone...there are apparently some who finally can enjoy the Pearl ; now that there is no alcohol...;)

In an attempt to get this thread trainwreck back on track...

Maze had some great offers and it is a shame it closed down. Their 140 Riyals for a 3 course lunch was an amazing deal, considering the quality food they had. Unsurprsisingly, most of these restaurants rely on alcohol sales to bridge costs of running such an upscale venue. Quality ingredients are shipped in directly for a restaurant of that nature. There is much more cost involved than your typical Applebee's or Chili's frozen pre-made crap that everyone seems to want to make the comparison to.

I, for one, will miss their lunch special while sitting out on the balcony overlooking the Pearl complex. It was a nice atmosphere.

Shame on the authorities for pulling the rug out from under these businesses. I cant imagine the losses that some of these investors have endured. (Restaurateurs and Property owners alike) Actions like this will certainly make everyone hesitant to invest in the country. Everyone loses.

Thought MM is leaving QL :-/

i think miss mimi will win if we make a quick search

Oh really, xena.. come on .. let us both do a quick research here and find thread against Muslims/Non Muslims, West/East , Arab.. and see what our search results have to say ;)

do you?

We don't care that you don't admit to how much you abuse us, or how much you hate us - because your posts on here, show that much.

A decent debate isn't possible, because everything ends up being derogatory toward the west and again, showing how much hate you have.

I have mostly tried to remain partial and unbaised, but recently, civil remarks and trying to keep the peace has become tiresome, as no reasonable comments are posted from a certain element of this board.

You may think I am being racist when in fact, I am stating truths that people of the same nationality as these posted have noticed too. I don't care where people come from, but when they start having one track minds and being repetitive in their common goal of being derogatory to other users, then I get seriously bored and will start to retaliate, albeit with sarcasm.....

Bingo... I hit the nail on the head!!!!

LOL CL :)) !

For the love of God people! This was a thread about a restaurant closing!!!!!!

Talking about sensitive people here, you are the first person who comes in my mind... .. Asian/Eastern people get abused equally on this forum .. thing is when its on West, you guys take it all seriously and feel paranoid about us .. you have to understand this.. WE MUSLIMS/ASIANS/ARABS DO NOT WANT TO DESTROY YOU OR YOUR WEST !!

Oh, and why is it that i can't i see you laughing or joking .. in fact i see Chota_Sanki laughing his a** off here ..

My knight!!!!! :)

no living soul can dare to abuse no merci in the presence of chota_sanki

I think the westerners on this forum get abused way more than any other nationality. So please, don't even try to make out that you are so hard done by.

The problem is that people here are so sensitive and take things so personally. If you will notice, most westerners laugh it off and make a joke of it (as you will see by my statements above). Where as easterners seem to be way more serious and don't see the humor in anything.

You need to lighten up and be able to laugh at yourself a bit more.

Oh and FYI... I hardly get any trouble here, way less than you give any other westerners, which is nice. BTW... next time you get dumped by a western girl, learn not to take it so personally:-)

Cl you know what...the same thing goes the other way...look around QL...who is bullied all the time? Who is blamed for all kinds of things all the time? Who is talked down to all the time?

I tell you who...the Western people and countries.

Xena.. nothing happened recently.. its just westerners like you who are so ignorant and yet claim themselves "know-it-all" who influenced me to come down to their level and talk sh** that they love ....

Im not going to teach or preach anyone here.. But you need to learn ONE thing for sure.. you cannot just go on bullying people, talk sh*t about their race, nation or religion and expect them to bow their heads in return.. you'll get exactly what you give them ... no wonder you're getting all this sh** unlike any other westerner here

CL and read. It will give you a suggestion.

I don't need to learn anything.... remember, I am a know-it-all westerner....

I feel very sorry for whatever recently happened CL, that has lobbed you into the same catergory as other derogatory users.

The saying "You can always tell the losers, by the company they chosers" is very apt here.

Are you sure that 103% of Google employees aren't Indian?

Rofl...good one Babu!

that survey is done by the "western google" u see which is again false

Strange... when I do a google search on how many Indians work at NASA, I am told that 5% are of Asian descent. That includes ALL Asia, not just India.

Do Indians REALLY fall for such BS?

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2007-01-01/india/27887414_1_cell-lines-simple-solution-life-sciences

Xena.. What you want me to do, teach??

I"d better start from you than anyone else.. interested?

Ramsay are the producers of Zee Horror Show

Xena, I actually do think they are amusing.

until our favourite "thread crashers" arrived and took the thread in a different direction.

Why can people not stick to a topic and discuss it civilly?

Why is it that nothing is sacred and even threads with "death" notices, end up being crashed by people who clearly have nothing better to do than hate others.

Reign your boys in, CL, teach them there is a time and place for everything, including when to pass stupid unwarrented comments.

FYI, I have already admitted to being guilty of going off topic - in response to the childlike minds that find their one line idiocy amusing....

There is always a rainbow at the end of the tunnel.. I'm hearing rumours that Rizks' Karak Chai and Papadom , Pakora Emorium is taking up the lease from the Maze ...

Oh, this topic was about Gordon Ramsay's restaurant .. sorry my bad, i thought we had a west and east war going on here ..

I started... but basically, its the little eastern boys trying to prove the fact that Gordon Ramsay had this coming to him, as he is western and cannot do anything right... and booze is entirely to blame:-D

What does the percentage of Indians working for Western companies have to do with Gordon Ramsey closing his much hyped restaurant in the Pearl, Qatar? Unless you're worried about the Indian bus boys?

our technology HEHAHEHA

38% of doctors in USA are Indians.

12% scientists in USA are Indians.

36% of NASA scientists are Indians.

34% of Microsoft employees are Indians.

28% of IBM employees are Indians.

17% of INTEL scientists are Indians.

13% of XEROX employees are Indians.

ROFL.. at "our technology, buy our goods, drinks, food".... Oh well, what to do we like to "use" you and your stuff ... we are just too relaxed to work hard and make our own :P

Have a wonderful week

it all leads back to the wicked West.

Please people, if you don't like us and our ways, why do you continue to use our technology, buy our goods, drinks, food.... all you are succeeding in doing is making us rich, so we can buy more alcohol and pay for the education that teaches us to steal more oil;-)

Bannu ? Watdapak is tat ? :(

sounds like some reptiles name.....:)

Ha ha :)

BF~breakfast :):)

I am Pathan but not from Bannu ;)

I think most people are happy to have all those things with their meal Khanan, but do you really want to drive all the way to the Pearl to do it at overpriced restaurants and stare at overpriced shops?

No thanks, would rather go to Souq Waqif for dinner any day.

Your BF?

O yeah I forgot you is a Paathan..:) ROFL

Yes Flor1212 The Pearl could be the next Al Sadd, I can see a Filipino grocery store soon on the Pearl..:)

who cares ? ;)

I am happy to have karak with my BF, a Al Rayyan mineral water with my lunch and a Barbican in my dinner at Turkish Central.

Yes Flor1212 The Pearl could be the next Al Sadd, I can see a Filipino grocery store soon on the Pearl..:)

but that is Qatar, unless it is written and a guarantee from the top, then take the risk. Miscalculations is not a problem of the place, but by the occupant.

I wonder if the situation in the Pearl would be different if it had been advertised as not having alcohol in the beginning?

There are plenty of restaurants in Doha that do really well and don't offer alcohol, and they are not just patroned by non-Westerners.

I think much of this is backlash from people ticked off at the powers that be, rather than people not being able to enjoy dinner without a drink.

so we can enjoy the place more.

Any good pizza parlor?

CL was that parachute coconut oil :P

Now we will have Chilli's, TGI Friday or Applebees there!

you will realized that the main reasons is politics and it's leaders. But who taught them politics? And who taught them the dirt of politics. Who influenced these leaders? And who exploit these nations?

I've been giving oil to many girlfriends and then some asian invaded me :(

none flor they migrate to GCC for a short contract

present in the west although not so highlighted. Are you telling me no beggars or homeless people in the west?

some give oil and if they dont then they r "invaded"

nope we r so noble that we even gave our kohinoor as charity

but it doesn't explain why SOME countries in the East are as poor as dirt and have people living in slums who attach themselves to the windows of vehicles to beg for money as those same cars drive on potholed roads, along with cattle that walk in town centres...

But us westerners are the stupid ones;-)

I know NM.... I know!!!!

Xena, just look around you. People/nations who do that are weak and will remain weak until they change and actually FIX what is not working. Not that I think that will happen anytime soon.....and better for me...gives me work and money! :P

Is Babu trying to say that non-western people are morons who get their money stolen all the time?

as was you Miss M. I memo you were one of the first to predict that Ramsay is bound to close down his resto(can imagine all the cussing those in authority may have been subjected too!)

Guess this is part and parcel of the new laws and I do hope the Pearl now has some backup plan to deal with all their losses and the backlashes from clients and investors.

Ramsay group just need to move to another place. Problem solved.

Sometimes I wonder, fine dining can be done in hotels or at home, was it really dining in TPQ or just a show-off?

TGIF should open one there, it will be great.

and here i was thinking Miss Mimmi is finally leaving us..

Damn, I was so wrong !!!

Yup babu...watch out, the West may steal the pants off your behind...and you won't even notice until it's too late :P

what means "west " wealth easily stolen today, tomorrow "

to blame someone else... than to take responsibility...

don't you know that?

Its just like the New South African government..... Apartheid ended nearly 20 years ago... but they still blame racism and the old regime for all the current problems....

What's due to the financial crisis in "the West"?

Is it Nikki Beach not opening on the Pearl (even though they have opened numerous others worldwide in Western countries)?

Or is it Gordon Ramsay closing down on the Pearl (even though he is opening TWO other restaurants, WITH alcohol, in Doha)?

I really can't see your reasoning here, so feel free to correct me, because it seems to me that the only place where things consistently close down and lose fistfuls of money is The Pearl Qatar.

I wish people like sajmarhab

Would stop blaming the west for everything and by the way if the west is so bad, why the hell are you using its language and technology? Shesh what a Muppet!

Dude i work there... trust me... low income is because of the lack of alcohol. There is only 1 restaurant that still makes money. The rest... 1 is on break-even and the rest are loosing lots and lots of money.

See, we are back to the one and only reason ...The West.

Financial crisis in Europe and US,

most of these started to close world wide... it is normal, it is not bcoz alcohol ban in Pearl...

Has the Nikki Beach resort opened in The Pearl yet???

Maybe they are thinking of pulling out of this investment too, given the uncertain legal outlook that is swallowing up foreign investment in The Pearl.

It was supposed to open in...

February

http://www.hoteliermiddleeast.com/12484-celebrities-to-head-to-doha-for-nikki-beach-launch/

April

http://www.isolamagazine.com/Art/Pages/NikkiBeachResortSpaThePearl%E2%80%93Qatar.aspx

June

http://www.qatarisbooming.com/2012/01/10/nikki-beach-hotels-resorts-wins-international-aaa-5-star-diamond-award-2/

July

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/qatar-s-nikki-beach-resort-serve-alcohol-despite-pearl-ban-444330.html

Cherru you can go for both. I would not go to a restaurant just because it served alcohol but the food was bad. It was a happy combination of both at the pearl for a brief short while.

Prism, yes businesses close all the time but so many in such a short space of time and all next to each other, we know the answer to that question, don't we now?

and it was fancy dining...but I think with the bill we got, we could have made a pool party with lots of food and drinks....lol

It is OK...businesses open and they close. Happens all the while, they can always find a better market and we can always find an alternative to them.

It is a known fact that most of the customers going to the posh restaurants are going there for alcohol and not for the food.

TPQ is becoming the big white elephant of qatar, bit of a joke really

The true matter of the fact is that vast majority of the people from all over the world who will be flying into Doha to for the 2022 will expect to be able to enjoy alcohol with food and they will do it openly - it’s part of the travelling sports person's package, like it or not! And I'm sorry to say that if the locals don't accept that then perhaps they should consider renouncing the host title and handing it back to FIFA!

Gordon Ramsay's Maze restaurant, is having a pretty good tasty foods...

actually it is not the food that attract people over there, it is ALCOHOL...

(confusion)

they dropped the plan and got the idea of Oink Oink instead

Neither the restaurants nor the retail shops are making money in Pearl. As per my info there is no chance for a reversal of the liquor ban. UDC was planning to open a big Perfumes and Cosmetics shop in pearl but fortunately decided to drop the plan.

too many fast food restaurants already, not sure TPQ needs more.

Carluccios used to do a good trade but I believe not anymore, some i have spoken to say it is empty even at the weekends. may even be closed now, shame, it was a decent little italian bistro

How many QLers will be interested in Gordon Ramsay's?

The Pearl management should get on a plane and visit the Jumeirah Beach walk in Dubai.

If they could create something with even 50% of the atmosphere that they have there, then it would be a 500% improvement on the current offering at The Pearl.

Whatever happened to the Deux Magot restaurant? It seems like that place has been closed since last year, or am I wrong? And it never had alcohol, it was just over priced and too posh for Doha.

Let's see if the new burger joint livens things up.

Maybe a Turkey Central outlet there could be a step in the right direction?

Allowing expats to drink is not going to make a Qatari any less Qatari, nor is banning expats from drinking going to save Qatari culture.

not surprised. I remember the debate from a few months back from those cheering about the alcohol ban and saying the restaurants will be good to visit now no alcohol is being sold. As predicted by many others, those that were happy with the ban now have closed restaurants to visit. Maze is just one of them but I believe it is just one of many that have closed down in the last few months.

Apparently they are going to open a Maccy Dee's at the Pearl. Gordon Ramsey is way overrated anyway...

I used to ask the same in Riyadh. I realised that there are locals who go in and spend thousands at a time and manpower costs are low..

Perhaps its the same in Qatar..

Moza: Many have invested in the Pearl, Would be interesting to hear their side ...

Aside from the restaurants I simply cannot understand how the retail makes any money there either. It seems like the shops are forever on sale, and forever empty.

Will the luxury boutiques be the next to start closing too? Or is there a demand for 30,000 Qr dresses that I just don't understand?

It is an example of what happens to investment in an uncertain business climate.

As I said on another thread to do with buying property at the pearl, why buy when the laws are uncertain and change overnight. Where is the legal protection for non-citizens if I invest in the pearl? The answer is obvious, none. Invest there and you are gambling with your money and gambling is haram!

I found the restaurants at the Pearl a little expensive anyway :O(

The Pearl should just rebrand itself and cease with this 'luxury' nonsense.

Open a Fridays, a Chillis and an Applebees and you might actually attract people to go there.

As it is the only places that have any decent turnover are the coffee shops.

Agree Flor. Good Move. No sense in keeping a failing restaurant open, better to close it and show Qatar the mistake it's making in banning alcohol on the Pearl.

Nice to hear that they are opening a couple of restaurants at the St. Regis though.

no i dint i just got so excited with the title

Ramsay group!

@ Chota... did u even read?

The alcohol ban is placing a lot of stress on the businesses from TPQ. I know that for a fact because i work there.

What the company running TPQ does not understand is that the money in TPQ doesn't come from the locals... it comes from all the foreigners that invested a great deal of money and time to call that place home.

If the alcohol doesn't come back... UDC and the subsidiaries (mostly HDC - the company that has the restaurants on TPQ) are going to be in more trouble then ever.

r u quitting Ql