Barrel 12 – Can They Kick It..? Yes. No. Um, Maybe..?
Friday Brunch: Every Friday from 12:00-4:00 pm, followed by Happy Hour until 7pm. 3 courses & 3 house beverages for AED 250, or 3 courses & 4 house beverages & 2 shooters for AED 300.
Steak Night: Every Monday: 2 steaks with a choice of sauce, and a bottle of house grape for AED 295, available from 7pm.
Match Days: Choose any burger from the menu, plus a pint of your choice for AED 99.
Saturday & Sunday Roasts: Choice of Beef, Chicken, Lamb & Vegetarian Roast Dinner with all the trimmings AED95; Roast Dinner & Selected house beverage AED120; Deluxe Roast (2meats) AED120; 3 Meat Roast AED140; Kids Roast AED50
Pie & Pint Night, Wednesday: Pie of the day served with mash, mushy peas & house gravy, plus a pint - AED95
Steak Night:Enjoy any 2 steaks from the menu with your choice of sauce, and a bottle of house grape for AED295. Mondays from 7pm.
Happy Hour daily from 4pm-7pm
Sun to Thurs: 12PM TO 12AM, Fri - Sat: 8AM TO 12AM
Drinks
Draught: Heineken (36 AED), Paulaner (38), Estrella (38), Magners (40)
Bottles: Hobgoblin (45), Corona (30), Pilsner Urquell (30), Estrella Damm (30), Leffe Blonde / Brune (32), Paulaner Weiss (35), Budweiser (28), Heineken (28), Kopparberg Cider (several flavours) (40)
Food
Starters: Soup of the day (30), Home smoked salmon carpaccio (47), Lobster prawn and crab tian (55), Fois gras terrine (50), Twice-baked cauliflower cheese souffle (45), Goats cheese tart (35), Seared scallops (59), Duck ravioli (49)
Mains: Fish and chips (85), Pan roasted lamb rump (92), Black treacle braised short rib of beef (96), Chargrilled chicken (88), Breaded veal chop (110), Pan-seared sea bass (104), Merguez sausage (85)
Burgers: Classic (77), Smoked (84), 4 Cheese (84), Veg (69)
Palm Views East
+971 4 552 4000
Screen from any angle
Good drinks, food menu
On its day really good food
Reasonably priced
Inconsistent service
Dirty entrance
Difficult to walk to
Food/service can be poor
There’s a split in the PJG jury when it comes to Barrel 12, the sports bar that lies directly opposite Sun& in Palm Views West, with some extolling the quality of its food, great staff and atmosphere, while others reporting poor service, sub standard food, and an atmosphere that could only be appreciated by a denizen of outer space (yes, zero atmosphere).
We know the chef is good – you can read his CV here – and this reviewer has personally tasted some of his dishes and found them to be excellent. What seems to be missing is consistency. You can have a great experience, and you can have a poor one – especially if you order something slightly less chosen, and a change in shift means your food does not get the attention it should.
The food and drink menus may be found here.
We also know that on its day Barrel 12 is a barrel of fun. When it’s busy, on big occasions, it has the right space and the right dimensions to be a sports bar par excellence. There are enough screens to see a match looking in almost any direction, from any position. When there is no big game on there’s a different game on each screen, and a different talking point.
If, that is, there was anyone to do the talking. Quite often Barrel 12 is less than a quarter full which means if you do not bring happiness and energy with you, you won’t find it here.
As with Sun& on the other side of the Palm’s trunk, the outside area of Barrel 12 is dirty and grungy, while there is no pavement to actually reach the bar. Given how impressions are formed, it is quite understandable how those who are not filled with joi de vivre before they arrive, can get a very different first impression of Barrel 12 than those carrying the part mood with them.
Our view? Barrel 12 could be one of the best new additions to the Palm, but it needs to make its service and food consistent, it needs to promote itself more, and it needs to really, really tidy up its front of house.
Location