New Asia Club

Exclusive bar high up in the Raffles pyramid 2 Reviews

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If the idea of spending Dhs35 for a bottle of water – that fancy Norwegian Voss water, no less – doesn’t raise an eyebrow, then congratulations: you’re a perfect fit for New Asia Bar, situated in Raffles hotel, at the very peak of the Wafi pyramid. And you’ll be drinking in style, what with the plush furniture, moody lighting and rather spectacular views.

Oh – and the whopping great big statue head behind the bar, which looks like it fell off the back of a lorry on the way back from the new. Indiana Jones movie. The venue’s exclusivity is emphasised by its ‘hotel guests and couples only’ door policy, which is present all the time, but doesn’t kick in fully until the weekends to keep out the riff-raff and lairy types (and thus most of Time Out).

This also means that the average age of the clientele is skewed higher than in many places in Dubai, leading to an atmosphere more suited to chatting and chilling than busting a move on the dance floor. It’s also very quiet; we got there at about 11pm and were easily outnumbered by the admittedly helpful staff. People started filtering in properly towards 12midnight. But at least it let us have the fancy, 60s-style spherical swinging chairs all to ourselves.

Time Out reviews bars anonymously and pays for meals. Of course, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or independence of user reviews.