During the first night of our stay at JA Palm Tree Court, we dined at their signature restaurant, White Orchid. Its located close to the main lobby area of the resort, which was a few minutes walk from our suite, but because it was cold and windy outside, we called for a buggy to pick us up. Within just a few minutes, our driver knocked on the door and drove us to the restaurant. The maître d’ was already aware of our arrival, and we were taken to our table.

The ambiance of the restaurant is so beautiful and its dim-lit with romantic candles and has touches of elegant modern Thai decor all over the dining area.

Our waiter came and introduced himself and asked us if we would like a baby chair for our little Khalifa. Since the chairs were quite broad, Khalifa was just fine in the seating that was provided. After flipping through the incredibly extensive menu, I could see that most of the dishes were Thai and Asian-inspired, which was great because both my husband and I love Thai cuisine!

I really didn’t know what to choose so I opted for the set menu, which also gives a couple of different options. The waiter explained that the theme for January’s set menu is “Flower Festival” and there are elements of feminine flowers in all of the dishes on the set menu. I loved the sound of it, so I went with that. After my husband gave his order, they also asked what Khalifa would like to eat, and said that they could make him a special order of anything he might enjoy. After letting us know that chicken strips and fries are available, we went with that. They even brought out a little kids plate and cutlery set for him, which was surprising because the restaurant is so elegant that you wouldn’t expect them to have kid’s things on hand.

When our menu was taken away, a small starter of prawn crackers and dip was placed on the table. Our appetizers were presented to us shortly and they were so beautifully garnished. I ordered the Crispy Soft Shell Crab, which was a whole crab completely breaded and deep fried. There was so much moisture retained in the crab and the portion size was more than what I had expected for a starter. The crab was laid on top of a bed of sweet corn that had a little bit of heat from the spices. On the side was a refined presentation of vegetables and a mango salsa.

My husband ordered directly off of the main menu, and he got the Tasting Plate because he wanted to try a little bit of everything. On his tasting plate, there was a grilled chicken satay, a fried vegetable spring roll, a batter fried prawn with a touch of wasabi and it came with two dipping sauces– the sweet plum sauce and a peanut sauce.

Our mains came in good time, soon after we were done with the appetizers. You can really tell that the servers and chefs work well together because they were really in sync with timings and we never had to wait too long for the upcoming course. The staff were also really friendly with Khalifa, always keeping him entertained and happy, and they even gave him a couple of JA duckies to add to his collection!

My main course was probably the best beef ribs I’ve ever had! The name for the dish is Jaeng Kiew Wan Short Ribs, but if thats too hard for you to say, you can just call it the BBQ Short Ribs. The dish was the epitome of melt-in-your mouth meats. It was so tender and so beautifully glazed with a not-too heavy BBQ sauce. Along with it, there were seasoned vegetables laid out in a half moon shape. Everything about it was exquisite– from the hearty taste to the simple and stylish presentation.

My husband had the Szechuan Beef, which was perfectly grilled Black Angus beef laid on top of soba noodles, spring onions, long straw mushrooms and a flavorful stock. He really loved his dish as well, so much so that he filled up on it and didn’t have room for dessert.

I saved up though for dessert, because it sounded so good! I got the Mango Brûlée, which as it sounds, is a mango creme brûlée and it comes with a scoop of coconut ice cream, fresh cut fruits and crushed nuts. The brûlée had the perfect ‘crack’ sound on it as the spoon went through it. It was light and refreshing and so good that my husband who was “too full for anything else” ended up having more than half of it!

I really liked our dinner at White Orchid. Not only was it such an ornate and elegant restaurant, but it has an extensive menu, the staff are incredibly on-point with service, and the prices are actually quite affordable for such a glamorous restaurant.

Ratings (0-5): 

• Staff/Service: 5
• Ambience: 5
• Food: 4.5
• Presentation: 5
• Cleanliness: 5
• Value for money: 5

Overall Rating: 4.9

Worth Trying?: White Orchid is definitely worth trying, and I would highly recommend it for a special occasion. There’s nothing to regret about this restaurant.

For more information, call White Orchid at +971 4 814 5822.