Trying the famous gold cappuccino and gold ice cream at Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental, Abu Dhabi
One of the must-do experiences in Abu Dhabi
is trying the 23K gold cappuccino!
A few hotel cafés in Abu Dhabi and Dubai
seem to sell gold coffee,
but the most famous one by far
is at Emirates Palace
Mandarin Oriental Hotel.
The hotel name is seriously so long ^_
Official website of Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental, Abu Dhabi
I heard it was originally meant to be used as an actual palace
before it was turned into a hotel.
We didn’t really walk around outside the building,
so I only got video while passing by in the car ^_
From a distance, you can really see how incredibly wide it is.
We stayed on the opposite side,
not the beach side,
so we only did a quick taste-test visit,
but if I ever get the chance again, I’d love to stay here too.
And the room shown in that screenshot
was the chea-pest one—did you see that price? lol
Anyway, this is what the guest self-parking lot looks like.
I took this photo so I’d remember where we parked.
One thing I noticed in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, though:
no matter how gorgeous and flashy the buildings are,
the parking garages can feel surprisingly basic.
Honestly, they’re nowhere near as polished as the parking at big malls in Korea.
Officially, it’s rated as a 5-star hotel,
but along with Burj Al Arab in Dubai,
it’s one of those places people casually call a 7-star hotel.
Even the entrance and exit doors are separated.
This was displayed near the hotel entrance as a signature fan,
and it was pretty, but I kept wondering—does it actually fold and open?
I mean, I’m guessing it wasn’t made for actual fanning anyway,,
As you keep walking farther inside,
the center of the hotel opens up dramatically like this,
and you can see gold detailing layered across every level.
I’d already seen tons of photos and videos before going,
but in person, the sheer scale of the space
felt nothing like what I’d seen online.
Apparently, almost everything that looks gold
is actually real gold. Wild, right?
I even heard they replace the gold leaf about every five years..!
If you stand on the little dot
right in the middle of the lobby
and look straight up, you get this amazing view of the ceiling pattern.
Besides details like the wall décor,
there are so many extravagant chandeliers
that no matter where you look, it’s just one wow moment after another.
Emirates Palace really is something else.
Since we were short on time, that was it for the hotel tour,
and it was finally time for the main goal: the gold cappuccino!
On Google Maps,
both the Boutique and Episodes
showed up as places for gold coffee,
so I wasn’t totally sure and just went to find it in person.
It seemed like they were actually the same place? Or connected somehow.
If you’re not sure,
just ask someone in the lobby where the café is and they’ll point you there.
The opening hours are 08:00 to 23:30.
This is what the café looks like,
and they operate two of these rounded seating spaces.
Maybe one is the Boutique and the other is Episodes?
Anyway, if you tell them there are two of you at the front,
they check for a table and guide you in
after asking you to wait a moment.
There was even live music around the café,
with someone playing the piano._
A little later, we were shown to this side.
So over-the-top glamorous, right?
Interestingly, they spell Episodes as Epi2odes.
Let’s take a look at the menu.
They have everything from light bites like salads and sandwiches
to meat dishes, desserts, and even alcohol.
But the thing we came for
was the gold cappuccino—90 dirhams.
I mean, in another recent review
I’m pretty sure it said 80 dirhams,
so they really raised the price fast ^_
At 90 dirhams, that’s about $24.
And since tipping is part of the culture here,
you’ll probably want to leave a little tip too.
We came for a little luxury splurge,
so of course we had to take a ton of photos.
Ta-da—after a short wait, the gold cappuccino arrived.
There was a generous dusting of gold on top, under the palace design.
The design was a little crooked though, lol.
Maybe I’d built it up too much in my head,
but honestly, I was a tiny bit underwhelmed.
The cup and overall presentation
felt less luxurious than I expected.^_
Still, I wasn’t about to waste a single flake of gold.
While I was happily drinking it,
my husband secretly snapped photos of me and immortalized me on Instagram.
As we laughed and shared the coffee,
they brought over the ice cream setup.
The gold ice cream price wasn’t listed on the menu,
but if I remember right, it was about the same as the gold cappuccino
or maybe a little cheaper.
Ta-da—the gold ice cream arrived.
This time it wasn’t gold dust,
but a full sheet of gold leaf.
It was laid on so thinly…
The ice cream itself just tasted like vanilla,
but it was a rich, dense, really good vanilla soft serve.
The gold had no real flavor,
and it didn’t add much texture on the tongue either.
Honestly, it’s one of those things you try purely for the fun of it.
We had to head back to Dubai that evening,
so we were a little pressed for time.
We couldn’t explore the hotel as slowly as I wanted,
and after just stopping by the restroom, we headed out._;
I was sad we couldn’t see more,
so now I definitely want to come back again someday, hehe.
On the way back out to the parking lot,