But its latest and most grand addition is the New York-based Japanese restaurant brand, Megu: “Megu is our flagship restaurant and offers the ultimate Japanese lifestyle dining experience,” says Malouf.
“We have given it the most prominent location on the island; its ceilings are 15m high, which gives a cathedral-like sense of space and incredible loft-type views.
This is a brand which many consider as positioned higher in terms of quality than the likes of Nobu or Zuma, and it certainly is in terms of price. It’s a very expensive but very exquisite dining experience and the food is prepared using only the very best ingredients.”
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Malouf has been able to benefit from the experience of other island reclamation projects: “We have learnt from observing other developments that you can create the most beautiful place but if it doesn’t have a sense of community and retail dynamism, whether it is high end or casual dining that you’re going for, it will need to be changed.”
But despite the spread of dining options already on offer, Malouf says that he feels pressure to open the less expensive retail and restaurant options more quickly than was originally planned.
“So far we have only opened the first phase of The Pearl, which is the area where all of the super yachts and big boats are housed. As a result the retail options open at the moment are mostly the upscale and luxurious options.
“However, there is a bigger and growing demand for more casual dining options with lower price points from families with small children — they’re looking for something priced at around AED100-150 (US$27 – 40), instead of AED200-250 ($54-68).
“Although trendy and expensive places are welcomed, we have realised we now need to speed up the development of those more affordable dining options.”
Although political unrest across the region has put pressure on food prices, Malouf says that it is the fixed costs of staff salaries, accommodation and transportation that worry him more: “It’s tricky to manage because you are caught between wanting to provide a great service experience and wanting to control costs.
For me that is more pressing that the food costs, which are variable; if you don’t have guests then you aren’t paying it. But your staff are going to be there anyway whether you have one guest or 100 guests.
This is an added pressure that you don’t have in Europe where people are paid by the hour — no-one works by the hour here.”
In contrast to Dubai, Malouf says Doha is pitched at business traffic more than tourists: “Doha is attracting more business tourism, in particular cultural and sports tourism,” he says.
“Obviously the win to host the football world cup in 2022 was its biggest success, but Qatar is hosting around 85 to 100 international calibre sporting events every year and these fill the hotels.”
With such potential for growth and such cherry-picked dining options, The Pearl looks set to establish itself as a gem of an F&B destination.
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