The Jay-Sun has set

Anyone who is familiar with Al Ain's wild n crazy nightlife will know Jaysun B of the Horse and Jockey pub. He's been running the show on and off for the last five years, having left for the bright lights of Dubai once or twice, he's returned to the more lively Al Ain scene...

Sadly, for Al Ain, he's off for good. Yes, he's left the country and he's not planning on coming back. Who will replace him, we do not know. Will the Horse and Jockey become just another pick up joint? Will there be no more Quiz Nite, no more Karaoke, no more Scalelectrix Nites? As the exodus continues who's coming in to fill the vacuum?

The priciest boozer in town...

One of my favourite drinking spots in Dubai is the wonderful 'Up on the Tenth' bar in the Intercon. It's expensive, oh yes, but it's like being on the set of Miami Vice or Moonlighting. It's so 80s, all that black and chrome plus the smoky lounge environment and all that sweet jazz music wafting around- I love it! Next time I will dig out that black velvet puffball number with the shoulder pads.

However, when in Al Ain I don't expect to take out a mortgage to buy a beer. This was one of the comments falling from expat lips over the weekend. Were they talking about Trader Vics (which we all know is not cheap)? No! They were talking about the HnJ*!

OMG, the wonderful HnJ. Dark interior, bum crushing seats, fag-stained wallpaper- no more. Bring on the subtle lighting, the dance floor, the 'Hoxton' seats, the extended terrace. The place looks wonderful; well done Intercon for dragging the place into 2006. BUT what have you done with the prices!!!

There are two ways to look at this. Going to the HnJ will become a treat, something worth dressing up a bit for. If you want to pour booze down your throat there are now cheaper places to go to. This gives the HnJ a new exclusivity and keeps the riff raff out (you know who you are and I'm saying it as a compliment not a diss). However, this means that the HnJ will be dead for most nights of the week while everyone else is p****** it up in Pacos. The HnJ will have to raise their prices even more!

OR.... The HnJ lowers their prices to pre-refurbishment levels, everyone comes back including new clientele who have heard how reasonable the prices are and how much nicer it is in there than Pacos. Voila! The HnJ are quids in plus good ole Jaysun B is happy too. And Jaysun B is the nearest thing we have to a Catboy in Al Ain (is that a good thing????)

* For non-Al Ainites, HnJ stands for 'Horse and Jockey', the famous British-style pub in the Intercontinental Hotel.

STOP PRESS!!

Just had an e mail in from a matey on this subject. She has Jaysun B's word on this matter, he posted this on the HnJ forum a couple of weeks ago:

"I will tell you though, that, as a policy of the H&J, we will not
stoop to our Hotel competitors desperate attempts to keep on slashing
prices to attract more people. We do have a more superior venue,
with a brand new extension and lay out, superior entertainment
including all the live sporting events and an exceptional service
that is provided by our very experienced colleagues plus much more on
offer here at the H&J"

So there you go folks, they're staying upmarket and keeping the prices.

Taxi's opinion: put the prices back to pre-refurbishment levels and everyone will be happy. The HnJ was always dearer than Pacos back then but nobody minded so much.

Miserable gits the lot of yer! What do you want me to do? Beg?

Blah, I'll carry on blogging and if you wanna post a comment then all the better for me but I'm going to carry on bringing you the delights of Al Ain so much so that you'll wanna move there and spend the rest of your life listening to Jason B sing 'The Green Green Grass of Home' in the Horse and Jockey pub.

Nightlife in Al Ain Part 1

A few years ago when I first arrived in Al Ain I was already primed in the city's nightspots. I mean, it really doesn't take long to know them all. It was comforting to know that there was a real English pub waiting there for us and we made it our priority to visit it as soon as we could.

Now for those who have never visited a UAE 'pub', the vast majority of them are in hotels with the exception of the Irish Village in Dubai of course.

First impressions of Al Ain 'pub' were:

Dark with velvet seating and dark wood fittings.....good
Dartboard....yes
Glasses hanging above bar.....all there

but

No resident dog and most importantly where's the guvnor? You know, the landlord or landlady?

We did meet the guvnor, a west country boy who sounds a bit like Gareth off The Office (sorry). One night he'd be calling out the quiz questions to know-all academics from HCT and UAEU, the next he would be trying to get people up to sing Karaoke and ending up singing a lot of the numbers himself. One time he even organised a Scalextrics race, setting up a track that took over half the room.

Then one day he left to pastures new and brighter lights: Dubai. Things started to slide...

The poor hotel management tried as hard as they could to bring in the punters but the place was never the same. Where did all the people go?

Then one day he was back. The hotel were so thrilled his face was all over the place and lo and behold the suppers came back in their droves. There ends the tale.

For more information about Al Ain's currently most slammin' night spot you can join their Yahoo group here