I have experienced both and it depends on your priorities. You say that you love the lounge on board - I assume you mean the Bar at the rear of Biz on the EK 380's in which case you will miss that on EY. Personally it would be a difficult call for me if I was looking to choose between the two on the same route at the same price because I do not use the bar on EK and I love the EY First Class lounge at Abu Dhabi T3. As far as food is concerned personally I prefer EY especially because they have a wider selection of "snack" type meals and because EK always seem to run out of my choice (and sometimes of everything) on the A380 unless I choose to eat immediately after take off. You would need to be very sensitive to find EK to be too gaudy and personally it does not turn me off at all. I have also found the service on EY too be much better but again it is often down to personal preferences as to how much attention you want paid to you. For me I would go for EY as I would not miss the shower (I bathe before I leave or after I arrive) and on board bar and prefer their food and service. Finally I find Abu Dhabi airport to be much easier and faster to get around than Dubai unless you end up checking in at Abu Dhabi T3 and leaving from a T1 gate (does not happen with flagship routes though very often) in which case it is not so good but still not as bad as leaving from a T1 gate at Dubai ...