The best restaurants in Dubai

Once upon a time, fine dining in Dubai meant going to one of the handful of restaurants opened in the emirate by big-name international chefs. Not anymore. Dubai’s dining scene today is one of the most creative in the region, including exceptional homegrown restaurants, casual cafes, cuisine from the many diverse communities that call the city home and, of course, a few celebrity-chef outposts in the mix. Whether looking for Michelin stars, sea views or a stellar brunch,  here are 13 of the best restaurants in Dubai.

Jumeirah

Orfali Bros

Best for: Innovative dishes and surprising flavours, Michelin star restaurant
Location: Wasl 51, Jumeirah 1
Price: Appetisers from 21 AED / 5.70 USD, sharing dishes from 33 AED / 9 USD

Well deserving of its newly minted Michelin star, Orfali Bros was one of the first wave of exciting homegrown concepts to open up in Dubai in recent years. The “Bros” are three brothers – Mohammad, Wassim and Omar – from Aleppo, and their cuisine takes inspiration from their Syrian origins and travels around the world. Pides (Turkish flat bread) come topped with burnt leeks, brown butter miso and fior di latte, and the “Come with me to Aleppo” is a tender Wagyu beef kebab with sour cherry, parsley and cinnamon, an irresistible blend that may have you ordering it twice. Don’t skip dessert here – the cakes are gorgeous, especially the Karaz, a dark chocolate cake and mousse encased in a lustrous layer of cherry.

Bungalo34

Best for: Long indulgent seaside lunches
Location: Nikki Beach Resort & Spa, Pearl Jumeirah, Jumeirah 1
Price: Antipasti from 68 AED / 18.50 USD, mains from 108 AED / 29 USD

Located at the Nikki Beach resort, Bungalo34 is a sun-kissed spot with orange and white parasols, palm trees and sea views. The cuisine meanders through Mediterranean flavours with tartares, crudi and fritti to start, before moving onto big bowls of pasta, like the citrusy Amalfi lemon bucatini and the Sofia, piled high with prawns, mussels and clams, as well as pizzettes and seafood. It’s a brilliant spot for an indulgent lunch and at the weekend it’s open from 9am for breakfast with three-cheese soufflé and classic Greek strapatsada on the menu.

Al Falamanki

Best for: Authentic Lebanese cuisine
Location: Jumeirah Beach Road, Jumeirah 2
Price: Mezze from 26 AED / 7 USD, mains from 55 AED / 15 USD

Dubai is full of Lebanese restaurants, but Al Falamanki, sprawling through a converted villa and garden on Jumeirah Beach Road, is by far one of the best. There’s a vintage vibe to the place, with floral armchairs and sofas looking as if they’ve been borrowed from someone’s grandmother’s house, and more than a few kitsch touches around. Fresh-from-the oven manakish flatbreads and piping hot tea are on the breakfast menu, best enjoyed in the sunny garden in winter. Later in the day, it’s all about hot and cold mezze, salads made from fresh rocket, thyme and summer purslane, hearty grills, and the intriguingly named “disciplinary kafta”. Evenings last long here, and the place is usually full of people playing backgammon and smoking shisha until the wee hours – Al Falamanki doesn’t close its doors until 4:30am.

Al Ijaza Cafeteria

Best for: Cheap and cheerful roadside shawarma
Location: Jumeirah Beach Road, Jumeirah 2
Price: Chicken shawarma from 6 AED / 1.60 USD

Open since 1990, old-school cafeteria Al Ijaza now has a couple of branches across the city, but the original – and best – is on Jumeirah Beach Road. Look for the line-up of luxury cars waiting to pick up some of Dubai’s best shawarma and fresh juices. Most people drive up for takeaway but there are a handful of tables on the pavement, too. Take a seat, order a shawarma sandwich and a Hurry Berry, Biker Boy or Mafi Mushkila juice (meaning “no problem” in Arabic), and enjoy the show.

Salt

Best for: Beachside burgers
Location: Kite Beach, 2C Street, Umm Suqeim, Jumeirah 3
Price: Sliders from 32 AED / 8.70 USD

Dubai’s original food truck and still outrageously popular, Salt does burgers – Wagyu sliders, chicken sliders and a plant-based version – exceptionally well. There are sides of fries and soft ice cream for dessert, and that’s about the extent of it. It’s uncomplicated, always delicious, and a much-loved local brand. There are a few branches across the Gulf now, but head to the original one on Kite Beach to dine with your toes in the sand. Those burgers really hit the spot after a dip in the sea, or at any time – Salt is open 24 hours a day.

Madinat Jumeirah

Summersalt

Best for: Latin American dishes with Burj Al Arab views
Location: Jumeirah Al Naseem, Madinat Jumeirah, Jumeirah Street, Umm Suqeim 3
Price: Appetisers from 60 AED / 16.30 USD, Sushi from 60 AED / 16.30 USD, mains from 110 AED / 30 USD

Summersalt, on the city’s best stretch of sand at Madinat Jumeirah, may be better known as one of Dubai’s most stylish beach clubs, but the restaurant shouldn’t be overlooked. You could easily spend an entire day here grazing through the menu of ceviche, sushi and Latin American flavours, with a pisco sour or two on the side. If the thought of leaving your sunbed and venturing to the restaurant is too taxing, there’s a shorter menu served on the beach itself. The views of the Burj Al Arab, right in front and soaring up out of the turquoise waters, are mesmerising. Summersalt closes during the peak of the summer heat and reopens when the temperatures drop again in autumn.

Taverna Greek Kitchen

Best for: Convivial canal-side spot for Greek dining and drinks
Location: Souk Madinat Jumeirah, Al Sufouh 1
Price: Appetisers from 32 AED / 8.70 USD, mains from 98 AED / 26.70 USD

Dubai has experienced a boom in Greek restaurants over the past couple of years, some of which are a lot better than others. One long-time favourite with the city’s Greek community is Taverna Greek Kitchen in Souk Madinat Jumeirah. Set alongside artificial canals where little wooden abra boats pass by with tourists on board, it’s a fun and friendly place serving unfussy food. The taramasalata has the perfect balance of salty creaminess, the Santorinia tomato salad bursts with summer flavour, and the flaming cheese saganaki adds a good helping of drama. This is a place for long, lazy outdoor lunches, best paired with a couple of carafes of the house Greek barrel wine.

Al Shindagha

Arabian Fish House

Best for: Emirati seafood served by Dubai Creek
Location: Creek Street, Al Fahidi, Al Shindagha
Price: Flatbreads from 25 AED / 6.80 USD, mains from 40 AED / 11 USD

The recently opened sister of the perennially popular Arabian Tea House, the Arabian Fish House sits on the edge of Dubai Creek in the Al Shindagha historical neighbourhood, where abra boats and dhows cross the waters. While the menu has Arabian and Emirati classics like hummus, kibbeh and fattouche, the real focus is on seafood, and many dishes are made from recipes belonging to the owner’s mother. Fried bazri fish with tahini dipping sauce is a great place to start, and the fish fattah is an absolute must – a comforting bowl of toasted Arabic bread layered with tahini, lemon, parsley, cumin, pomegranate seeds and nuts, topped with pan-fried fish. Save space for sweet, sticky kunafa (a spun pastry) for dessert as well. The Arabian Tea House version is topped with akkawi cheese and dried rose petals.

Sheikh Zayed Road

Electric Pawn Shop

Best for: Asian drinks and bites and eclectic music
Location: The H Hotel, 1 Sheikh Zayed Road
Price: Mains from 96 AED / 26 USD

Hidden inside the H Hotel on Sheikh Zayed Road, Electric Pawn Shop is a surprise from the first moment of discovery until the last. Inspired by New York’s Chinatown in the 1970s, this is a place to settle in for a long night of good food, drinks and music. The food menu takes inspiration from around Asia, with items like Gangnam-style kimchi fries, Peking pulled duck sandos and Sukhothai seafood ceviche. Cocktails are creatively conceived and named: The Love Hotel is a mix of yuzu lemon sorbet, gin and anise, and the Wrong Island Ice Tea, a potent mix of spirits, is not for the faint-hearted. The party goes late here, with sets by co-owner DJ Lobito Brigante and visiting big-name DJs mixing everything from classic hip hop to Afro disco, Arabic funk and Brazilian groove.

Downtown Dubai

Jun’s

Best for: Creative third-culture flavours
Location: Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Blvd, Downtown Dubai
Price: Small plates from 40 AED / 11 USD, grills from 78 AED / USD 21, tasting menu from 485 AED / 132 USD

Since opening in 2022, Jun’s keeps getting better and better. Third-generation Chinese-Canadian chef Kelvin Cheung is a cheerful presence in the restaurant, always visible and always sharing the stories behind the inspiration of his dishes, some coming from his Chinese heritage, others from his time spent working in India. Whatever the inspiration, the flavours always pack a punch. Showstoppers include the smoky-sweet rainbow heirloom carrots with labneh and soy honey butter, and the delicate Hokkaido scallop with corn purée and house-made yuzu kosho. A new 11-course tasting menu features a selection of Cheung’s standout dishes, starting with a butter-poached lobster pani puri with achari and tamarind, one of the most deliciously layered and complex things I’ve eaten this year.

Za’abeel

Qabu

Best for: Centuries-old flavours from Al-Andalus 
Location: The Link, One&Only One Za’abeel, Za’abeel 1
Price: Mains from 330 AED / 90 USD, tasting menus from 695 AED / 189 USD

Chef Paco Morales’s Qabu, inside the world’s longest cantilever at the new One&Only One Za’abeel, takes diners on a journey through time, back to the days of Al Andalus. Morales has researched historical recipes from the 8th to 15th century, bringing them back to life with exquisite attention to detail and flavour. Don’t miss the pistachio karim, a creamy, velvety paste topped with smoked herring caviar, green apple and black bread crumble, an iteration of which is one of Morales’s most loved dishes from his three-Michelin-starred restaurant Noor in Córdoba. A dinner here is a delicious education in Spain’s Islamic era, as much a cultural experience as a culinary one.

Wafi

Tomo

Best for: Classic Japanese dishes with an old-school vibe
Location: Raffles Dubai, Umm Hurair 2
Price: Appetisers from 42 AED / 11.50 USD, kaiseki courses from 450 AED / 123 USD

It feels as if there’s a new Japanese restaurant popping up all the time in Dubai, but Tomo remains a firm favourite of the resident Japanese community, even after three decades. It may be a little more retro and a little less sleek than some of the newer “concepts” that have opened, but the food is as authentic as it gets. Fish and vegetables are imported from Japan weekly guaranteeing the best seasonal produce, and you’ll be hard pressed to find better sushi and sashimi anywhere else in the city. Unusually for Dubai, there’s an extensive selection of pork dishes, including big, comforting bowls of ramen. The outdoor terrace has spectacular views of the Dubai skyline, and cold draught Japanese beer to go with it.

Palm Jumeirah

Trèsind Studio

Best for: Modern Indian tasting menus
Location: St Regis Gardens, The Palm Jumeirah
Price: Tasting menus from 895 AED / 244 USD

Chef Himanshu Saini’s elaborate modern Indian tasting menus are works of art, every dish plated with a delicacy and complexity that hints at the extraordinary flavours and surprises to come in every bite. The current menu is a journey through different regions of India from the Thar Desert to the Himalayas, via the Deccan Plateau and coastal plains. Dishes are dazzling, like the fragrant confit duck with ash-roasted artichokes and black lime chutney, and the delicate tender coconut kushiyaki with smoked Nilgiri spices and yuzu rasam. Service is also exceptional, with every member of the team knowing each dish, and the story behind it, inside out. A dinner here is very special indeed.