Al Fanar Restaurant & Cafe – Dubai Festival City
Al Fanar at Dubai Festival City Mall serves Emirati food in a setting designed to evoke older Dubai.
Book ahead
Tables and tickets that are gone a week out. Worth it, but plan.
The places41 chosen by editors
Al Khayma Heritage Restaurant
Al Khayma Heritage Restaurant is an Emirati dining and cultural venue in the Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood.
AlSARAY Restaurant
AlSARAY Restaurant is a Lebanese dinner-show venue inside Sheraton Grand Hotel on Sheikh Zayed Road.
Alici
Alici is a Southern Italian seafood restaurant on the Boardwalk at Bluewaters Island.
- Book ahead
- Weekend brunch
- +2 more: Business lunch, Outdoor seating
Anar
Anar is a Persian restaurant in Souk Madinat Jumeirah.
Arabian Tea House – Al Fahidi
Arabian Tea House in Al Fahidi is a heritage courtyard café serving Emirati breakfasts, rice dishes, grills, breads, sweets and tea.
Ariana's Persian Kitchen
Ariana's Persian Kitchen at Atlantis The Royal is led by Iranian-American chef and cookbook author Ariana Bundy.
BeBabel The Palm
BeBabel The Palm is a Lebanese bistro at Club Vista Mare on Palm Jumeirah.
Benjarong
Benjarong is Dusit Thani Dubai’s Thai restaurant on the 24th floor of the hotel on Sheikh Zayed Road.
Berenjak Dubai
Berenjak Dubai is the brand's first international outpost, located at Dar Wasl Mall on Al Wasl Road.
Bombay Brasserie
Bombay Brasserie is Taj Dubai’s signature Indian restaurant in Business Bay.
Bosporus – The Beach JBR
Bosporus at The Beach is an all-day Turkish restaurant on the JBR waterfront.
Cipriani Dubai
Cipriani Dubai occupies two levels of Gate Village 10 in DIFC.
Dubai Opera
Downtown's principal performing-arts venue, with a programme that can turn an ordinary evening into a proper occasion.
Arriving early removes the stress of Downtown traffic and parking.
- Art and culture
- Special occasions
- +1 more: Book ahead
Em Sherif Café
Em Sherif Café’s Downtown Dubai branch is located at The Heritage Hotel on Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Boulevard.
Enigma
Enigma is the Persian fine-dining restaurant at Palazzo Versace Dubai on Jaddaf Waterfront.
Gerbou
Gerbou is a contemporary Emirati and Arabian restaurant in a restored 1987 building in Nad Al Sheba.
Günaydın Bluewaters
Günaydın's Bluewaters branch is a Turkish grill and steakhouse on Bluewaters Island.
Hōseki
Hōseki is a reservation-only omakase restaurant on the fourth floor of Bvlgari Resort Dubai.
Ibn AlBahr
Ibn AlBahr is a Lebanese seafood restaurant at Club Vista Mare on Palm Jumeirah.
Il Borro Tuscan Bistro Dubai
Il Borro Tuscan Bistro is located beside Turtle Lagoon at Jumeirah Al Naseem and presents a menu centred on Tuscan cooking.
Il Ristorante - Niko Romito
Il Ristorante - Niko Romito is the signature Italian restaurant at Bvlgari Resort Dubai on Jumeira Bay Island.
Indego by Vineet
Indego by Vineet is the Indian dining room at Grosvenor House in Dubai Marina.
Karaf by Bahçe
Karaf by Bahçe is a Turkish beachfront restaurant at Club Vista Mare on Palm Jumeirah.
Karam Al Bahr
Karam Al Bahr is the Lebanese seafood restaurant on the promenade level of InterContinental Dubai Festival City.
Kinara by Vikas Khanna
Kinara by Vikas Khanna is the Indian restaurant at JA Lake View Hotel in Jebel Ali.
Kinoya
Kinoya is a ramen-centred Japanese izakaya in The Onyx Tower 2 beside Zabeel House The Greens.
Mimi Kakushi
Mimi Kakushi is a Japanese restaurant and bar in Restaurant Village beside Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach.
Pai Thai
Pai Thai is Jumeirah Al Qasr’s Thai restaurant within Madinat Jumeirah.
ROKA Dubai
ROKA Dubai is a Japanese robatayaki restaurant on Level 1 of The Opus in Business Bay.
- Book ahead
- Weekend brunch
- +1 more: Outdoor seating
Rüya Dubai
Rüya is a contemporary Anatolian restaurant at The St.
SMAT
SMAT is a contemporary Emirati resto-café in Building 10 of Dubai Design District.
Scalini Dubai
Scalini sits in Restaurant Village beside Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach.
Shabestan
Shabestan is a longstanding Persian restaurant inside Radisson Blu Dubai Deira Creek.
Sukhothai
Sukhothai is the Thai restaurant at Le Méridien Dubai Hotel & Conference Centre in Garhoud.
Sıralı Kebap Dubai
Sıralı Kebap is a Turkish and Ottoman-inspired restaurant in Meera Tower at Al Habtoor City.
Thiptara
Thiptara is Palace Downtown’s Thai restaurant on the edge of Burj Lake.
- Book ahead
- Weekend brunch
- +1 more: Outdoor seating
Tong Thai
Tong Thai is the Thai restaurant at JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai in Business Bay.
Trèsind Studio
Trèsind Studio is a reservation-led Indian degustation restaurant at St.
Zuma Dubai
Zuma Dubai is a contemporary Japanese restaurant in DIFC's Gate Village 06, organised around an izakaya-style sharing format.
- Book ahead
- Weekend brunch
- +2 more: Business lunch, Outdoor seating
avatāra
avatāra is a vegetarian Indian tasting-menu restaurant in Dubai Hills Estate.