Dubai is one of those places people love or hate (although most people who hate it haven’t been here). I’m here a few times a year for work so always try to make the most of it when i’m out here. Although I’d never choose to come here on holiday over other places like Greece, Spain or Italy, whenever I’m here I manage to have a good time and it’s definitely grown on me as a city. This is mainly because of the exciting and diverse food scene. There are so many hole-in-the-wall local gems that have been around for years where you can have great meals for well under £10, as well as new interesting restaurants opening up all the time too. Here are some of my favourites below…
Notes;
📝 The most popular ride app here is Careem. You can also rent a car or order food through it too, among other things.
📝 Alcohol is expensive. You’re looking at £10-£15 a pint. I recommend buying a couple of bottles of your favourite spirit from duty free if you want to drink when you’re out here.
📝 Like everybody says, it is really safe here. You do not need to worry about crime.
📝 Traffic is horrendous, especially during rush hours. If you are travelling from the top to the bottom of Dubai it can take a hour during busy times. You will spend a lot of your trip sitting in traffic.
1. Ravi
📍Satwa. Ravi has been a Dubai institution since 1978. They originally served traditional Pakistani dishes to homesick workers, but over the years became popular with tourists and expats too. I’ve never seen so many westerners as I did on my last visit here. Anthony Bourdain visited in 2010 whilst filming an episode of No Reservations. They also did a colab with Adidas a few years back. The must-get dishes here is the peshwari mutton curry and lamb chops, although I’m a big fan of their biriyanis and mutton kebabs too. All meals come with salad, yogurt, & bottled water. Finish with the kheer. Prices are very good for Dubai. You can have a decent meal for £10-£15.
2. Orfali Bros Bistro
📍Jumeirah 1. Set up by three Syrian brothers. It’s a beautiful space with an interesting two-storey open kitchen. You can’t really pinpoint a specific cuisine (they take influences from everywhere) but every dish is incredible tasty. In 2023 they received a Bib Gormand and in 2024 a Michelin Star, as well as being listed as best restaurant in MENA on 50 Best. They don’t serve alcohol (no restaurant not attached to a hotel does) but they serve an interesting juice pairing. Everything on the ‘for one’ section of the menu is amazing. Other favourites of mine are the wagyu beef dumplings with sujuk oil & yogurt, as well as the wagyu cheese burger.
3. Al Ustad Special Kebab
📍Al Hamriya. Al Ustad Special Kebab has been an institution for Persian food in the old area of Bur Dubai since 1978. The menu is simple – they have mixed grills tailored for different numbers of people, as well as dips and baklava to finish. Flatbread and mint tea is on the house. This is a great spot to come in a group. The owner is a bit of a legend and always takes photos with customers. The mixed martial arts fighter, Khabib Nurmagomedov, visits every time he’s in Dubai. Although there is a seperate family section for women and children, women are allowed in the main area too.
4. Bu Qtair
📍Umm Suqeim. Bu Qtair in Jumeirah Fishing Harbour started as a small seafood shack for local workers in the 1980s but eventually became a Dubai institution. The menu is super simple; fried fish, prawns, paratha, rice, curry sauce & salad. That’s it. As well as being cash-only, the ordering process is a little confusing for a first timer. You order your fish and prawns by weight off one person who you pay in cash, and then sit down and another person takes your order for the sides, who you then pay again in cash. The food is then brought out to you together by a server. The most popular fish here is the hamour fish (brownspotted grouper) but I was by myself so went for a smaller pomfret. If I’m being completely honest I think the fish is always slightly over-cooked here, but I’m a big fan of the seasoning on the prawns, as well as the paratha and curry sauce combo.
5. Berenjak
📍Jumeirah 2. One of my favourite London restaurants has opened up a Dubai location. All of the kebabs are a level above other Persian restaurants I’ve visited and the dips are incredible too. They also have a few special items that you can’t get in London like the shrimp and lamb chops which were amazing. The food and service was as good as London. It’s worth a visit if you’re out here.
6. Hashmi Barbecue
📍Al Barsha. Hashmi Barbecue are famous for the ‘nyama choma’ (grilled meats), specifically chicken. The original Hashmi opened in 1978 in Nairobi, Kenya and is still there. In the mid 90’s they also opened one in Mombasa too. In 2020 they moved to Dubai and have been popular with locals ever since. They’re known for their African/Indian style marinades and spices. For me the standout dish was the chooza chicken. They use a spring chicken. The meat is so soft, has a lovely charcoal flavour and comes off the bone so nicely. The spices remind me of a South African style piri piri chicken. The barbecued prawns are also a must-get for me. Go for the masala chips. They have a strong heat and were definitely better than the pili pili chips.
7. Pili Pili BBQ House Restaurant
📍Al Jafiliya. Pili Pili BBQ House Restaurant serve in the Al Jafiliya neighbourhood (just above Satwa) are known for their Tanzanian barbecue. This place was highly recommended by a lot of my followers. The area is full of hidden gems. Tanzanian food like a lot of East African countries has Indian influence in the dishes too. The flavours are incredible. A lot of people claim that Pili Pili BBQ House Restaurant serve some of the best lamb chops in Dubai but honestly I thought all the food was unreal.
8. Nayaab Haandi
📍Multiple Locations. Nayaab Haandi is proves again that some of the best food you’ll find in Dubai is Pakistani. I went for the chicken handi (the dish they’re most famous for), chicken biriyani, mutton peshwari karahi and naan. Chicken handi is creamy with a nice spice level. I loved the gravy in the karahi too. The whole meal for two came to around 106 AED (£21.61).
9. Pak Darbar
📍Satwa. Pakistanis started coming to Dubai in the early 60s and are now one of the largest ethnic groups in the country with over 1.2 million of them living in the UAE. This mass emigration has led to there being a large number of Pakistani restaurants in Dubai serving good Pakistani food at affordable prices. The Pak Darbar, with a few locations across the city is known for their biryanis and curries. I went for the mutton karahi, mixed vegetables, chapli kebab, naan, and a drink – all of which came to under £15. This place is not as well known Ravi so had a lot less Westerners eating here but the food is just as good.
10. Dime
📍Satwa. Great burgers and hotdogs at from the same people behind Rascals Deli and Za Za Slice. Whenever I’m in Dubai I like to mainly stick to hole-in-the-wall type spots but the burger scene is very good out here so I’ve got to make some exceptions. The burgers had a nice crust but were still pink inside. They remind of elevated McDonalds burgers. The beef hotdogs were packed full of flavour too. They also serve some great pies.
11. Za Za Slice
📍Satwa. A New York-style pizza bar from the same people behind Rascals Deli and Dime. The set-up reminds me a little of Miami Slice in Miami. My favourite slice was the Alabama one with smoked beef brisket, pickled red onions and Alabama hot sauce.
12. Rascals Deli
📍Al Safa. Rascals Deli is one of Dubai’s most popular sandwich shops. They’re known for creating delicious breakfast and lunch sandwiches with locally sourced ingredients. These guys get the branding right at every one of their spots. I went for breakfast so tried two of the muffins. My favourite was the breakfast muffin with a sausage patty, hash brown, cheddar, hollandaise and a bacon jam. Also head across to their patisserie after for some ridiculously good pastries.
13. Lento
📍Umm Al Sheif. A great spot to go for a modern elevated Dubai breakfast. I went for the keema with paratha & egg, potato & egg paratha, paratha with mascarpone and honey, and falafel. Everything was so good. The burger they serve from lunch is supposed to be amazing too.
14. Shawarma Al Farooj
📍Satwa. Al Farooj was recommended to me by a few locals as the best place in town for Lebanese shawarma. They have four different types of shawarma on offer here; Lebanese (chicken), Mexican (chicken with Mexican spices), lamb, and sujuk. All the flatbreads are made in-house. I tried all four. My favourite was the Mexican shawarma which had fries, pickles and spicy sauce.
15. Real Karak Cafe Jumeirah
📍Jumeirah 2. Chips Oman paratha is one of the most popular breakfast items in the city. It’s an Indian style paratha with cream cheese, egg and Chips Oman. You can find them at cafeterias all over the city but I was recommended to go here. They were so delicious. The Karak chai was great too.
16. Muhammad Iqbal
📍Al Barsha South. If you’re coming to Dubai and not eating Pakistani food, you’re doing it wrong. Nihari, brain masala fry and paratha at another popular Pakistani restaurant, Muhammad Iqbal. They have two locations in the city – both of which are open 24 hours. Nihari is a rich, slow-cooked beef curry – amazing flavour and meat falling apart. It’s only available at breakfast for some reason. The mutton brain was surprisingly tasty too when you block out the fact you’re eating brain. They used to have multiple locations but now there’s only one left in Al Barsha South.
17. HotTiffin
📍Industrial Area. HotTiffin is a Pakistani restaurant famous for their Tawa Chicken. The chicken is marinated and cooked over coal before being cooked on the tawa (griddle) with a butter & green chilli sauce. The prices are incredibly cheap. A tawa chicken, chicken biriyani, roti and salad cost 30 AED (£6). The biriyani was super fluffy, fragrant and loaded with chicken too.
18. Fix Dessert Chocolatier
📍Delivery. Now replicated world wide but nothing compares to the real thing. Order from 14:00 each day. You can put your hotel address on the order and ask staff to whack it in the fridge for you.
19. Zam Zam Mandi
📍Multiple Locations. Mandi is a traditional Yemeni dish made from rice with meat lamb or chicken, and a mixture of spices and slow-cooked for hours in a hole in the ground. Zam Zam Mandi is a popular spot to go for this dish. Both meats tasted incredible and were falling clean off the bone.
20. Raju Omlet
📍Multiple Locations. Raju Omlet is a great Indian breakfast spot with multiple locations across the city. The most popular items are parathas rolled with various omelets or meats, as well as fried eggs on noodles, and a number of other Indian breakfast classics.
21. Klay by Karak House
📍Dubai Mall. The next viral thing to come out of Dubai since the chocolate. I’m sure there are going to he paratha bun spots popping up in the UK over the next few months. I tried the smash burger, chicken shawarma and keema rolls. They had nice texture but didn’t blow me away as much as I thought they would. The keema was probably my favourite.
22. Pickl
📍Multiple Locations. Pickl is a chain of American-style fried chicken sandwiches. They serve a great Nashville hot chicken one. They also have a sister chain of restaurants called BONBIRD focused more on chicken tenders.
23. Kabab Al Madina
📍Satwa. A Pakistani restaurant in Satwa famous for their chapli kebab and mutton with bone marrow biriyani. This is whole neighbourhood is basically little Pakistan. I tried the beef and the camel chapli. Both were so loaded up with spice that they tasted pretty much the same to me. The food was good, portions were big, and prices were low.
24. Walid Mohammad Bakhit Bakery
📍Satwa. An Emirati breakfast spot serving regag, which is basically a crepe loaded with cream cheese, an egg, chips Oman and hot sauce.
25. Allo Beirut
📍Multiple Locations. A popular modern Lebanese restaurant to go for Lebanese shawarma and flatbreads. They have multiple locations around Dubai.
26. Fira Sweets
📍Al Hudaiba. Fira Sweets (est 1993) is one of the oldest dessert shops in Dubai. Most people come for the knafeh, which is one of my favourite Middle Eastern desserts. They have a few different versions you can get here.
27. Kabab Erbil Iraqi Restaurant
📍Jumeirah 2. A great spot to go for Iraqi cuisine (which is very similar to Iranian cuisine). Expect big plates of flatbreads topped with grilled meats.
28. Al Fanar
📍Dubai Old Village. A popular Emirati restaurant with a good selection of seafood in Dubai Old Village. It’s right on the waterfront so nice in the evening when the weather is cooler. I got the prawn machbous which was delicious. I find this part of town to be a bit plastic though.
James Dimitri 