Monday, August 31, 2026

The Top 100 Places to Eat Near Bait Maryam

  1. Rank 1. Bait Maryam

    Levantine Middle Eastern

    The lakeside terrace, glass-enclosed and hovering over the water, sets the tone for a Levantine restaurant that treats home cooking as a serious project. Generational recipes share the menu with modern riffs on classic flavors, and the claypot dishes especially carry that slow, considered quality. It holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand and a spot on MENA's 50 Best list. The lunch soup-and-daily special is the kind of deal that turns a quick stop into a regular habit.


  2. Rank 2. Row on 45

    French-influenced Japanese

    Jason Atherton's fine dining room on the 45th floor of Grosvenor House seats just 22 people and runs a 17-course French-Japanese tasting menu in three acts, moving guests between spaces as the evening unfolds. The chef's table, four seats facing the open kitchen, books out fast. Ankimo, uni, and soba carry the Japanese thread; French technique holds it together. It holds two Michelin stars and a Forbes Five Star.


  3. A casual Asian street food restaurant in JLT that grew out of a secret supper club, Hawkerboi channels the hawker markets of Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Myanmar into a relaxed neighbourhood spot. The team walks you through the menu with the kind of patience that actually helps. Dishes are generous and herb-heavy, built on the logic that more aromatics is never the wrong call. It holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand.



  4. Rank 5. Indya by Vineet

    Modern Indian


  5. Rank 6. TakaHisa

    Japanese

    Counter seats facing the chefs are the move at this fine-dining Japanese restaurant on Bluewaters Island, where a wagyu specialist and a sushi master share the kitchen. The omakase leans on A5 Kobe beef and uni flown from Toyosu, shifting with the seasons. The team even partnered with the UAE's Royal Family on a honey garden, because apparently that's just something you do. It holds a spot on MENA's 50 Best Restaurants list.


  6. Rank 7. Ronin

    Contemporary Japanese

    Red paper lanterns and tiled walls set the mood on the ninth floor of FIVE LUXE JBR, where the windows frame Ain Dubai straight across the water. This is a contemporary Japanese restaurant covering a lot of ground, from raw fish and tempura to robata and teppanyaki, and the kitchen handles the range with genuine care. Counter seats open up an omakase option that draws the dedicated crowd who come for the chef's full attention.



  7. Rank 9. Mott 32

    Cantonese




  8. Fifteen seats, a rooftop on The Palm, and a tasting menu that moves you around the room as the courses progress, lights dimming on cue. Chef Himanshu Saini runs this intimate fine dining experience as a journey through Indian culinary history, regional and precise, with a service team that treats the whole thing as choreography. It holds three Michelin stars and a spot on the World's 50 Best list, and the room is small enough that it actually feels like a secret.


  9. A colonial-style mansion at the very tip of the Palm, with tropical gardens trailing down to a private dock, sets the tone before you've looked at a menu. This is a formal French fine dining restaurant from Yannick Alleno, holder of two Michelin stars, where the cooking layers classical technique with genuinely modern ideas. The room is opulent without making you sit up straighter, and the service reads the same way, polished but not stiff.


  10. Rank 14. Rhodes w1

    Contemporary British


  11. Rank 15. City Social

    Modern New American



  12. Rank 17. Kinoya

    Noodles

    Neha Misra ran a sold-out ramen supper club from her home for years before the demand outgrew her dining room. Now it's a casual izakaya and ramen shop where the noodles are still made from scratch, the broth runs rich and creamy, and the duck ramen uses every part of the bird. A Michelin Bib Gourmand and number two on MENA's 50 Best list. The ramen counter, with a view of the kitchen, fills up fast.


  13. Björn Frantzén holds three Michelin stars at three separate restaurants, and this is one of them. FZN is a 27-seat fine dining room inside Atlantis, The Palm, designed to feel like a private apartment: canapés in a Scandi sitting room, then a move to the open kitchen counter or one of four tables for a Nordic-Japanese tasting menu. Forbes Five Star, three Michelin stars, and a spot on MENA's 50 Best. Only 27 people per night get in, so plan accordingly.



  14. Sharks and stingrays glide past the floor-to-ceiling windows while you eat, which does make it harder to focus on the sommelier. Ossiano is a fine dining tasting menu restaurant inside the Atlantis on Palm Jumeirah, built around an aquarium housing tens of thousands of marine animals. The ten-course menu traces explorers who sailed the Atlantic, with courses finished tableside for effect. It holds a Michelin star and a Forbes Five Star.


  15. Rank 21. Smoked Room

    Contemporary Spanish

    Fourteen seats around a single semi-circular table, an open fire, and a chef narrating every move: Dani García's intimate fine dining counter inside Leña runs what he calls "Fire Omakase," eleven courses built around live flame and grill. The room is deliberately dark, the pacing unhurried, and a Michelin star hangs over the whole production. Burnt pumpkin purée and mandarin sorbet close things out with enough confidence to make dessert feel like the point.


  16. Rank 22. Hakkasan

    Chinese, Contemporary

    Lattice screens, booth seating beside a backlit blue bar, and a soundtrack loud enough to count as a second course: this is Hakkasan's version of a Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant. The global chain's Dubai outpost leans into the party-venue energy without apologizing for it, serving reimagined Cantonese classics alongside a few Dubai-only additions. The room is moody and deliberately glamorous, and service keeps pace without breaking a sweat.


  17. Doors slide open on their own as you approach, which sets the tone nicely for a fine dining room that takes itself seriously without apologizing for it. Heston Blumenthal's Dubai outpost runs the same menu as London, centuries of British cooking reimagined with very good ingredients. The Meat Fruit arrives looking like a mandarin. A pineapple spins on a spit in the open kitchen. It holds a Michelin star and a Forbes Five Star.


  18. A self-playing piano and arched ceilings set the tone at this Italian restaurant perched above the FIVE Palm Jumeirah's pool, where warm lighting and a well-dressed crowd keep things firmly on the glamorous side. The menu runs from eggplant parmigiana to a dessert riffing on a Bellini cocktail, classic and playful in equal measure. When Dubai cools down, the terrace earns its keep.


  19. Rank 25. Demon Duck by Alvin Leung

    Contemporary Chinese


  20. Rank 26. Seafire Steakhouse

    New York-style Steakhouse


  21. The Candy Room at the end of the meal is the tell: this is a place that thinks dessert deserves its own dedicated space. Brasserie Frantzén is a sleek, moody restaurant inside Atlantis The Palm, where the kitchen draws on Japanese, French, and Scandinavian traditions in a way that sounds like a pitch but lands on the plate. Deep seating, low light, and a bar for lighter bites if you want to ease in.




  22. Rank 30. Nobu Dubai

    Japanese Contemporary


  23. Rank 31. Al Muntaha

    Mediterranean French

    A Michelin-starred fine dining room perched on the 27th floor of the Burj Al Arab, where the floor-to-ceiling windows do a fair amount of the work before the food even arrives. The chef builds a French-rooted, Mediterranean-influenced menu around truffles, caviar, and precise sauces, with desserts that look almost too composed to eat. Staff explain every dish with genuine warmth, which helps when you're deciding whether to feel guilty about ordering a second one.



  24. Rubber ducks cover every available surface at this Serkal Avenue sushi bar, which sets the tone nicely: serious craft, zero solemnity. The long counter puts the open kitchen front and center, and the hand rolls, made to order with yellowtail, scallop, or wagyu, are the reason to pull up a stool. It landed at number 15 on MENA's 50 Best Restaurants list, which the ducks seem unbothered by.


  25. Rank 34. Rüya

    Anatolian Turkish



  26. Dry-aged cuts sit on display in glass cabinets as you walk in, which tells you most of what you need to know about Leña. It's a grilled meats and fish restaurant on The Palm, the Dubai outpost of Spanish chef Dani García, where the black-and-orange room is meant to evoke charcoal embers. Croquetas come in tempura rather than breadcrumbs, the signature burger makes an appearance mid-meal, and dessert rolls out on a trolley. Grab the terrace when the weather cooperates.


  27. Rank 37. Ibn Albahr

    Seafood Lebanese


  28. Rank 38. Akira Back

    Contemporary Japanese




  29. A ramen shop on the second floor of Mall of the Emirates, which is either a strange place to find serious Tokyo-pedigreed noodles or a perfectly logical one, depending on how you feel about air conditioning. The shoyu ramen is the draw, and the Michelin Bib Gourmand suggests the broth hasn't suffered from the journey. No reservations, but the counter usually has room, and service starts before noon.


  30. Rank 42. HANU

    Barbecue Korean

    Hanwoo beef, Korea's most prized native cattle breed, is the whole reason this upscale Korean barbecue restaurant exists at the St. Regis on the Palm. It's the only spot in Dubai serving it, flown in directly from Korea and cooked over tableside charcoal grills with the kind of calm precision that makes theatre feel unnecessary. Warm wood, soft light, composed service. It landed at number 28 on the World's Best Steak Restaurants list, which for a Korean barbecue concept is a statement.


  31. Large bay windows frame the canal and gardens at this bright, spacious Indian restaurant inside Jumeirah Al Qasr. Chef Ritu Dalmia's menu roams the subcontinent, pulling regional classics into a contemporary register alongside dishes that lean more fusion. The room is pretty and the service genuinely warm, which in a resort of this scale feels less like a given than it should.


  32. Rank 44. avatāra

    Indian Vegetarian

    A light green dining room in a Dubai Hills business park, with an altar-like pass where chefs finish each dish in full view of the tables, sets the tone for what follows. avatāra holds a Michelin star for its multi-course vegetarian Indian tasting menu, where each dish arrives with its own story, which the team delivers with enough warmth to make the ritual feel earned rather than rehearsed.









  33. Rank 52. 21 Grams

    Balkan Eastern European


  34. Blond wood, cream walls, and a ceiling tall enough to suggest the menu won't bankrupt you: DUO is a Bib Gourmand all-day gastrobar rooted in a St. Petersburg restaurant group, transplanted to Dubai Hills Business Park. The kitchen runs Asian and European ideas side by side without needing to explain itself, and the oxtail pie with Taleggio does most of the persuading. Breakfast through dinner, with the kind of pricing that makes ordering a second round feel reasonable.



  35. An Indian tapas bar sharing a wall with its fancier sibling avatāra next door, Revelry leans into cricket on the screens, cocktails named after India's seasons, and small plates priced to let you order broadly and figure out what you like. The cooking is contemporary and gently spiced, tradition nudged toward the modern without drama. The Michelin Guide gave it a Bib Gourmand. Save room: the desserts take an unexpected turn.



  36. A specialty coffee roastery tucked into an Al Quoz warehouse, where the industrial bones of the space, exposed ducts and raw concrete, do most of the decorating. The team roasts in-house, so the room smells like the product before you order it. Quiet enough that people bring laptops and actual books, which is rarer than it sounds in Dubai. Pour-overs and cold brew are the moves here.


  37. You enter through the back door of another restaurant, which is either a red flag or a very good sign. Inside, a U-shaped wooden counter seats twelve around an open kitchen, where the chef runs a kaiseki-style omakase, eight or twelve courses of modern Japanese cooking shaped around a monthly theme. The room runs on conversation between guests and the team, making it feel less like dinner service and more like a very controlled dinner party.




  38. Rank 61. Orfali Bros

    Contemporary, Middle Eastern

    Three Syrian brothers run this casual bistro on Al Wasl Road, with a two-storey open kitchen that makes the cooking the whole point of the room. Small plates pull from Syrian tradition, pan-regional Middle Eastern cooking, and whatever else the brothers feel like eating, which turns out to be quite a lot. The pastry team upstairs handles desserts with French technique and a straight face. It holds a Michelin star and sits on the World's 50 Best list.


  39. The terrace faces the marina, and on a clear evening it's the kind of view that makes you feel the bill was someone else's idea. This is a fine dining Italian restaurant inside the Bulgari Resort, holding two Michelin stars, where the team flies much of its produce in from Italy and the pasta and fish dishes carry that weight quietly. The room is sleek and intimate, the staff warmly Italian, and the tasting menu is the way to go.





  40. Rank 66. 11 Woodfire

    Wood-fired Steakhouse

    A converted Jumeirah villa where the open grill isn't decor, it's the whole argument. This is a modern fine dining restaurant built around wood fire, with oak, hickory, and hay chosen for the specific character each one lends to meat, seafood, or vegetables. The room has that minimalist industrial look, the kitchen is fully visible, and the drinks list is zero-proof but seriously considered. It holds a Michelin star and a spot on MENA's 50 Best.


  41. Rank 67. Tasca by José Avillez

    Modern Portuguese

    The terrace infinity pool blurs into the Gulf beyond it, which sets the tone for this Michelin-starred Portuguese restaurant on the sixth floor of the Mandarin Oriental Jumeira. The kitchen leans into tradition, pastéis de nata and all, while nudging the flavors somewhere more contemporary. Service keeps the meal moving without making you feel managed, and the open kitchen gives the room a pulse.


  42. Rank 68. Manāo

    Contemporary Thai

    Thai food reimagined through a Dubai lens, Manāo is a mid-range sit-down restaurant that earned a Michelin star within five months of opening, which is the kind of overachieving that makes everyone else look bad. The team's background spans Thailand, India, and Syria, and somehow that collision produces something coherent and genuinely exciting. The room draws curious food lovers who actually did their research, not just people who wandered in off the street.



  43. Rank 70. XU Dubai

    Modern Cantonese


  44. For the final course, the electric lights go off and the room is lit by moonlight, which tells you something about how seriously Solemann Haddad takes the whole thing. This 15-seat rooftop counter serves a 12-course tasting menu twice nightly, with each dish plated right in front of you. The kitchen threads Middle Eastern ingredients through Japanese technique in ways that feel personal rather than studied. It holds a Michelin star and a spot on MENA's 50 Best.


  45. Rank 72. La Dame de Pic

    Modern French

    Anne-Sophie Pic's fine dining room sits in the cantilevered section of the One Za'abeel tower, 25 floors up, with a white marble bar at the front and an open kitchen behind. The Modern French cooking leans into delicate spicing and unexpected combinations, the kind of restraint that takes more effort than it looks. A Michelin star and a Forbes Four Star for anyone keeping score.


  46. Rank 73. 3Fils

    Contemporary Japanese

    A small plates spot tucked into an old fishermen's building at Jumeirah Fishing Harbour, 3Fils does contemporary Japanese with a loose pan-Asian hand and a pared-back room that makes no attempt to impress you with its décor. The waterside terrace is where everyone wants to be, and the queue to get there is a known quantity. A Michelin Bib Gourmand and a spot on MENA's 50 Best list keep the wait honest.


  47. Rank 74. Sufret Maryam

    Levantine Middle Eastern

    The name translates as "Maryam's dining table," and the room commits to that promise, with Palestinian art on the walls and bread baked fresh throughout service. This is a Levantine restaurant where sharing is the default and portions make that easy. The Michelin Bib Gourmand and a spot on MENA's 50 Best list follow the chef's reputation for threading centuries of Middle Eastern culinary tradition through genuinely inventive technique, including a labneh crème brûlée topped with za'atar ice cream.


  48. Kelvin Cheung's restaurant sits on the Boulevard with the Burj Khalifa filling the window, which seems almost unfair given how much is already happening on the plate. The cooking blends Chinese-Canadian, South Asian, and American threads into something that reads as its own thing: prawn toast with Singapore coconut curry, karaage and waffles, za'atar tempura. Teal marble, dark wood, bronze accents. A spot on MENA's 50 Best list.


  49. Marble floors, a glass-fronted kitchen at the center of the room, and a window table with fountain views of Downtown Dubai make the setting hard to ignore. This Italian restaurant sits inside the Armani Hotel on the lower floors of the Burj Khalifa, and the cooking leans traditional, with Sicilian ingredients getting careful, colorful treatment. A Forbes Five Star property, and the kind of place where the tasting menu exists for a reason.


  50. Eighteen counter seats on the fourth floor of the Bulgari Hotel, overlooking the Dubai skyline, is about as understated a flex as you'll find in this city. Hōseki is an omakase sushi counter run by a sixth-generation sushi master whose knife work the team tailors to each guest using fish imported from Japan. It holds a Michelin star, and service arrives in traditional kimonos, which somehow doesn't feel like a costume.


  51. Grand chandeliers and a plush cocktail bar set the tone at this upscale Indian restaurant, part of a small international group that has earned a Michelin star here in Dubai. The kitchen leans into prime ingredients and careful spicing, with the Bhatti Ka Octopus and a Sindhi goat curry among the dishes that show the range. Neighbors heading to the Dubai Opera use it as a pre-theatre spot, which should tell you something about the dress code.


  52. Rank 79. CASSETTE

    Specialty Coffee



  53. The elevator ride up 122 floors of the Burj Khalifa is its own kind of theater, and the fine dining room at the top leans into every expectation: muted tones, impeccable uniforms, and views that make the city below look like a screen saver. The menu runs French-modern, with caviar and Wagyu doing the heavy lifting. A Forbes Four Star restaurant where the altitude is part of the point, and nobody is pretending otherwise.


  54. Rank 82. HEAL

    Coffee


  55. A wood-fired oven anchors the open kitchen at this cozy, character-stuffed casual restaurant from the brothers behind Orfali Bros. The menu skips between Syria, Japan, France, and Spain without apology, landing on things like a wagyu cheeseburger in a Hokkaido bun or a pizza-pide hybrid with brown butter miso. Deep maroon walls, geometric floors, and vintage Arabic pop on the speakers give it a warm 1970s den feel. It holds a spot on MENA's 50 Best Restaurants list.






  56. Rank 88. Chez Wam

    Contemporary French

    The name is French slang for "at mine," and the vibe follows through: a restaurant on The Palm that runs more like a very well-catered house party than a formal dining room. The chef trained under Robuchon and Passard, and the menu mixes modern French technique with flavors picked up across several continents. It landed on MENA's 50 Best Restaurants list, which tracks with the energy in the room.


  57. Chef Gabriela Chamorro spent years flying Emirates routes before trading the cabin for a supper club in her own home, which eventually outgrew the living room and landed here: a Central American restaurant inside the Anantara Downtown Dubai Hotel, ranked among MENA's 50 Best Restaurants. Terracotta walls, a birdcage bar, and an open kitchen carry the warmth of that original setup into something considerably more spacious, with pupusas and clay-pot short ribs doing the heavy lifting.


  58. Rank 90. Boca

    Modern Spanish

    Boca was reportedly among the first restaurants in Dubai to serve Dibba Bay oysters, which tells you something about how seriously the team takes local sourcing. A modern Spanish restaurant in DIFC, it works with desert foragers and UAE farms alongside a 400-label wine list and a beverage program that gets as much attention as the food. It holds a spot on MENA's 50 Best Restaurants list.





  59. A contemporary Indian brasserie tucked into a villa on Al Wasl Road, earning a Michelin Bib Gourmand for sharing plates built around the flavors of India's street food. The keema pao nods to a long-gone Bombay institution, the kulfi falooda arrives in a cloud of dry ice, and the drinks menu borrows its characters from Khadak Street itself. Loud, colorful, and a little theatrical, in a way that feels earned rather than performed.


  60. Rank 95. Goldfish

    Contemporary Japanese


  61. Rank 96. Harummanis

    Malaysian

    Named after a mango variety, this compact Malay grill in Jumeirah earns a Michelin Bib Gourmand for food that traces back to the team's family hawker roots in Singapore. The menu roams across Southeast Asia, and dishes like a six-hour rendang built on twenty spices show the kitchen's patience. The room is genuinely small, so bring people, order widely, and let the staff talk you through it, which they will want to do.






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Eat Score

The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

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    Drink Score

    The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

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      Stay Score

      The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

        How we score →

        Do Score

        The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

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          Best Place Score

          The Best Place Score rates the area around a point, not any one place. It runs on the scored places nearby: more good stuff within reach, higher score. If it looks low, we probably haven't found enough critics out here yet.