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The Best Places to Eat in the United Arab Emirates

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  1. The robata grill is the anchor here, sending skewers and smoke through a sleek, sunken dining room inside The Galleria on Al Maryah Island. Zuma is a global izakaya chain done at a register that reads more cocktail-bar-meets-fine-dining than casual Japanese, so dress accordingly. The menu splits between raw preparations and robata, holding to the format that made the brand a reliable draw for the expense-account crowd on three continents.




  2. Rank 204. % ARABICA

    Coffee


    Address
    5959+VV6 - Nad Al Sheba - Nad Al Sheba 3 - Dubai - United Arab Emirates
    Hours

    Open now, until midnight

    Wednesday 8 AM–Midnight

    Online
    Instagram




  3. Address
    71A St - Jumeirah - Jumeirah 1 - Dubai - United Arab Emirates · Dubai
    Hours

    Open now, until 11:30 PM

    Wednesday 7 AM–11:30 PM

    Online
    Instagram


  4. Twenty-four floors up inside One Za'abeel, this specialty coffee shop trades Dubai's street-level bustle for a calm room with a skyline framing every table. The pour-over program gets the most attention, and the cold brew is serious enough to slow you down. It draws a mix of remote workers and people who simply wanted an excuse to be this high up with a good cup.




  5. A specialty coffee shop on Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard, close enough to the Burj Khalifa that tourists drift in looking slightly overwhelmed by Dubai and leave looking slightly more caffeinated. The room is modern and calm, the kind of place where laptops outnumber conversations. Pour-overs and lattes are taken seriously here, and fresh pastries round things out for anyone settling in for the afternoon.



  6. Address
    Airport Rd - Al Rashidiya - Dubai - United Arab Emirates · Dubai
    Hours

    Open now, until midnight

    Wednesday 7 AM–Midnight

    Online
    Instagram


  7. Address
    Level 1, Mirdif city centre - Mirdif - Dubai - United Arab Emirates
    Hours

    Open now, until midnight

    Wednesday 8 AM–Midnight

    Online
    Instagram

  8. Warm wood, minimal fuss, and the kind of quiet that makes you stay longer than planned. Around The Block is a specialty coffee shop in Al Wasl where the cold brew and flat whites are made with ethically sourced beans and a fair amount of care. It draws the laptop crowd as much as the catch-up crowd, which tells you something about the seating and the wifi.







  9. Address
    Manazil - Nad Al Sheba 1 - Dubai - United Arab Emirates
    Hours

    Open now, until 10 PM

    Wednesday 7 AM–10 PM

    Online
    Instagram

  10. Address
    35 60C St - Mirdif - Dubai - United Arab Emirates · Dubai
    Hours

    Open now, until midnight

    Wednesday 6:30 AM–Midnight

    Online
    Instagram
  11. Rank 216. CASSETTE

    Coffee




  12. A minimalist coffee shop tucked inside the Wadi Alamardi mall, Cross Coffee draws the laptop crowd and the genuinely unhurried in equal measure. The pour-over and cold brew are the ones to order. It's a calm room by Dubai mall standards, which is either an achievement or a miracle depending on the day.


    Address
    mall - Wadi Alamardi - Dubai - United Arab Emirates · Dubai
    Hours

    Open now, until midnight

    Wednesday 6 AM–Midnight

    Online
    Instagram

  13. Rank 216. HEAL

    Coffee



  14. A coffee shop tucked inside Dubai Mall that somehow manages to feel calm, which is no small feat given the mall's general ambition to be a city-state. Luna leans into specialty beans, with pour-overs and lattes that actually make you slow down. The Burj Khalifa fills the window, so the scenery does its part too. Laptop crowd mixes with shoppers who needed a break from buying things.













  15. The walls are lined with family photos, the celebrities among them suggesting this Persian kebab spot near Al Fahidi has been feeding the right people for a long time. An old-school institution, it runs on marinated mutton, chicken, and tenderloin served over saffron rice, and the portions are generous in a way that feels almost confrontational. Communal tables, no ceremony, and prices that make you look twice at the bill.


    Address
    Metro Station – Al Mussallah Rd, Near Al Fahidi, Dubai, United Arab Emirates · Dubai
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 6:30 PM

    Wednesday Noon–4 PM, 6:30 PM–1 AM

    Online
    Website
  16. You walk in through a tiny vinyl record shop, which sets the tone perfectly. Honeycomb Hi-Fi is a Japanese small-plates-and-cocktail bar tucked inside a hotel, all wooden paneling, midcentury chairs, and Ojas speakers doing serious work. The menu runs wagyu katsu sliders and lamb gyozas, while the bar turns out highballs with the kind of theatrical flair that makes the people around you briefly stop talking.


  17. The wood-fired tacos here come two bites each, and the kitchen turns out around 800 of them a day, which tells you something about how seriously this beachside taco spot takes itself. Chef Shaw Lash brought a deep fluency in Mexican techniques and sourcing to Dubai, and the menu follows traditional styles she refined working in Mexican kitchens across the world. Casual, affordable, and a short walk from the beach.


  18. Rank 245. Mama’esh

    Palestinian

    Palestinian comfort food served in an old villa on Al Wasl Road, with metal platters hitting the table minutes after you order. This is the Al Manara location, the one people actually argue about, and it runs from breakfast until 1 a.m. The menu is carb-forward and unapologetically so: manakeesh, hummus, musakhan chicken rolls, grilled haloumi. Come hungry and early, or you'll be waiting in the overflow shed wondering where the evening went.


  19. A whitewashed Greek taverna hidden in a car park basement off Sheikh Zayed Road, which sounds like a warning but lands closer to a discovery. The room runs to terra-cotta tones and an intimate, down-to-earth feel, and the menu covers the expected ground of tzatziki and souvlaki before slow-cooked suckling lamb and charred octopus make a stronger case for staying. It fills up fast at peak hours, so book ahead.


  20. Phyllo-wrapped pies are the whole point here, made with enough butter to register on a seismograph, at this bright cafe tucked into Alserkal Avenue's arts-district sprawl. The maroon-and-stainless interior is cheerful without trying too hard, and the menu runs hearty and a little unexpected, with wagyu pastrami phyllo and pink pickled onions sitting alongside brunch pies loaded with salmon and trout caviar. The elderflower matcha is the kind of thing you order ironically and then reorder.


  21. Lobster rolls and oysters by the dozen pull most of the weight here, but the truffle pizzas have their loyalists too. The Maine is a brasserie-style bar and grill tucked into a DoubleTree, which undersells it: the bar runs loud and the room fills fast with people who came for a drink and stayed for dinner. The concept has since spread to Ibiza and Mayfair, which tells you something about the formula.


  22. Rank 245. Three by Eva

    Jordanian

    A restored Jumeirah villa turned into a family restaurant by a Jordanian mother and her two daughters, each handling a different corner of the operation. The sourdough uses only flour, water, and salt, which tells you something about where they stand on shortcuts. The rooms feel like someone's home because, in spirit, they are. It's the kind of place that makes restraint look easy.


  23. A food hall perched at the foot of the Burj Khalifa, with the Dubai Fountains performing outside and cheerful pandemonium performing inside. Time Out's editors curated the vendors, so you get a credible mix of homegrown spots rather than the usual airport-court suspects. Tourists fill most of the seats, but the food holds up, and the drinks are among the more affordable you'll find anywhere in this city.


  24. Rank 254. 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.



  25. Address
    Palm Jumeirah Rd - The Palm Jumeirah - Dubai - United Arab Emirates · Dubai
    Hours

    Open now, until midnight

    Wednesday 7:30 AM–Midnight

    Online
    Instagram
  26. A coffee shop sitting right on Jumeirah Fishing Harbour, where the view does a fair amount of the heavy lifting. BRIX leans into minimalist interiors and pour-overs, the kind of place where the laptop crowd settles in for hours without anyone making pointed eye contact. Pastries come along for the ride. It's quiet enough to get something done, which is probably why the Asian Coffee Map called it one of Dubai's better spots for working remotely.



  27. 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.











  28. Address
    Mirdif Avenue Building - مردف - دبي - United Arab Emirates
    Hours

    Open now, until 11:45 PM

    Wednesday 6:30 AM–11:45 PM

    Online
    Instagram

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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

      Four fifths of the score is the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin Key outweighs a listicle. The last fifth is where it is: the ranked places to eat and things to do around it, and how safe the country is. When you sort by what's nearby, distance from you 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.

          How we score →

          Best Place Score

          The Best Place Score rates the area around a point, not any one place. The places are 60% of it: the best of what's within reach, weighed by distance. The setting is the other 40%: how life goes in that country (how people rate their own lives, how long and how well they live, how safe they are) and what it's like right there (the air, and the weather). If the score looks low, we probably haven't found enough critics out here yet.

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