As a melting pot of cultures from around the world, Dubai is one of the most international cities on earth, and therefore, a delicious playground for food lovers. The quality of all types of restaurants is high due to the bar being set incredibly high. Whether you’re getting takeaway or a full sit down meal, the options for good food from all corners of the world are endless. 

On a four day layover, you can do damage exploring the food scene, and full disclosure, what’s available is overwhelming, in a good way. Although Middle Eastern fare, especially from the Gulf countries, is a guaranteed success meal, there are several other options that may even be better in Dubai than in their home nations. This is a phenomenon unique to Dubai (and perhaps London and New York) as spectacular chefs migrare to this city in order to make a name for themselves on the global stage ultimately opening restaurants and feeding the millions of diners that pass through every year. If you want to eat the world somewhere, Dubai is an excellent pick. 

Creekside Restaurant – Turkey 
There’s a channel of water in the centre of the city where one side are tall, futuristic skyscrapers, while the other side is a souk with shorter arab-style architecture. It’s on this more traditional bank that you’ll be able to eat the city’s finest Turkish cuisine overlooking the water and Dubai’s iconic skyline. 

All the classics build the menu from lentil soup to pides to grilled meats, and finally to kunefe and coffee. That’s exactly what we went for. The Turkish-style lentil soup is a delight even on a hot day with underlying hints of mint paired with a lahmacun pide – Turkey’s take on pizza that comes on a thin flatbread with toppings. In this case peppers, tomato, and minced meat. 

However, the showstopper is the minced lamb kebab with pistachios. The two textures and flavours made for every bite having an element of surprise. This being said, there were a number of good looking picks on the menu that would appease any mood. 

After a Turkish coffee to help with digestion, you can walk a couple minutes further along the water for a relaxing shisha session. You can do it all! 

Al Ustad Special Kebab – Iranian
An Emirati friend insisted on dining here, and now we do too. This restaurant is an institution in Dubai, so much so that there are photos covering the walls with all the famous people who have eaten there – another reminder of how international the city is. It’s constantly full with locals, expats, and tourists alike who are looking for a good meal. 

The grill at the front of the restaurant is constantly roaring with several cuts of chicken, beef, and lamb. It’s kind of the type of place you go to mostly to eat copious amounts of meat, in our case, lamb. The massive plate of lamb that was delivered to our table had some chicken to keep us humble, but otherwise it was packed with mince, chops, and pieces cooked in a yogurt coating that tenderizes the lamb in a special way. This was all on top of freshly-made flatbread and a few vegetables for colour. 

It was a meal of champions, and a trip to Dubai wouldn’t be complete without a meal here. Don’t forget to insist on the lamb broth soup to kick things off, and a cup of the traditional tea at the end. 

Arabian Tea House  – Gulf States
With a few locations scattered around the city, pick the one that suits your location as they all have the same menu. They’re also all in picturesque locations with an “instagram-y” decor. 

The menu is a sharing concept, which allows for many tasting plates to go around for a group. Whether you’re having breakfast, lunch, or dinner, there’s something here for you that’s fresh and local. There’s also an excellent tea selection that can be served both hot or cold. 

It’s hard to not get carried away with all the options. For a light breakfast in the sunshine of Jumeirah Beach, go for the yogurt with pomegranate seeds, walnuts, and honey paired with a local flatbread reminiscent of a soft tortilla shell with spreadable cheese and a date chutney. 

As expected, the menu gets bigger with more options as the day goes on. A larger meal with a larger group can go in a lot of directions. Some highlights were the falafels, the grilled halloumi, the hummus topped with lamb, a fattoush salad, lamb chops, lamb kabob, and their rice dishes. 

It’s the type of place where you throw out what you want, and the group orders it. Everyone gets a bite or two of each thing, and then you move on. 

To top things off, the dessert section aligns with the Emirati tradition of enjoying many sweets. There are options from all over the region that will satisfy any sweet tooth. Pick your poison! 

ThaiFoon noodle bar – Thailand 
So this is an interesting concept that could take off around the world. The female chef and owner of this small food court chain is trying to expand across the UAE offering diners a elegant and delicious food experience but in a quick setting. Hailing from Thailand, she spent time working in Australia at Michelin Star restaurants before making her way to Dubai and kicking off what could be a really exciting expansion project. 

As far as the food goes, it’s all great. The ingredients are fresh and top quality, an example of this would be to use local high-grade chicken and beef tenderloin in her dishes instead of the cheaper options. The vegetables and herbs are so fresh, it feels like they were just picked from the ground. 

We went all out in order to taste as much of her plates as possible. The crispy shrimp appetizer was deep-fried in batter but biting into it caused us all to smile. The meat was tender and you could really taste it, unlike other fried products. We opted for Pad Thai, since like a margarita pizza, if you can’t excel at this, there’s no point in being in operation. The meat options mixed in with the noodles are similar to anywhere but she found the perfect balance of sweet and sour in the sauce. We approve! 

Like the Pad Thai, you can really judge a place on their Green Curry. This one was unique to many in Canada as you could literally taste the coconut. It brought to mind that perhaps the canned coconut milk in Canada adds creaminess but the real flavour is extracted. Needless to say, simply sipping on the broth was a treat, and adding in the decedent pieces of beef made it a million times better. 

Have you ever tried pineapple fried rice? It usually comes in a pineapple and each bite delivers a sweet or a savoury element, usually both, but it always changes. Chicken was the obvious protein for this, and we were happy with it. 

As always, dessert was served with a mango theme that helped to cleanse our palates.  

One of the unsuspecting highlights of this restaurant are the coconuts that you can get to drink. They are full, voluptuous coconuts that are refrigerated and served chilled. Everything here was thought of down to the bibs to cover the Emiratis wearing their traditional white dress. All we can say is hopefully this can one day replace Thai Express in Canada! 

Hashmi Barbeque Restaurant – Kenya 
This was another favourite among friends in Dubai, and is a family run institution with a sister restaurant in Nairobi. A man opened the restaurant in Kenya then opened a second location in Dubai now run by his three sons. If you’re familiar with Kenyan fare, this is the variation with an Indian kick. There’s a large Indian population in East Africa, so the cuisine has evolved over time to include spices common in Indian recipes paired with the classic Kenyan food traditions. 

Hashmi is always full, and it’s no wonder why because the food is great and leaves you happily full. Once again, a theme of grilled meat is present, but that never scared us. As a gang of hungry diners, we immediately ordered and the food came quickly, which was appreciated. 

The order was simple but delicious. – barbecued prawns, mutton kebab, chooza chicken, and poussin chicken with rice and chapatis. Everything was good and worth getting depending on your mood. Personally, I loved the prawns but the chooza chicken was excellent – the meat is tender and grilled in a clay pot  with a variation of spices that make it flavourful with a kick. The mutton was in minced form, and is never a bad idea. For fried chicken lovers, the poussin chicken is your best bet.  

Despite not having the time to get to all the restaurants on our list, here are some notable mentions of places that we’ll just have to book another trip for, so stay tuned. However, this list should give you a pretty extensive list of eating around the world in Dubai. Unlike Toronto, there’s less Mexican fare, but this will likely change soon as the city continues to adapt to the mass amounts of immigration from all over the world. 

Eat with you soon, 

Mandrea Bike
(Mat & Andrea)