A Foodie’s Guide to Restaurants in Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

I booked my trip to Dubai in January, otherwise known as Annual Report Hell. It’s not that I dislike the corporate copywriting work that I do - I actually appreciate its diversity - but January reached fever pitch, when I was five months into the project but couldn’t yet see the finish line. Then KLM released their World Deals, and I remembered that one of my closest school friends was living in Dubai for three years. A few WhatsApps later and I’d booked my flight for the day my project finished. After that, I didn’t think much more about it - I was going for warmth, sunshine and a chance to catch up with an old friend. I very definitely wasn’t going for work, and I didn’t do any prior research about restaurants in Dubai. But two days into my holiday, I found myself eating at the newest Japanese warayaki restaurant on the block (more on that below) and before I knew it I was busy scouring the internet for the best places for Pakistani curries and then walking five kilometres to eat at them.

For the full-on, only-in-Dubai experience, try the “luxury rice” featuring wagyu beef, sea urchin and gold leaf. Or the suriyaki roll filled with wagyu beef and truffle, wrapped in daikon, and (you’ve guessed it) topped with gold leaf. In short, you can take the Amsterdam Foodie out of Amsterdam, but you can’t take the Foodie out of… ok, so that doesn’t really work. But you know what I mean: despite my best efforts to relax, I still came back with a list of recommendations for restaurants in Dubai that I wanted to share with everyone. Plus a few more food tips for good measure. So here goes… ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).