A bit of a one-off this, as I don't normally do restaurant guides, but finding myself in this city for two months I thought I might as well start logging where I had my dinner each night. A lot of Dubai's restaurants are within hotels, the larger hotels having four or more different eateries scattered around. Alcohol is usually only available in the restaurants within hotels. Service charges are sometimes included in your bill so check the small print carefully. Whether this money gets to the waiters I don't know.
| Restaurant | Comments | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Al Areesh | This large restaurant is mostly out of doors on the waterfront.
They serve local fare and I had a nice lunch while watching the cormorants dive, and Dhows and other craft pass by on the creek.
It is a long way from the waterside tables to the kitchen which resulted in somewhat erratic service.
Last visited November 2004 |
Waterfront walk near the Heritage Village, Al Shindagha |
| Alamo | Good food at this large Tex/Mex restaurant. They have karaoke or live music most nights.
*** Last visited December 2004 |
Dubai Marine Hotel |
| Beirut | A pleasant restaurant serving rather good Lebanese food. I enjoyed brains with salad and the usual mixed grill.
Dine inside or on the pavement.
Last visited January 2005 |
Al Dhafa Road |
| Bella Vista | A very nice hotel restaurant with a selection of all you can eat and drink theme nights.
So far I have tried Mexican night, Asian night and Indian night - all very good.
There's a nice view from the fifth floor as well.
*** Last visited January 2005 |
Jumiera Rotana Hotel |
| Blue Barjeel | This creek-side restaurant has tables outside from where you can watch the Abras (water taxis) jockeying for position at the Bur Dubai station.
Very nice (and cheap) local food is served, but watch out for the head waiter who'll turn a light luncheon into a rather fine full blown banquet given half a chance!
Last visited November 2004 |
Waterfront, near HSBC Bank |
| Bollywood Cafe | This is a restuarant/night club and consequently its busy time is 23.00 onwards.
I was too hungry to wait until then and so ate a very good Indian meal in splendid isolation as the only customer, while numerous staff set up the stage for the live entertainment later, mended a hole in the floor and moved televisions around - Quite an entertaining floor show really!
I had one waiter to serve my food and another to chat with about various topics including Indian restaurants in the UK and whether he could get a job in one, and a visa.
*** Last visited November 2004 |
Regal Hotel, Mankhool Road / Khalid Bin Al Waleed Road, Mankhool |
| Brauhaus | Another hotel restaurant, this one decorated in a Germanic style which seems a lot more realistic than most.
Tuesday night is cheese night (no, really) where I enjoyed a fine selection of German style meaty foods, followed by a rather good fondue, in an all you can eat and drink buffet.
On other nights the menu provides superb German food, and they've got Warsteiner on draught and Erdinger in bottles. Highly recommended.
*** Last visited January 2005 |
Jumiera Rotana Hotel |
| Brewster's Arabian Trails | A small-ish resturant in the Madinat Jumeira complex, with an American menu of grills etc.
The food was fine but the service a little erratic when I visited for a Saturday lunch.
Draught beer is limited to Heineken.
*** Last visited January 2005 |
Madinat Jumiera |
| Cactus Cantina | A rather good Mexican restuarant - lively and friendly, and the food is great too.
*** Last visited January 2005 |
Rydges Plaza Hotel 8th floor, Al Satwa Roundabout |
| Cascade | An Italian restaurant in the central part of the cathedral like interior of the Ramada Hotel. The menu ranges from simple pizzas up to sophisticated dishes.
I had a superb clear seafood soup, and a tagliatelli carbonara that I felt was a little bland. (Incidentally, in keeping with the religious requirements of this country, I was offered a choice of pork bacon or beef bacon in the carbonara.)
*** Last visited December 2004 |
Ramada Hotel, Mankhool Road / 7 Street, Mankhool |
| Cellar | An impressively decorated (Goodness knows what you would call the style.) up market restaurant with what my guidebook describes as a "globe hopping menu", whatever that means - It certainly tastes good, anyway.
All you can eat and drink, but with waiters not a buffet, and the food is excellent.
Despite the name the tables are inside on the ground floor, and outside on the terrace and on the roof.
*** Last visited January 2005 |
Aviation Club, Al Garhoud |
| Coconut Grove | This rather nice Indian restaurant serves excellent food including a very nice vindaloo with just the right level of spiciness.
(i.e. not as hot as a UK one would be.)
I was a little concerned when I was handed a menu full of drinks and half a page of bar snacks, but the proper menu, offering an impressive range of dishes, soon followed.
*** Last visited January 2005 |
Rydges Plaza 9th floor, Al Satwa roundabout |
| Dynasty | A rather posh Chinese restaurant in the Ramada Hotel, serving fine food and not too expensive.
I must say the up market atmosphere is somewhat let down by the arrival at the table of Tiger beer - in a can. (On my most recent visit the Tiger came in a bottle.)
*** Last visited December 2004 |
Ramada Hotel, Mankhool Road / 7 Street, Mankhool |
| Fort Island | Technically not a restaurant, I suppose, but you can book this island in the middle of the lake in the Madinat Jumeirah complex for private functions, and dine al fresco on a superb buffet. Thanks, Marconi!
*** Last visited January 2005 |
Madinat Jumeira |
| Insignia Cafe | An up-market restaurant serving what I guess you would call a European menu.
The food is excellent, the service efficient, and the prices are lower than expected.
I particularly recommend the crab and tomato if you like your soup rich and creamy.
*** Last visited January 2005 |
Ramada Hotel, Mankhool Road / 7 Street, Mankhool |
| La Cite | A large pleasant hotel restaurant with daily all-you-can-eat-and-drink theme nights.
I enjoyed the Moroccan buffet which included a vast range of very tasty dishes, although I am not qualified to say how authentic it was.
*** Last visited December 2004 |
Sofitel, attached to the Deira City Centre Mall |
| Lebanese Village | Excellent cheap Lebanese food including tasty hummus and a very nice mixed grill.
The restaurant is in three parts - a large terrace outside (too close to the traffic for me), a small plain ground floor cafe and a large nicely decorated upstairs restuarant where you can watch a chef making the bread.
Last visited January 2005 |
Mankhool Road / 7 Street, Mankhool |
| Meat Co. | A large restaurant in the enormous Madinat Jumiera complex serving extremely good steaks - In fact, the best steak I've had since I left America.
We sat outside by the water watching abras (water taxis) pass by and enjoying an excellent view of the Burj Al Arab.
*** Last visited December 2004 |
Madinat Jumeirah |
| Nawab | Something of a hidden gem, this: A very small pleasant Indian restaurant tucked away at one side of the Al Ain Computer Plaza serving truely excellent curries.
I can particularly recommend garlic chilly chicken and Hyderabadi chicken, but everything on the illustrated menu seems to be good.
Last visited January 2005 |
Mankhool Road / 7 Street, Mankhool |
| Old Vic | A pleasant but not very accurate attempt at a British pub, upstairs in the Ramada Hotel.
One side is a bar and the other a restaurant serving such traditional delicacies as liver and onions, shepherds pie, and a fine mixed grill.
Amongst the theme nights are all you can eat curry night on Sundays, where I found the curries to be pretty nice although not very spicy, and rib night Tuesdays which I haven't tried yet.
*** Last visited December 2004 |
Ramada Hotel, Mankhool Road / 7 Street, Mankhool |
| Royal China | A pleasant Chinese restaurant on the ground floor of the Regal Hotel, with TVs usually showing sport all around the small L shaped room.
The hot and sour soup is great in quantity and quality. Service is always attentive but the food can be slow in coming at times.
*** Last visited January 2005 |
Regal Hotel, Mankhool Road / Khalid Bin Al Waleed Road, Mankhool |
| Spice Island | The ultimate all you can eat buffet - They have all their theme days at the same time, with seven or eight different cuisines on offer!
*** Last visited January 2005 |
Trade Centre Road / Kuwait Street |
| Sukh Sagar | A nice Indian restaurant serving what I suspect is authentic Indian food, excellently done.
The service was very efficient, almost to the point of irritation.
You don't find out it's a vegetarian restaurant until you get inside!
Last visited December 2004 |
Trade Centre Road / Kuwait Street |
| Terrace | A very nice outdoor restaurant in this hotel complex, where the all you can eat and drink deal includes Hoegaarden Wit on draught.
The local style food is great as well, and I also enjoyed a sheesha (bubble pipe) for the first time here.
*** Last visited December 2004 |
Meridien Village, 51 Road, Al Garhoud, near the Airport |
| Thai House | This one is hidden away in the Al Ain Computer Plaza.
A pleasant Thai restaurant, always surprisingly empty, serving good food at low prices.
Last visited January 2005 |
Mankhool Road / 7 Street, Mankhool |
| Restaurants marked *** serve alcohol. | ||
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