19 Dubai and Abu Dhabi eateries on Mena 50 checklist

After a lot anticipation, the Mena’s 50 Finest Eating places awards ceremony named the 50 high eateries within the area at a glamorous ceremony in Abu Dhabi on Monday.

Choices on the checklist span the Center East and North Africa, with venues in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Qatar, Morocco, Bahrain, Kuwait, Tunisia and Israel all rating.

Nevertheless, with 19 of them, together with the highest two spots, the UAE dominates the checklist.

Right here we spotlight the Dubai and Abu Dhabi eating places that made the minimize on the Mena’s 50 Finest Eating places checklist:

Mena’s 50 Finest Eating places ranking: No 1

3 Fils has been named the No 1 restaurant in on the Mena’s 50 Finest Eating places checklist. Photograph: 3 Fils

Taking the checklist’s high spot, 3 Fils is a home-grown small 30-seater eatery positioned in Jumeirah Fishing Harbour, which might nearly be described as a hidden gem. It is one of many few eating places in Dubai the place you will discover a queue nearly each evening of the week, and the restaurant has a no-reservations coverage, even for VIPs.

The menu is small and unfussy: a handful of straightforward Asian-inspired tapas dishes, good for ordering in bulk and spreading throughout your desk. However nonetheless many dishes you order, your desk by no means will get overloaded – the restaurant’s ethos is to carry meals out at any time when it is prepared. It means a gradual trickle of meals somewhat than one strong dumping, so nothing will get chilly.

3 Fils, store 2, Jumeirah Fishing Harbour; open each day, noon-midnight; 04 333 4003, www.3fils.com

Zuma, Dubai, UAE

Mena’s 50 Finest Eating places ranking: No 2

Ask anybody the place it’s best to dine in Dubai, and Zuma is sort of assured to be advised. The polar reverse of a hidden gem, the restaurant has gained numerous awards for its modern Japanese fare.

The restaurant toes the road between effective eating and a celebration environment, with a bar that’s buzzing each evening of the week, and a menu that boasts a listing of culinary highlights, together with the grilled freshwater eel with avocado candy omelette and gobo maki rolls; grilled Chilean sea bass with inexperienced chilli ginger dressing; shiitake mushroom skewers with garlic and soy butter; roasted lobster with shiso ponzu butter; and the famed miso-marinated black cod wrapped in a hoba leaf.

Zuma Dubai is certainly one of 18 world wide, with outposts in London, Hong Kong, Miami and Rome, in addition to Abu Dhabi, the Maldives and Bodrum.

Zuma Dubai, Gate Village No 6, DIFC, Dubai; open each day, noon-2am, occasions for seatings range; 04 425 5660, www.zumarestaurant.com/areas/dubai

Tresind Studio, Dubai, UAE

Mena’s 50 Finest Eating places ranking: No 4, additionally gained Artwork of Hospitality Award

Coming in twice on Mena’s 50 Finest Eating places checklist together with the principle restaurant, Tresind Studio is Tresind’s chef’s desk expertise. With solely 20 company per service and positioned behind a door inside the principle restaurant on the voco Dubai lodge, the brainchild of chef Himanshu Saini has been profitable rave critiques for serving fashionable Indian molecular gastronomy.

Saini’s elevated tackle the delicacies features a 13-course set menu which adjustments its theme each couple of months and is a eating expertise like no different.

“Anticipate the sudden,” mentioned 50 Finest Eating places, when it included Tresind in its Discovery checklist in 2019.

Tresind Studio; Tresind, voco Dubai, Sheikh Zayed Highway; open each day, noon-3.30pm and 6.30pm-11pm; 04 526 0728, www.tresindstudio.com

Mena’s 50 Finest Eating places ranking: No 6

This contemporary, minimalist venue in Jumeirah 1’s wasl 51 is the sort of place cooks wish to eat, together with folly’s Nick Alvis. “They’re performing some actually cool stuff and I like the meals,” Alvis has beforehand instructed The Nationwide. The menu is an train in boundary-pushing, experimenting with style, textures and components to create one thing distinctive, from crimson umami prawns to fluffy pides in numerous artistic flavours.

Orfali Bros Bistro, wasl 51, Jumeirah 1, Dubai; open each day, noon-midnight; 04 259 2477, www.orfalibros.com

LPM Restaurant & Bar, Dubai

Mena’s 50 Finest Eating places ranking: No 8

Basic French fare finished oh-so-well. LPM, beforehand Le Petite Maison, has been a stalwart of Dubai’s effective eating scene for 12 years. With a shocking terrace impressed by the French riviera, and fixed menu classics akin to escargots de Bourgogne, grilled Maine lobster with rouille and, arguably, the very best creme brulee within the metropolis, its elegant mixture of the standard and modern ensures it continues to face the take a look at of time among the many metropolis’s finest spots.

LPM Restaurant & Bar, Gate Village No 8, DIFC, Dubai; open for lunch, Monday to Friday, 12pm-3pm; Saturday and Sunday, 12.30pm-3.30pm; for dinner, each day, 6pm-11pm; 04 439 0505, www.lpmrestaurants.com

Gaia, Dubai, UAE

Mena’s 50 Finest Eating places ranking: No 10

The brainchild of Dubai’s celebrated chef Izu Ani, Greek restaurant Gaia’s spectacular menu has gained it many loyal followers because it first opened its doorways within the DIFC in 2018. A really home-grown fine-dining idea, Gaia places its components on the forefront, with dishes designed to be shared and loved in a laid-back but intricate Mediterranean vogue. Staples embrace seabream carpaccio, grilled octopus and black truffle pasta.

Gaia, Gate Village No 4, DIFC, Dubai; each day, 12pm-3.30pm and 7pm-11pm; 04 241 4242, www.gaia-restaurants.com

Mena’s 50 Finest Eating places ranking: No 11

Named after the property of the famed vogue household, the Ferragamos, and run by them, this award-winning restaurant at Jumeirah Al Naseem in Dubai has established a repute for its farm-to-table eating idea. With natural farming as a guiding philosophy, most of the restaurant’s components are shipped instantly from the Il Borro Property farm in Tuscany, together with olive oil, honey and chosen greens. Final yr, the restaurant joined a rising checklist of home-grown UAE ideas to go worldwide, with the opening of a department in London.

Il Borro Tuscan Bistro; Turtle Lagoon, Jumeirah Al Naseem, Dubai; Monday to Friday, noon-3.30pm and 6.30pm-11.30pm; Saturday and Sunday, noon-4pm and 6.30pm-11.30pm; 04 275 2555, www.ilborrotuscanbistro.ae

Coya, Dubai, UAE

Mena’s 50 Finest Eating places ranking: No 13

This Peruvian hotspot was all the time going to make a high restaurant checklist, not solely due to its reputation, continually buzzing vibe and persistently good meals, but in addition due to the crew’s consideration to element, the flexibility to innovate and sustain with altering occasions. Whether or not it is for brunch, lunch, drinks and even dwelling supply, Coya Dubai continues to fulfill.

Coya Dubai, Restaurant Village, 4 Seasons Resort at Jumeirah Seaside, Dubai; open each day, 12.30pm-4pm and 6pm-midnight; 04 316 9600, www.coyarestaurant.com

Mena’s 50 Finest Eating places ranking: No 16

The casual-dining idea in Jumeirah is helmed by chef Reif Othman with a give attention to kushiyaki – Japanese grilled meat and poultry held collectively on a kushi (skewer). Apart from the rooster and beef skewers, there are additionally clay pots, ramens, gunkan sushi, gyoza and uncooked dishes available. A star dishes part reads like chef Othman’s biggest hits, with wings, angel hair pasta, steamed bun burgers and Wagyu sandos.

Reif Japanese Kushiyaki; dar wasl mall, Al Wasl Highway, Dubai; Monday to Thursday, noon-11pm; Friday, noon-midnight; Saturday and Sunday, 11am-midnight; 050 235 7071, www.reifkushiyaki.com

Mena’s 50 Finest Eating places ranking: No 18

Recognized for its gourmand and fashionable Indian dishes, Tresind is helmed by head chef Himanshu Saini. The restaurant was opened in Dubai in 2014 and has shortly made its mark on the nation’s culinary scene. On the menu are dishes which might be nearly too fairly to eat, akin to arugula pani puri and corn-crusted spinach kebabs, in addition to a particular chef’s tasting menu with a wild mushroom chai soup and tandoori rosemary lamb chops.

Tresind, voco Dubai, Sheikh Zayed Highway; open each day, noon-11.30pm; 04 526 0728, www.tresind.com

Mimi Kakushi, Dubai, UAE

Mena’s 50 Finest Eating places ranking: No 20

Mimi Kakushi harks again to Twenties Osaka, a golden age when conventional Japanese values got here into contact with fashionable artwork, jazz and western fashions. Referred to as Orient Nouveau, the restaurant’s menu fuses time-honoured Japanese culinary strategies with different Far Jap flavours, peppered with a couple of western influences. Anticipate cold and hot sharing plates of sashimi, sushi, tempura and gyoza, mains akin to oven-baked black cod and Kagoshima wagyu beef, adopted by an eclectic collection of desserts.

Mimi Kakushi, Restaurant Village, 4 Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Seaside; open each day, 6pm-2am; 04 379 4811, www.mimikakushi.ae

Lowe, Dubai, UAE

Mena’s 50 Finest Eating places ranking: No 23, additionally gained the Sustainable Restaurant Award

A house-grown eating idea, Lowe presents a up to date, experimental menu that includes seasonal produce all cooked naturally on hearth. An open kitchen idea is centred on a charcoal grill, rotisserie and wood-fired oven. A part of the Nasab artistic neighborhood and co-working house, Lowe specialises in rustic, accessible, relaxed eating, providing dishes akin to burnt aubergine dip with seaweed zaatar, torched Hokkaido scallop and bottarga toast, and spiced lamb dumplings with bitter cream, pine nuts, chickpeas and smoked chilli butter.

Lowe, Koa Canvas; Thursday, 6pm-11pm; Friday and Saturday, 8am-4pm and 6pm-11pm; Sunday, 8am-4pm; 04 320 1890, www.lowe-dubai.com

Mena’s 50 Finest Eating places ranking: No 25

Overlooking the grounds of the Emirates Palace, this award-winning Japanese-fusion restaurant is understood for its extravagant culinary choices. It has an intensive a la carte menu, and serves a Dim Sum, Then Sum menu on Saturdays between midday and three.30pm, which begins at Dh98 for 3 baskets. The stylish interiors are in step with the model’s model globally, or e-book an al fresco desk for views of the Abu Dhabi skyline.

Hakkasan Abu Dhabi, Emirates Palace, Corniche Highway, Abu Dhabi; open each day, 6pm-1am; 02 690 7739, www.hakkasan.com/abu-dhabi/

Amazonico, Dubai, UAE

Mena’s 50 Finest Eating places ranking: No 29

Amazonico in DIFC is impressed by the fusion treasures of the Amazon river. Providing a enterprise lunch of three programs for Dh125, together with lubina Nikkei – sea bass with Nikkei ginger and pak choy, or add a fourth course (Dh148) and revel in a mocha dulce crunch, made with 70 per cent chocolate and Colombian espresso cream dessert. From the a la carte menu, attempt the ensalada Amazonica, with avocado, mango, confit tomato and kalamansi citrus dressing for Dh65, or the rubia gallega, a 30-day dry-aged Spanish rib-eye, priced at Dh290. With a relaxed bar downstairs, and extra formal eating upstairs, all set inside a plant-filled inside with vibrant decor and an open kitchen, there’s a lot to get pleasure from.

Amazonico, DIFC, Dubai; open each day, noon-3am; 04 571 3999, www.amazonicorestaurant.com/dubai

Mena’s 50 Finest Eating places ranking: No 33

Positioned in DIFC, this cosy nook sits in what was previously an artwork gallery and is hailed by many as a hidden gem. The brainchild of Alex Stumpf, the pinnacle chef behind Dubai’s Peyote, BB disregards the standard menu format and opts to classify dishes primarily based on the 4 Bs – baos, bowls, bbq and bites. An jap menu that pulls on culinary influences from Asia, the Center East and past is designed to encourage social eating and there’s no differentiation between starters and foremost programs. Even higher, it’s very fairly priced for a DIFC restaurant. BB can be a favorite with Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, who has been noticed consuming right here on a couple of event.

BB Social Eating, Gate Village 8, DIFC, Dubai; open each day, noon-midnight; 04 407 4444, www.thisisbb.com

Coya, Abu Dhabi, UAE

Mena’s 50 Finest Eating places ranking: No 34

Coya Abu Dhabi is a two-tiered restaurant, bar and “life-style vacation spot” that ensures nice Peruvian meals, thrilling drinks and a vigorous environment on each go to. Famed for its ceviche, anticuchos and sharing platters, this swanky spot delivers the entire above with distinctive service and simply the precise stage of theatrics. A multifaceted menu, Inca-inspired interiors and custom-crafted furnishings, an ever-changing assortment of paintings and a sweeping terrace overlooking the waterfront make this spot simply one of many capital’s finest eateries.

Coya Abu Dhabi, 4 Seasons Lodge Abu Dhabi at Al Maryah Island, Abu Dhabi; open each day for dinner, 6.30pm-11.15pm; daytime openings range; 02 306 7000, www.coyarestaurant.com

Mena’s 50 Finest Eating places ranking: No 35

It has been a favorite in New York because the early Eighties, and now it is a favorite in Dubai, too. Celeb hotspot Indochine, which opened its doorways within the emirate in 2020, serves a coveted French-Vietnamese menu, with dishes akin to spicy squid salad to jungle curry and banana beignets. The vibe is subtle however not too stuffy, fashionable and but not overly edgy for the sake of it, and interiors set the proper backdrop for photograph ops.

Indochine, DIFC, Dubai; open Sunday to Wednesday, noon-1am; Saturday, 7pm-1am; Thursday to Friday, 7pm-3am; 04 208 9333, www.indochinedxb.com

Mena’s 50 Finest Eating places ranking: No 44

Regardless of its minimalist setting, the nine-seater Japanese restaurant Hoseki is all luxurious with its conventional omakase set-up, the place the client lets the chef resolve what dishes to serve, and its high quality seafood, sourced instantly from Tokyo’s well-known Tsukiji fish market.

Throughout eating, chef Masahiro Sugiyama – whose household historical past in sushi-crafting goes again greater than 150 years – bases his programs on the preferences of the company on the counter. Apart from the distinctive eating expertise, there’s additionally the view, with the intimate eating room searching over the Dubai skyline.

Hoseki, Bulgari Resort Dubai, open for lunch on Thursday to Sunday, from 1pm; and dinner on Wednesday to Sunday, from 6pm; 04 777 5433, www.bulgarihotels.com/en_US/dubai/bars-and-restaurants/japanese-restaurant-hoseki

Butcher & Nonetheless, Abu Dhabi, UAE

Mena’s 50 Finest Eating places ranking: No 48

Freshly shucked oysters, a 21-day aged bone-in rib-eye steak, lump crab cake and cherry pie a la mode: these are a number of the signature dishes you may anticipate on the superb menu at Abu Dhabi’s Butcher & Nonetheless. Positioned on the 4 Seasons lodge, this restaurant reinterprets a Twenties Chicago steakhouse with subtle aptitude; leather-based cubicles, wood flooring and Prohibition era-inspired drinks all set the temper. These views of Al Maryah Island by means of floor-to-ceiling home windows or from the terrace are merely a bonus.

Butcher & Nonetheless, 4 Seasons Lodge Abu Dhabi at Al Maryah Island, Abu Dhabi; open each day, 4pm-midnight; 02 333 2444, www.fourseasons.com/abudhabi/eating/eating places/butcher_and_still

1. 3 Fils, Dubai, UAE

2. Zuma, Dubai, UAE

3. OCD Restaurant, Tel Aviv, Israel

4. Tresind Studio, Dubai, UAE (additionally gained Artwork of Hospitality Award)

5. Sachi, Cairo, Egypt

6. Orfali Bros Bistro, Dubai, UAE

7. Fakhreldin, Amman, Jordan

8. LPM Restaurant & Bar, Dubai

9. George & John, Tel Aviv, Israel

10. Gaia, Dubai, UAE

11. Il Borro Tuscan Bistro, Dubai, UAE

12. Baron, Beirut, Lebanon

13. Coya, Dubai, UAE

14. HaBasta, Tel Aviv, Israel

15. Myazu, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

16. Reif Kushiyaki, Dubai, UAE

17. Animar, Tel Aviv, Israel

18. Tresind, Dubai, UAE

19. Kazoku, Cairo, Egypt

20. Mimi Kakushi, Dubai, UAE

21. Liza, Beirut, Lebanon

22. Em Sherif, Beirut, Lebanon

23. Lowe, Dubai, UAE (additionally gained the Sustainable Restaurant Award)

24. Pescado, Ashdod, Israel

25. Hakkasan, Abu Dhabi, UAE

26. La Grande Desk Marocaine, Marrakesh, Morocco

27. 13C Bar within the Again, Amman, Jordan

28. Tawlet Mar Mikhael, Beirut, Lebanon

29. Amazonico, Dubai, UAE

30. Marble, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

31. Mirai, Manama, Bahrain

32. Iloli, Casablanca, Morocco

33. BB Social Eating, Dubai, UAE

34. Coya, Abu Dhabi, UAE

35. Indochine, Dubai, UAE

36. Reduce by Wolfgang Puck, Qatar, Doha

37. Porterhouse, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

38. Zooba, Cairo, Egypt

39. Fusions by Tala, Manama, Bahrain

40. Milgo Milbar, Tel Aviv, Israel

41. Sufra, Amman, Jordan

42. LPM Restaurant & Cafe, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

43. White Robata, Kuwait Metropolis, Kuwait

44. Hoseki, Dubai, UAE

45. Izakaya, Cairo, Egypt

46. La Closerie, La Marsa, Tunisia

47. Clap, Beirut, Lebanon

48. Butcher & Nonetheless, Abu Dhabi, UAE

49. Plus61, Marrakech, Morocco

50. Tokyo, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Up to date: February tenth 2022, 12:02 PM