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The variety of cuisines are really important, but I'm not sure if the options we have here are good enough.
For instance, Chilis, Fridays, Uno, etc. they're all the same! Having toomuch branches of them is kind of boring.

What caught my attention is the other competing collection of restaurants, such as The Butcher Shop, and the Meat Company, as well as "mOre" (I heard its S.African, but apparently it's owned by a Dutch) .. They're trying to expand all over Dubai, and they serve good food!

I like mOre cafe! It has that unique style that breaks the routine!
http://www.morecafe.biz/

It's very interesting how restaurants varry with the portion of food served. For instance a 1 portion bowl of soup served in mOre is more like a whole pot XD

Anyways, what do you guys have in mind?
What are your favourite restaurants in Dubai?
Any place that you'd recommend? Any remarks you got?

Good post!

Being a bit of a foodie (er...overweight!) I can give you a few tips purely from years of personal experience and trial and error. They say you can eat food from a different country every night for a month in Dubai, but I think its more like 6 months! Forget all the fine dining, celebrity chef, Gordon Effin Ramsay sauteed, pansy ass city food outlets, if you want good honest scoff at sensible prices, here are some places you have to try.
Anyway, my list:

Italian: La Cucina - JW Marriott Deira. Small, cosy, fun (the chefs and staff break out into opera from time to time!) and they serve nice house wine by the carafe at reasonable prices. Portions are huge so beware unless you are seriously hungry. Best dish: The home made spaghetti ice cream with chocolate sauce!

English: (yes, there is such a thing!) The Jumeirah Villa Guesthouse. The chef there, Andy Campbell, has an internationally renowned restaurant in London and the food is to die for. Best dish: His 'Posh Fish and Chips' are the best in Dubai and the Black Angus steak, served with roasties and Yorkshire pudding but only on a friday, is just perfect. The landlord, Paul Girdley, knows his onions when it comes to wine and you are guaranteed to be surprised by the selection and quality.

Thai: The LemonGrass at Lamcy Plaza. Its in the car park square, not in the mall, and the food is as authentic Thai as you will ever find outside Bangkok. Prices are reasonable and the portions fair. The flavours are sensational and the atmosphere and service exactly as you expect from a genuine Thai restaurant. No alcohol obviously, but the excellent food makes up for that! Best dish: The Pad Thai is unbelievable!

Indian: This one is so well tried and tested I almost have shares in it! Karachi Darbar in Karama. This is a chain with outlets all over the city, but for some reason this particular outlet just has got it absolutely right. Don't expect any frills or luxury, that is not what the place is about. Its no frills, out and out about food. The place is normally packed in the evenings with Indian families eating and relaxing. The menu is amazingly varied and the portions will keep even the hungriest hippo satiated for days! Best dish: Anything! Try the Chicken Tikka Masala or the Vegetable Jalfreizi, but whatever you have, you have to have the Naan bread...its soft and fluffy and dippingly delicious! 4 people can eat themselves to a standstill for less than 40 Dhs!

Chinese: No contest here. Chin Chin on the Mena Road, Bur Dubai opposite the Capitol Hotel. Without a shadow of a doubt, this place serves the best Chinese food in town. Like the Karachi Darbar, its nothing to write home about in terms of decor or ambiance, but the food is awesome. They deliver to a limited area and have an outlet in Mirdiff as well. Best dish: The crispy chilli beef will have you saying Yum Yum every time!

Arabic: The Golden Seashell cafeteria off Dhiyafah St. This has been here since the year dot and they deliver to Zabeel Palace even to this day! There are lots of them around now, but the one at the back of Dhiyafah is the original and best. Try to sit outside and just watch the parade of limited edition number plate 4x4's pulling up and beeping their horns for service! Menu is typical with grilled meats and salads, burgers, shrimps and mezze on offer. Fresh juices are served in pint glasses and are made then and there. Best dish: The mixed grill has a taste of everything Arabic, but the Shish Tawouk is by far the most flavoursome. Cheap as chips and hearty portions.

Simply Bizarre: They are actually Thai, but Smiling BKK has to be one of the most individual food outlets in town! Its a tiny place squeezed into an alleyway behind an Emarat gas station off the Wasl Road, but the ambiance is electric and eclectic, a bohemian mix of 'art trouveau' and eastern Asian pop, one minute Dali-esque and at the same time neon burlesque. Ignore the wild and whacky decor, concentrate on some veritable vittals at vitally advantageous prices! Best dish: Just take the noodles and prawns, you will be delighted and your taste buds will thank you for the rest of your life!

If anyone has a particular preference for any nationality of food, just ask and I can probably tell you a place in Dubai that sells it: Argentinian to Zimbabwean!



A fat and contented Knight!

Knighty boy, you corpulent son of a Beeach. Your essay shows us your ravishing appetite...

No dessert for you tonight...

I went to a new place a couple of days ago. Barracuda on Jumeriah Beach Road. The name is a giveaway - fish, but it's cooked Egyptian style - Port Said. Place is small, fish is very fresh, you pick out what you want, great mezza and i believe reasonable (hubby got the check). Its on the beach side of the road past Emirates Hospital. There is a section of small shops with parking and it is at the end of the shops and the signage is blue lighting(going towards Jumeriah Hotel). Stay in the left lane because you could miss it!!

My all time favorite Italian is Bice (I think it's at the Hilton located behind JBR).

Ruth Christ's for great steak!!! Atmosphere is wonderful - at the Monarch Hotel.

Indian - great food at Gazebo.

Nobu at Atlantis - yum yum. The chef there is always pushing the limits for new and creative food.

Arabic - there is a place called Zayara that has a great buffet lunch for 65 AED. Then you can go sit outside and have shisha.

Knighty boy, you corpulent son of a Beeach. Your essay shows us your ravishing appetite...

No dessert for you tonight...

Please give his dessert to me! We went to some indian restaurant tonight and there was no dessert!

Indians do not have desserts or is this the restaurant failure?!!!!

This is the second indian restaurant I tried, with no dessert!

Knight, you really seem to love spicy food !!
LOL@Karachi.darbar.com/Knight.html Hahahaha !!

By the way, did you know that the Chinese food served here in Dubai is not original, it's just commercial!
When I first visited China, I had in mind that I'll have the best "chicken munchurian" XD .. So at the hotel's restaurant, I asked for the munchurian, and the waitress kept on wondering "What is Chicken Munchurian?". I told her "It's Chinese food!!!". She replied back "Its not, I never heard of it in Beijing"

Only then, I realised it's just made up here for us!
Well, except for the "Peking Roast Duck", which was original & SUPER DELICIOUS !!

Bora Bora, did you ever try the Egyption "Feseekh" ??
It's that fish they store in salt for sometime, and then cook it. We have something similar here in the Emirates, but we call it "Maleh" (from "Melh", which means "salty" in Arabic).

Thanks a lot for sharing guys!
I actually didn't know about some of the restaurants you guys mentioned. I should try them

melika969 wrote:

Knighty boy, you corpulent son of a Beeach. Your essay shows us your ravishing appetite...

No dessert for you tonight...

Please give his dessert to me! We went to some indian restaurant tonight and there was no dessert!

Indians do not have desserts or is this the restaurant failure?!!!!

This is the second indian restaurant I tried, with no dessert!

Indians got a good collection of desserts!
Golab Jamun, Ras Malai, and my all time favourite Kulfi

symmetric wrote: We have something similar here in the Emirates, but we call it "Maleh" (from "Melh", which means "salty" in Arabic).
:

Mel eh? You mean Melika?!

Yeah, she's a salty dish for sure.

theres a turkish cafe near al mamzaar and those guys give you this HUGE burger for like 10dhs!! and when I say HUGE its probably as HUGE as knights list of breakfast, brunch, lunch, english tea and muslim feast on the eids!!

I have been looking for the original sikander kebaab in Dubai/UAE but no luck

theres a turkish cafe near al mamzaar and those guys give you this HUGE burger for like 10dhs!! and when I say HUGE its probably as HUGE as knights list of breakfast, brunch, lunch, english tea and muslim feast on the eids!!

I have been looking for the original sikander kebaab in Dubai/UAE but no luck

Regarding Pakistani food:

Barbecue Delights is awesome. Located near Lamcy Bur dubai and JBR Walk. Grill items are the specialty here. Buffet is great!

Handi 'Wrap and Roll' in Al Barsha is also good...especially the naan I really love their Chicken Handi Boneless.

rudeboy wrote:theres a turkish cafe near al mamzaar and those guys give you this HUGE burger for like 10dhs!! and when I say HUGE its probably as HUGE as knights list of breakfast, brunch, lunch, english tea and muslim feast on the eids!!

I have been looking for the original sikander kebaab in Dubai/UAE but no luck

I totally agree with you. I never found a place where they serve proper Eskandar in Dubai

redtilldead wrote:Regarding Pakistani food:

Handi 'Wrap and Roll' in Al Barsha is also good...especially the naan I really love their Chicken Handi Boneless.

Crispy naaaaan with chicken makni is my favourite!

BBQ Delights, next to LemonGrass has the best value Indian/Pak buffet in Dubai, with not to mention,the best grill items, (50 dhs).

Agree that LemonGrass is great, I love the stir fried beef with garlic, as well as the Som Tam salad !
Fo some reason, the red/green curries weren't that good

LOL Symmetric do you work for mOre? Last time I ate there I had the worst food poisoning EVER!

for Sushi, try Bentoya on Shk Zayed road behind the Sketchers building - awsome and you know it's good because all the Japanese eat there.

Duh of course the Chinese/Indian etc food is commercial. If you want authentic, then you have to go to the little places around Karama.

In my view, more fancy the place, more the food is bland. So I opted out of wasting money on such places and hit what can be classified as " street food " here.

I can never be much of a foodie as I am very picky at what I eat. I do know what I dont like. Sea food, noodles and plain white rice. So basically cancels out most of the Asian continent ! Biryanis, mendi I will eat once in a while.

Indian/paki food ; There is this small family run joint in Sharjah Industrial called Accord Resturant. The best and the cheapest food one can have. Mind you not the kind of place you wanna take your women to.

Dubai : Karachi Darbar is as much pakistani food as Macdonalds is Western Cusine. Ravi resturant in Satwa is the dogs danglies. Indian palace in Ibn battuta and now Festival city is good. There Aloo paratha's rock.

Recently I dabbled with Shamiana at the mall food courts and found they have an awesome butter chicken.

London Fish and Chips is also decent.

Now waiting for the british The Kebab Shop to open in Discovery Gardens. The finiest asian cusine from UK ! LOOOOL

Arabic, Mallah on diyafa is decent. Still looking for a decent shawarma is the vicinity of discovery gardens !

DD, I totally agree with you. All the big eateries are commercial food outlets, they rely on large quantities, fast turnover and the food can suffer.

I love the more street food, the tiny places, where it's cheap as anything and the food is good.

"
I love the more street food, the tiny places, where it's cheap as anything and the food is good."

first british non-imigrant I have come across who loves the malooo cafes!!!!! crikey brits are getting cheaper everyday and I thought indians were cheap!!!!

rudeboy wrote:"
I love the more street food, the tiny places, where it's cheap as anything and the food is good."

first british non-imigrant I have come across who loves the malooo cafes!!!!! crikey brits are getting cheaper everyday and I thought indians were cheap!!!!

RB, a trough is not a restaurant!!!! Jeeezzzz. Will be dropping your dinner off later on. Rice and beans sound good to you????

desertdudeshj wrote:I. Indian palace in Ibn battuta and now Festival city is good. There Aloo paratha's rock.

The Bin Battuta branch is horrible; its set out like a food court and doesnt feel like an Indian restaurant.

Havent tried the Festival outlet but the Garhoud branch is quite good, has their "Bangle corner" in case you are taking your missus/gf, and the ambience is quite good as well, I think they also have live sitar on weekends.

Chocoholic wrote:LOL Symmetric do you work for mOre? Last time I ate there I had the worst food poisoning EVER!

.

Oh com'on! Perhaps you forgot to wash your hands before eating
They do serve good food! Specially that 1/2 kilo of shrimps dish, yummm

BlackburnRovers wrote:

desertdudeshj wrote:I. Indian palace in Ibn battuta and now Festival city is good. There Aloo paratha's rock.

The Bin Battuta branch is horrible; its set out like a food court and doesnt feel like an Indian restaurant.

Havent tried the Festival outlet but the Garhoud branch is quite good, has their "Bangle corner" in case you are taking your missus/gf, and the ambience is quite good as well, I think they also have live sitar on weekends.

Like I said I couldn't give a rat's ass about ambience and in fact more ambience = crappy food

Food should be good.

Plus its 2 mins from house

P.S : Plug for my friend. hes opened up a new pizza place Red Tomato in barsha behind LuLu close to the Haandi place. Its suppose to be good. I still havent eaten there as I'm not into " authentic italian pizza's " I prefer the commericial Pizza Hut kind

symmetric wrote:

rudeboy wrote:theres a turkish cafe near al mamzaar and those guys give you this HUGE burger for like 10dhs!! and when I say HUGE its probably as HUGE as knights list of breakfast, brunch, lunch, english tea and muslim feast on the eids!!

I have been looking for the original sikander kebaab in Dubai/UAE but no luck

I totally agree with you. I never found a place where they serve proper Eskandar in Dubai

have you tried turkish flower under Safestway on SZR? their iskander kebab is pretty decent, as far as dubai at least

Next to SFC ?

nuzbim wrote:

symmetric wrote:

rudeboy wrote:theres a turkish cafe near al mamzaar and those guys give you this HUGE burger for like 10dhs!! and when I say HUGE its probably as HUGE as knights list of breakfast, brunch, lunch, english tea and muslim feast on the eids!!

I have been looking for the original sikander kebaab in Dubai/UAE but no luck

I totally agree with you. I never found a place where they serve proper Eskandar in Dubai

have you tried turkish flower under Safestway on SZR? their iskander kebab is pretty decent, as far as dubai at least

It's "Istanbul Flower" Yup I tried their Eskandar, it's good, but we still seek the best my dear friend
In Istanbul I ate 2 plates of Eskander (was the best of the best) .. &nd finally ended my meal with 2 scopes of the Turkish denderma

desertdudeshj wrote:Next to SFC ?

Shaikh Zayed Road.

Souther Fried Chicken...there is also a SFC under Saftest way

Dubai Knight, Karachi Darbar is a run down Taxi driver's restaurant. Its a bad choice for India food...

Bora Bora wrote:

rudeboy wrote:"
I love the more street food, the tiny places, where it's cheap as anything and the food is good."

first british non-imigrant I have come across who loves the malooo cafes!!!!! crikey brits are getting cheaper everyday and I thought indians were cheap!!!!

RB, a trough is not a restaurant!!!! Jeeezzzz. Will be dropping your dinner off later on. Rice and beans sound good to you????

beans and brits dont mix, it usually results in a really bad odur

rudeboy wrote:beans and brits dont mix, it usually results in a really bad odur

That explains the smell that radiates from you. No more schoarma and beans for you, garlic boy.