Each month, an array of new restaurants arrive for Dubai diners to feast their eyes – and appetites – on. Here, we have the scoop on where to eat and drink this season.
The Maine Land Brasserie
The Maine Land Brasserie is the third outpost of the highly successful brasserie concept: a sultry big sister within an iconic address serving up a matured menu in a setting that’s got style and substance in spades. Inside the Zaha Hadid-designed The Opus, The Maine certainly excels in the style stakes: dripping gold chandeliers fill lofty high ceilings, a decadent bar runs down almost the entirety of one side and cosy booths in dark wooden shades have a glamourous, Art-Deco feel. It’s a luxe backdrop for food with serious culinary gravitas. Read the full review here
Shanghai Me
Shanghai Me certainly looks the part, seamlessly blending into its upscale surroundings in DIFC: a striking red carpet entrance, colourful paintings designed to be photographed and a chic, fauna-filled terrace that’s now been fitted with AC so it can continue to welcome guests through Dubai’s balmy summer.
The restaurant is dimly lit, fresh white linens cover each table and deep red velvet furnishings are a glamourous ode to opulent, post-prohibition Shanghai. While the name might suggest the menu is solely Cantonese, it extends to flavours far beyond Shanghai, covering cuisines made famous across the Far East. Read the full review here
French Riviera
The Côte d’Azur is etched in glamour; a summer playground for the rich and famous, it’s a picture-perfect stretch of coastline dotted with beautiful beaches, colourful boutiques and restaurants serving the freshest ocean catch. And this is exactly where guests are set to be transported with the opening of French Riviera, a new pop-up restaurant located in Jumeirah Al Qasr.
While this isn’t toes-in-the-sand dining like nearby Greek restaurant Shimmers, French Riviera is positioned poolside, offering a mix of indoor and al fresco tables that gaze towards the Arabian Gulf. On the menu, dishes are classic French-focused Mediterranean offerings inspired by the authentic flavours of the South of France, masterminded by chef Kim Joinié-Maurin, formerly of Burj Al Arab’s Skyview Bar. Read the full review here
Indochine
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FRENCH-VIETNAMESE DISHES AT INDOCHINE
With a 35-year legacy, having opened on Lafayette Street in New York’s SoHo in 1984, the original outpost of French-Vietnamese restaurant Indochine has always been so stylish and star-studded you’d get a crick in your neck trying to take in every A-lister in every palm-shrouded booth.
Entering the new Dubai outpost – signposted in red neon – on the podium level of DIFC’s Gate Precinct Building 3, it’s clear the style stakes remain high. The mood is tropical, sultry and retro-chic: flatteringly dim lighting, sexy red accents, wooden window shutters and lazy ceiling fans that recall steamy Hanoi evenings (happily minus the humidity), and an abundance of banana-leaf wall prints and towering potted palms – much like in the original. Universally attractive staff seem to follow a “night-out” dress code and the level of attention to detail is unusual for Dubai – no water glass goes unfilled for more than a few seconds despite a busy service time. Read the full review here.
Nassau
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NASSAU AT JUMEIRAH GOLF ESTATES
Located in Jumeirah Golf Estates’ Clubhouse, Nassau Dubai promises a flight through modern Mediterranean flavours, influenced by celebrity chef Silvena Rowe’s eclectic European-Arabian heritage. It certainly looks the part: a narrow hallway with high ceiling, marble arches and verdant folia hanging untamed lead through to the airy restaurant. Decorated in neutral cream hues, wooden beams, leafy plants and emerald green brickwork, it’s warm and welcoming. The menu is a concise, easy read of European dishes interlaced with more Arabic-influenced dishes. Read the full review here.
Hutong
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DIMLY LIT INTERIORS AT HUTONG DUBAI
Hutong‘s self-described “occasionally firey” flavours have landed in Dubai. The fifth restaurant of the acclaimed northern Chinese restaurant chain, which originates in Hong Kong but has outposts in New York and iconic London address The Shard, lands in Dubai alongside a sea of international exports. Located on a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it corner of DIFC’s Gate Village, the upscale restaurant is accessed via a folia-lined pathway. A distinctive ‘Hutong’ sign guards the doorway, with the restaurant entrance to the left an al fresco terrace, tucked inside the aforementioned folia, to the right.
Inspired by the part of the Silk Road around Xinjiang in the west of China and Kyrgyzstan, a meeting point and a melting pot for Arabic and Chinese cultures, the aesthetics fuse Arabic elements with traditional Chinese designs.The menu at Hutong Dubai, much like its international counterparts, pays homage to the finest northern Chinese fare, with singature dishes from London and Hong Kong mixed into the menu alongside some exclusive Dubai offerings. Read the full review here
ALSO READ: 10 internationally renowned restaurants opening in the UAE in 2020
Amazonico
THE BEAUTIFUL INTERIORS OF AMAZONICO
The urban jungle of DIFC feels like a fitting location for rainforest-inspired restaurant Amazonico‘s newly opened Dubai outpost. Spread across three floors of its own building on the edge of Gate Village, Amazonico Dubai immediately stands out from its industrial-looking neighbours with overgrown folia and fauna ascending the terrace on each floor, concealing it from the outside.While the full menu is served up in the more informal lounge, for a front row seat to the best of the action, dine in the first floor restaurant. The amazon-inspired theme continues here with wild vegetation spilling out from the restaurant onto the terrace, with the two spaces seemingly blending into one thanks to the floor-to-ceiling windows that are opened fully. For al fresco dining, request a table on the terrace, for front row dining, a table infront of the expansive open plan kitchen is required, where glass windows permit diners to watch the experts at work. Read the full review here.
Nammos
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NAMMOS BRINGS A SLICE OF MYKONOS TO DUBAI
Everything about the newly opened Nammos Dubai transports you straight to the glitzy Greek isle from which it originates – an export of the white-washed homes, azure waters and hedonistic nightlife of Mykonos. Almost entirely outdoors, inside you’ll find a welcoming restaurant space, private dining area and an open kitchen that reveals chefs minutely dressed plates. A shaded, expansive terrace snakes around the outside of the restaurant, leading to the beach lounge that’s dotted with Nammos’ signature turquoise-and-white-striped parasols and generously sized sunloungers in dark-stained wood. Diners sit among tropical ferns and palm trees that sway lazily around the perimetres of the restaurant, giving off a boho-chic vibe that’s further enhanced by breezy white curtains and ultra-high ceilings.
Beachfront tables are partially protected from the sun by a rattan gazebo that allows just the right amount of light in. On the menu, a surprising array of choices – from sushi to Greek-inspired small plates and grilled fish and meats – are reflective of Nammos’ modern spin on Mediterranean cuisine, with a nod to Dubai’s ever-demanding palates. Read the full review here
Source: Conde Nast Traveller