Dubai's list of Michelin-starred restaurants has grown to include three new venues.
One star was given to 11 restaurants, while three venues clinched two stars. No Dubai restaurant has yet been awarded three stars, which is the highest Michelin accolade.
Stars are awarded solely for the quality of food. One star is conferred upon venues that use “top-quality ingredients, where dishes with distinct flavours are prepared to a consistently high standard”, according to the Michelin Guide's website.
The guide awards two stars to restaurants where the “personality and talent of the chef are evident in their expertly crafted dishes”.
Here's a look at the 14 restaurants in Dubai with Michelin stars, starting with the three new holders.
Avatara
Number of stars: One
The Indian fine dining restaurant at Voco Dubai is led by chef Rahul Rana, who attempts to serve diners with a “reincarnation of soulful Indian food”.
It is purely vegetarian, offering a 15-course degustation menu with herbs and vegetables sourced from local farms.
“Back then, most Indian food was vegetarian. At Avatara, we've taken those authentic flavours and dishes, and elevated them into something spectacular,” the head chef previously told The National.
The menu is mostly inspired by Rana's childhood, albeit with a modern twist. Dishes include a platter of root chips with tempered chana mash and pomegranate chutney; deep fried fritters made with lentils, served with fermented carrot and mustard water; and turnip steak with berry pulao and chilli curry.
Open Tuesday-Saturday, 6pm-11.30pm, Sunday, 1.30pm-3pm and 6pm-11.30pm; Voco Hotel, Sheikh Zayed Road; 058 143 2867
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
Number of stars: One
Historic British cuisine is on the menu at the swanky dining spot at Atlantis The Royal. Diners are promised a glimpse of “medieval Britain through contemporary eyes”, according to its website.
Although a newcomer to Dubai, the restaurant is carried by the star power of Blumenthal, who is known for often pushing the culinary envelope. It is a spin-off of the London restaurant with the same name, which has two Michelin stars.
The British celebrity chef also owns The Fat Duck in Berkshire, which has three Michelin stars and is known as one of the best restaurants in the world.
The menu features innovative dishes such as powdered duck breast, savoury porridge and a nitrogen ice cream trolley. Each item on the menu is tagged with a year from which the dish got its inspiration.
Open daily, 6pm-11pm; Crescent Road, The Palm Jumeirah; 04 426 2444
Moonrise
Number of stars: One
The Omasake restaurant sits on top of Eden House, a residential building in Dubai. It only has capacity for 12 people at once, taking diners through a multi-course experience packed with flavours and stories.
The food is inspired by Japanese and Middle Eastern cuisines, crafted by young Dubai-born chef and founder Solemann Haddad.
The menu changes occasionally, with new dishes introduced every few months. Dining at Moonrise is indeed a culinary journey, as the Syrian-French chef takes heavy influences from his diverse background. Guests can expect Japanese and Middle Eastern flavours and cooking techniques, with a hint of European influence thrown into the mix.
Some of the dishes served in previous meals include a foie gras puri, inspired by India's pani puri. Haddad's version comes with foie gras, saffron and pineapple chutney, plus Sichuan chilli oil. There is also spicy Hamachi, garlic bread with a flavourful cheese dip and a caramelised white chocolate sorbet over milk crumble and olive oil powder.
The restaurant only hosts two dinners per evening.
Open Monday-Saturday, 6.30pm and 9.30pm seating options; Eden House, Al Satwa; 050 697 2946
11 Woodfire
Number of stars: One
Chef Akmal Anuar leads this cosy spot in a villa on Jumeirah Beach Road. The restaurant “celebrates earth's natural bounty and community” with a theme that centres on a warming fire.
The menu brims with dishes prepared using various techniques of grill cooking and an array of wood types. Some examples being the Wagyu kebabs with fresh bread and truffle, Australian T-bone steak, king crab with lemon butter, and sea bass with a salted crust and tamarind.
The venue has an open kitchen, which means diners can witness the elaborate process whereby fresh produce is cooked at scorching temperatures that – according to staff – go as high as 700°C.
It's also had one extremely famous guest: Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai.
Open Tuesday-Sunday, noon-midnight, Monday, 6pm-midnight; Villa 11, 75B Street, Jumeirah 1; 04 491 9000
Al Muntaha
Number of stars: One
The fine dining spot melds French fine-dining precision with the rustic heart of Tuscan cuisine. It is located on the 27th floor of one the world's most famous hotels, Burj Al Arab.
Its head chef Saverio Sbaragli takes inspiration from his culinary heroes, one of whom is his grandmother.
“She used to love preparing food for a large number of people at home and showed me everything she had prepared, which fascinated me from a young age,” he told The National in an interview.
Al Muntaha has a spacious dining hall with spectacular views of the Dubai coastline. Diners can opt to order from an à la carte menu or try the degustation option. Some of the dishes include a amuse bouche of fresh cherry tomatoes drizzled with tomato foam and basil olive oil, a salmon trout and a delicately pan-fired langoustine.
Open daily 12.30pm-2.30pm and 7pm-10pm; Burj Al Arab, Umm Suqeim 3; 04 301 7600
Armani Ristorante
Number of stars: One
The world's tallest building is where you'll find Armani Ristorante, in Burj Khalifa's Armani Hotel. It opened at the same time as the hotel, in April 2010.
The menu is the brainchild of chef Giovanni Papi, who has been with the Italian restaurant for four years and is originally from Sardinia.
He describes his cooking style as “emotional”. In an interview with The National, he said: “Both my grandmothers were great, great cooks. They instilled the passion in me, such that becoming a chef was the only career I considered. The kitchen chose me.”
Burrata, foie gras, oysters and caviar are some of the finest ingredients on the menu, alongside dishes such as linguine pasta with clams and pan-seared Hokkaido scallops, The Green Planet risotto with Sicilian red prawns and bottoni ripieno and costolette di Wagyu, to name a few.
Open Saturday-Thursday 6.30pm-11.30pm, Friday 6pm-11pm; Armani Hotel Dubai, Burj Khalifa, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard; 04 888 3666
Hakkasan
Number of stars: One
The world-famous Cantonese restaurant is located at Atlantis, The Palm. It serves authentic Chinese food using modern cooking techniques and top-quality ingredients.
Some of its most famous plates include the crispy duck salad, grilled Chilean sea bass, dim sum and Wagyu short rib, to name a few.
The Abu Dhabi outpost, situated at the Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental, also has one Michelin star.
Open daily, 6pm-1am; Atlantis, The Palm, Palm Jumeirah; 04 426 2626
Hoseki
Number of stars: One
The Japanese restaurant at Bulgari Resort Dubai also offers a traditional omasake set-up, where the guests lets the chef decide on the dishes, and uses quality seafood sourced directly from Tokyo’s well-known Tsukiji fish market. No two meals are alike at the minimalist spot.
It prides itself as the Middle East's first sushi restaurant with a Michelin star. Chef Masahiro Sugiyama leads the meals, and bases his courses on the preferences of the guests at the counter.
Aside from the unique dining experience, there’s also the view, with its intimate dining room looking out over the Dubai skyline.
Open Thursday-Sunday from 1pm, Wednesday from 6pm; Hoseki, Bulgari Resort Dubai; 04 777 5433
Ossiano
Number of stars: One
The underwater seafood restaurant at Atlantis is run by Gregoire Berger, one of the most groundbreaking chefs in the UAE and beyond.
The dishes are guided by the chef’s lifelong interest in seasonality and foraging, artfully interwoven with his own personal memories and experiences.
“Everything must provoke emotions,” Berger told The National upon trying his 11-step tasting menu, which is called Metonoia. It pays homage to the riches of the ocean. All its ingredients are sustainably sourced from the ocean or within 50km of a coastline.
The menu includes several conceptual dishes such as Snacks of the Sea, which is a caviar and gold flake-topped nori tartlet, and Back Where the Mist Meets the Sea, a base of soft cauliflower cream overlaid with home-made smoked trout, topped with pickled cauliflower and a salty seawater foam.
Open daily 6pm-10pm; Atlantis, The Palm, Palm Jumeirah; 04 426 2626
Tasca by Jose Avillez
Number of stars: One
The Portuguese restaurant at Mandarin Oriental Jumeirah serves a contemporary menu with small, sharing plates on offer. The cuisine predominately takes inspiration from the chef's native Portugal, where he has a portfolio of restaurants that include Cafe Lisboa and Cantina Do Avillez.
The Dubai restaurant marks Avillez’s first international outpost and is led by two of the longest-serving members of his staff: chef Jose Barroso and general manager Sergio Machado.
Barroso describes Tasca as a “small restaurant that serves honest food and drinks. It’s a place in Portugal where you can find real and typical dishes, which is something we seek to represent here in Dubai, but with a modern twist”.
Dishes include prawn ceviche, kimchi-mayo-infused tuna tartare, tempura cod cake, spicy roasted octopus, Bacalhau or dried and salted cod, and the classic the piri-piri chicken.
Opens daily, 12.30pm-11pm; Mandarin Oriental Jumeira, Jumeirah Beach Road; 04 777 2231
Torno Subito
Number of stars: One
The Italian restaurant was launched by Massimo Bottura – the culinary mastermind behind Osteria Francescana, a three-Michelin-starred restaurant in Modena – in February 2019.
It is helmed by Bottura's protégé Bernardo Paladini, who spent seven years at Osteria Francescana and Franceschetta 58.
“We came to Dubai to represent Italy at its best, and to create a contemporary rather than fine-dining restaurant, serving everything from beautiful Italian street food to more elaborate dishes,” he earlier told The National.
Diners can choose from an à la carte menu or a set menu. Dishes include pappa al pomodoro, a thick, tangy and crunchy tomato and basil-infused amuse bouche, rock lobster roll, tagliatelle al ragu, and a pink pasta with marasca cherries, beetroot purée and beetroot powder, all topped with Parmigiano foam.
Open Monday-Friday, 12.30pm-3pm and 6:30pm-11pm, Saturday-Sunday, 1pm-4pm and 6:30pm-11pm; W Dubai on The Palm, Palm Jumeirah; 04 245 5555
Tresind Studio
Number of stars: Two
The Indian fine dining has been upgraded with another Michelin star this year for its outstanding food. It is the brainchild of chef Himanshu Saini.
It serves a set tasting menu, which changes every four months: think wood apple pani puri, ghee roast crab with burnt cinnamon, and curry leaf tempura and morel pulao with Assam tea dashi.
“Through the experience, we serve comfort food to guests, yet ensure every person is leaving with a different impression and a changed perception about Indian cuisine,” Saini said in an interview.
“The end game is to show the world that Indian food can also be gourmet.”
The menu features an exciting take on Indian dishes, such as a payasam pudding made with pink peppercorns and served with tomato rasam; or buttermilk curry ice cream with padron peppers and pickled chutney.
Open Tuesday-Sunday, 6pm-11pm; Nakheel Mall, Palm Jumeirah; 058 895 1272
Il Ristorante – Niko Romito
Number of stars: Two
Il Ristorante – Niko Romito is a celebration of Italian culture in the heart of upscale Dubai. It blends the modern and classical, to create Italian dishes that are renowned for their simplicity, quality and consistency.
“It’s a cuisine based on constant research, to find the purest expression of taste and the quintessence of flavour, with a particular attention to textures,” Romito told The National.
Even before the stars were awarded to the Dubai venue, the chef had already been lauded by Michelin for his restaurant Reale in the southern Italian region of Abruzzo, which has three stars.
Dishes include blue lobster salad with courgette, wild greens and pink pepper; glazed aubergine with tomato, basil capers and olives; home-made taglione with mussels, roasted tomatoes, marjoram and grapefruit; steamed cod served with roasted pepper and baby spinach on the side; and veal tenderloin served with sage, lemon, dill and milk sauce.
Open daily, 7pm-11pm; Bulgari Resort Dubai, Jumeirah 2; 04 777 5433
Stay by Yannick Alleno
Number of stars: Two
Yannick Alleno is a world-renowned chef with three Michelin-starred restaurants under his belt, including three for Alleno Paris.
The French restaurant at One & The Palm describes its offering as an “epicurean experience of menus curated especially for you”. Classic techniques meet contemporary ideas here, and an à la carte menu is served, alongside seasonal tasting menus.
Stay's menu features a variety of ingredients, from lamb to turbot and foie gras. There are also vegetarian and vegan options.
Open daily, 7pm-11pm; One & The Palm, Palm Jumeirah; 04 440 1010
