The Eid Al Adha holiday weekend isn't just a time for reflection and celebration with family and friends. It's an excuse to indulge in everything from sizzling grills to bottomless brunches.
The holiday for workers begins on Thursday and Eid Al Adha itself runs from Friday to Sunday. Special menus and dining deals abound across the Emirates.
This list of dining options in Dubai is not exhaustive, but each is worthy considering.
Tatel
Cecina and live oyster stations are the highlights at the Spanish fine-dining restaurant part-owned by sporting superstars Rafael Nadal and Cristiano Ronaldo. After a welcome drink on arrival, diners can choose from an a la carte menu that includes Balfego tuna and arroz del senoret – described as a “rich medley of seafood”. A new molten pistachio cake with vanilla cream and chocolate ice cream is among the dessert options.
Thursday to Saturday, 5pm to 2am; Hotel Boulevard, Autograph Collection, Downtown Dubai; 04 215 2121
Punjab Grill
There is a two-for-one offer on the Eid menu at the Indian restaurant's Abu Dhabi and Dubai branches. The set menu is Dh350 per person, but if you book in advance, it's buy one, get one free. The three-course sharing-style menu by chef Sandeep Ail includes a kebab platter, classic butter chicken and mango cheesecake.
Thursday to Sunday, all day; The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Canal, Abu Dhabi, 50 668 3054; Anantara Downtown Dubai, 50 194 1107
Maison de la Plage
The beach club venue has a live music lunch in a one-day-only celebration on Saturday. The band will perform indoors from 3pm, but guests can also dine al fresco by the pool. Chef Izu Ani, known for his Mediterranean-inspired cuisine, has curated a menu that includes an “indulgent” Izu burger and a burrata salad.
Saturday, 3pm; West Palm Beach; 044 52 3344
The Permit Room
Free baklava cheesecake is being dished out to every table at this Indian restaurant. It can be paired with chef Harangad Singh's best dishes, which include burrata chaat, truffle amritsari kulcha and spicy mushroom momos. The Ferrero Rocher choco bar is also recommended for dessert.
Thursday to Sunday; Majestic City Retreat, Mankhool; 05 479 11796
Baba’s
Diners are in for a sweet surprise at this Punjabi restaurant. Sit-in guests are treated to a free serving of traditional Punjabi kheer (rice pudding), usually priced at Dh24, for six days. Traditional dishes include tandoori platters and slow-cooked dal makhani. Baba's butter chicken recipe dates back to 1962.
Wednesday to Monday; Ground Floor, DXB Tower, Sheikh Zayed Road, Trade Centre Area; 50 702 4944
Eid-E-Khaas
The affordable Punjabi dining spot, which has four branches across the city, is offering all-you-can-eat traditional thali for Dh65. Tangy Lahori chana chaat kicks things off and is followed by all the usual favourites, including slow-cooked mutton kassa and baklava shrikhand for dessert.
Thursday to Sunday; Dhaba Lane Karama, behind Park Regis Kris Kin Hotel; Dhaba Lane Garhoud, Al Garhoud Views Building; JLT, Cluster D, Podium, Jumeirah Lakes Towers; Al Nahda, Talal Humaid Belhoul Building, Street 13, Al Nahda
Akabeko
The Japanese restaurant specialises in yakiniku, a tabletop grilling style in which bite-sized pieces of meat are cooked in front of diners. A Wagyu feast is on offer for Eid, with three set menu options. There's a six-course beginner set for Dh450 per person; a 10-course intermediate set for Dh700; and a whopping 12-course set for Dh950 which must be booked in advance.
Friday to Sunday, 12pm to 2:30pm for lunch, or 6pm to 10pm for dinner; Voco Dubai, The Palm, G01, Palm Jumeirah West Beach; 50 561 8288
Amelia
Japanese and Peruvian cuisine with Mediterranean influences in a retro-futuristic steampunk three-level setting are all part of the appeal at this Downtown venue. The Eid menu highlights include hamachi ceviche and atun clasica, crafted with bluefin tuna and dragon fruit. Los Postres de Amelia, a curated selection of Amelia’s most iconic sweets, sounds like a dessert showstopper.
Thursday to Sunday, 7pm to 3am; Address Sky View, Downtown Dubai; 050 170 2805
Eat & Meat
For Dh199 per person, a lavish international buffet brunch with live entertainment and family fun is promised at the H Dubai dining destination. Early-bird and group bookings can be secured for Dh179 and children under 12 eat free. Flavours come from the Middle East, Asia and the Mediterranean, and a kids zone aims to keep children entertained with arts, crafts, balloon twisting and more. Free pool access after 4pm is an added bonus.
Saturday, 1pm to 4pm; The H Dubai, Sheikh Zayed Road; 04 501 888
Entre-Nous
International buffets for breakfast, lunch and dinner are available at the Novotel World Trade Centre restaurant for Eid. Highlights include Arabic lentil soup; mixed grill and lamb ouzi; and hot kunafa and kataif to end on a sweet note. The breakfast buffet is Dh99; lunch, from noon to 4pm, is Dh189; and dinner, from 6.30pm to 10.30pm, is Dh179.
Friday to Monday; Novotel World Trade Centre; 50 365 4315
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
The biog
Name: Abeer Al Shahi
Emirate: Sharjah – Khor Fakkan
Education: Master’s degree in special education, preparing for a PhD in philosophy.
Favourite activities: Bungee jumping
Favourite quote: “My people and I will not settle for anything less than first place” – Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid.
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Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
'The Sky is Everywhere'
Director:Josephine Decker
Stars:Grace Kaufman, Pico Alexander, Jacques Colimon
Rating:2/5
The specs: 2019 BMW X4
Price, base / as tested: Dh276,675 / Dh346,800
Engine: 3.0-litre turbocharged in-line six-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 354hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 500Nm @ 1,550rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.0L / 100km
Kandahar%20
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Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
Ultra processed foods
- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns
- margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars;
- energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces
- infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes,
- many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts.
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The specs
Engine: Two permanent-magnet synchronous AC motors
Transmission: two-speed
Power: 671hp
Torque: 849Nm
Range: 456km
Price: from Dh437,900
On sale: now
SPECS
Engine: Two-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 235hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Price: From Dh167,500 ($45,000)
On sale: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Ibrahim's play list
Completed an electrical diploma at the Adnoc Technical Institute
Works as a public relations officer with Adnoc
Apart from the piano, he plays the accordion, oud and guitar
His favourite composer is Johann Sebastian Bach
Also enjoys listening to Mozart
Likes all genres of music including Arabic music and jazz
Enjoys rock groups Scorpions and Metallica
Other musicians he likes are Syrian-American pianist Malek Jandali and Lebanese oud player Rabih Abou Khalil
US tops drug cost charts
The study of 13 essential drugs showed costs in the United States were about 300 per cent higher than the global average, followed by Germany at 126 per cent and 122 per cent in the UAE.
Thailand, Kenya and Malaysia were rated as nations with the lowest costs, about 90 per cent cheaper.
In the case of insulin, diabetic patients in the US paid five and a half times the global average, while in the UAE the costs are about 50 per cent higher than the median price of branded and generic drugs.
Some of the costliest drugs worldwide include Lipitor for high cholesterol.
The study’s price index placed the US at an exorbitant 2,170 per cent higher for Lipitor than the average global price and the UAE at the eighth spot globally with costs 252 per cent higher.
High blood pressure medication Zestril was also more than 2,680 per cent higher in the US and the UAE price was 187 per cent higher than the global price.
Five ways to get fit like Craig David (we tried for seven but ran out of time)
Start the week as you mean to go on. So get your training on strong on a Monday.
Train hard, but don’t take it all so seriously that it gets to the point where you’re not having fun and enjoying your friends and your family and going out for nice meals and doing that stuff.
Think about what you’re training or eating a certain way for — don’t, for example, get a six-pack to impress somebody else or lose weight to conform to society’s norms. It’s all nonsense.
Get your priorities right.
And last but not least, you should always, always chill on Sundays.
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
