A breakfast speciality served at Gunaydin in Souk Al Bahar. Photo: Gunaydin Dubai
A breakfast speciality served at Gunaydin in Souk Al Bahar. Photo: Gunaydin Dubai
A breakfast speciality served at Gunaydin in Souk Al Bahar. Photo: Gunaydin Dubai
A breakfast speciality served at Gunaydin in Souk Al Bahar. Photo: Gunaydin Dubai

Five of the best Turkish restaurants in Dubai and Abu Dhabi


Sophie Prideaux
  • English
  • Arabic

Thanks to the UAE’s wonderfully diverse nature, you can find delicious food from around the world in just about every corner of the country.

When it comes to Turkish fare, diners are spoilt for choice. From fine-dining spots and world-famous chefs, to local eateries and global chains, there are plenty of spots to get your Turkish fix.

So, as Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan embarks upon his first official visit to the UAE in almost a decade, we pay homage to the cuisine.

Here are five of our favourite spots for Turkish food in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Kaftan

Kaftan Turkish Cuisine at Jumeirah Street offers a contemporary twist on Turkish classics. Leslie Pableo / The National
Kaftan Turkish Cuisine at Jumeirah Street offers a contemporary twist on Turkish classics. Leslie Pableo / The National

With branches in Jumeirah, La Mer and Smoky Beach, Kaftan Turkish Gourmet has won a legion of fans thanks to its authentic fare and traditional Turkish hospitality. From an extensive breakfast menu right through to dinner, the menu offers a contemporary twist on Turkish classics. Don’t leave without trying the Pasa Kadayif dessert.

Jumeirah 1, La Mer, 9am-midnight; Smoky Beach, 6pm-2am; @kaftanrestaurant on Instagram

Nusr-Et

Made famous by its social media sensation founder Nusret Gokce, better known as Salt Bae, this steakhouse, which started life in Istanbul, is more than just a gimmick. With restaurants in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Nusr-Et’s meat-heavy menu is dotted with Turkish influence, with dishes such as the Ottoman salad and its theatrically served baklava as firm menu favourites.

You may also run into a celebrity at the restaurant, as you can see in the photo gallery above.

Restaurant Village Four Seasons, Dubai; noon-midnight; The Galleria Al Maryah Island, Abu Dhabi; 12pm-12am; nusr-et.com.tr

Gunaydin

This spot overlooking the Dubai Fountain at Souk Al Bahar offers a huge range of authentic Turkish dishes. From lentil soup and meatballs, to traditional flatbreads and dozens of varieties of kebab, there is no shortage of choice on offer. Gunaydin was established in 1965 as a small artisanal butcher's shop in Istanbul’s historic Bostanci neighbourhood, and now boasts more than 40 restaurants around the world.

Souk Al Bahar, Dubai; Monday-Friday, 12pm-1am; Saturdays and Sundays, 10am-1am; gunaydindubai.com

Pasha

This small, fuss-free neighbourhood restaurant in Abu Dhabi has been a firm favourite for 30 years. Pasha sources all ingredients from Turkey and bakes fresh bread in-house every morning. Its marinated meats are an in-house special, as well as its salads and kebabs. The menu features changing daily specials, as well as a range of Turkish teas.

Behind Shining Towers, Mubarak bin Mohammed St, Al Khalidiyah; open daily, 8am-1am; pasha.ae

Zou Zou

Established in the UAE, Zou Zou, located at Dubai’s La Mer, fuses the flavours of Turkey and Lebanon to create a varied menu that has proven popular with diners. Known especially for its breakfast offering, the Arabic Special Sini Breakfast, which comes with several small dishes such as Turkish eggs, honey with cream, bread and fresh fruit, is a real winner.

La Mer, Dubai; daily, 9am-midnight; zouzoudubai.com

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The specs

A4 35 TFSI

Engine: 2.0-litre, four-cylinder

Transmission: seven-speed S-tronic automatic

Power: 150bhp

Torque: 270Nm

Price: Dh150,000 (estimate)

On sale: First Q 2020

A4 S4 TDI

Engine: 3.0-litre V6 turbo diesel

Transmission: eight-speed PDK automatic

Power: 350bhp

Torque: 700Nm

Price: Dh165,000 (estimate)

On sale: First Q 2020

The specs
 
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
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HSBC World Sevens Series standing after first leg in Dubai 1 South Africa; 2 New Zealand; 3 England; 4 Fiji; 5 Australia; 6 Samoa; 7 Kenya; 8 Scotland; 9 France; 10 Spain; 11 Argentina; 12 Canada; 13 Wales; 14 Uganda; 15 United States; 16 Russia

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Skoda Superb Specs

Engine: 2-litre TSI petrol

Power: 190hp

Torque: 320Nm

Price: From Dh147,000

Available: Now

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Dos

  • Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion 
  • Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
  • Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work 
  • Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester

Don’ts 

  • Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal 
  • Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
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Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem 

Rating: 4/5

Jetour T1 specs

Engine: 2-litre turbocharged

Power: 254hp

Torque: 390Nm

Price: From Dh126,000

Available: Now

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Starring: Bdoor Mohammad, Jasem Alkharraz, Iman Tarik, Sarah Taibah

Director: Majid Al Ansari

Rating: 4/5

Company profile

Name: Tratok Portal

Founded: 2017

Based: UAE

Sector: Travel & tourism

Size: 36 employees

Funding: Privately funded

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UAE group fixtures (all in St Kitts)
Saturday 15 January: v Canada
Thursday 20 January: v England
Saturday 22 January: v Bangladesh

UAE squad
Alishan Sharafu (captain), Shival Bawa, Jash Giyanani, Sailles Jaishankar, Nilansh Keswani, Aayan Khan, Punya Mehra, Ali Naseer, Ronak Panoly, Dhruv Parashar, Vinayak Raghavan, Soorya Sathish, Aryansh Sharma, Adithya Shetty, Kai Smith

Biog

Mr Kandhari is legally authorised to conduct marriages in the gurdwara

He has officiated weddings of Sikhs and people of different faiths from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Russia, the US and Canada

Father of two sons, grandfather of six

Plays golf once a week

Enjoys trying new holiday destinations with his wife and family

Walks for an hour every morning

Completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Loyola College, Chennai, India

2019 is a milestone because he completes 50 years in business

 

COMPANY PROFILE

Company name: SimpliFi

Started: August 2021

Founder: Ali Sattar

Based: UAE

Industry: Finance, technology

Investors: 4DX, Rally Cap, Raed, Global Founders, Sukna and individuals

COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed 

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Know your cyber adversaries

Cryptojacking: Compromises a device or network to mine cryptocurrencies without an organisation's knowledge.

Distributed denial-of-service: Floods systems, servers or networks with information, effectively blocking them.

Man-in-the-middle attack: Intercepts two-way communication to obtain information, spy on participants or alter the outcome.

Malware: Installs itself in a network when a user clicks on a compromised link or email attachment.

Phishing: Aims to secure personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.

Ransomware: Encrypts user data, denying access and demands a payment to decrypt it.

Spyware: Collects information without the user's knowledge, which is then passed on to bad actors.

Trojans: Create a backdoor into systems, which becomes a point of entry for an attack.

Viruses: Infect applications in a system and replicate themselves as they go, just like their biological counterparts.

Worms: Send copies of themselves to other users or contacts. They don't attack the system, but they overload it.

Zero-day exploit: Exploits a vulnerability in software before a fix is found.

German plea
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the German parliament that. Russia had erected a new wall across Europe. 

"It's not a Berlin Wall -- it is a Wall in central Europe between freedom and bondage and this Wall is growing bigger with every bomb" dropped on Ukraine, Zelenskyy told MPs.

Mr Zelenskyy was applauded by MPs in the Bundestag as he addressed Chancellor Olaf Scholz directly.

"Dear Mr Scholz, tear down this Wall," he said, evoking US President Ronald Reagan's 1987 appeal to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate.

Eyasses squad

Charlie Preston (captain) – goal shooter/ goalkeeper (Dubai College)

Arushi Holt (vice-captain) – wing defence / centre (Jumeriah English Speaking School)  

Olivia Petricola (vice-captain) – centre / wing attack (Dubai English Speaking College)

Isabel Affley – goalkeeper / goal defence (Dubai English Speaking College)

Jemma Eley – goal attack / wing attack (Dubai College)

Alana Farrell-Morton – centre / wing / defence / wing attack (Nord Anglia International School)

Molly Fuller – goal attack / wing attack (Dubai College)

Caitlin Gowdy – goal defence / wing defence (Dubai English Speaking College)

Noorulain Hussain – goal defence / wing defence (Dubai College)

Zahra Hussain-Gillani – goal defence / goalkeeper (British School Al Khubairat)

Claire Janssen – goal shooter / goal attack (Jumeriah English Speaking School)         

Eliza Petricola – wing attack / centre (Dubai English Speaking College)

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French Touch

Carla Bruni

(Verve)

BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES

SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities

Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails

Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies

Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments

SPEC SHEET

Display: 6.8" edge quad-HD  dynamic Amoled 2X, Infinity-O, 3088 x 1440, 500ppi, HDR10 , 120Hz

Processor: 4nm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1/Exynos 2200, 8-core

Memory: 8/12GB RAM

Storage: 128/256/512GB/1TB

Platform: Android 12

Main camera: quad 12MP ultra-wide f/2.2, 108MP wide f/1.8, 10MP telephoto f/4.9, 10MP telephoto 2.4; Space Zoom up to 100x, auto HDR, expert RAW

Video: 8K@24fps, 4K@60fps, full-HD@60fps, HD@30fps, super slo-mo@960fps

Front camera: 40MP f/2.2

Battery: 5000mAh, fast wireless charging 2.0 Wireless PowerShare

Connectivity: 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC

I/O: USB-C

SIM: single nano, or nano and SIM, nano and nano, eSIM/nano and nano

Colours: burgundy, green, phantom black, phantom white, graphite, sky blue, red

Price: Dh4,699 for 128GB, Dh5,099 for 256GB, Dh5,499 for 512GB; 1TB unavailable in the UAE

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Updated: February 17, 2022, 7:57 AM