Expo Eats Awards celebrate Filipino restaurants, AlBaik, Cafe Milano and more

Here are the venues at Expo 2020 Dubai that diners voted for

Pasta at Cafe Milano, winner of Favourite Upscale Dining Restaurant at Expo Eats Awards. Khushnum Bhandari / The National

Panna Munyal

Mar 31, 2022

Filipino restaurants Mangrove and Dampa took top honours at the Expo Eats Awards. The ceremony took place on Wednesday at Festival Garden in Expo 2020 Dubai, and favourite venues were lauded in five categories on the back of the number of votes directly collected from diners over five weeks.

The end game was to find restaurants that “have brought visitors much joy, that people have queued for and that they have told their friends about”.

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The five categories were: Favourite Casual Dining Restaurant, Favourite Local Gem, Favourite Upscale Dining Restaurant, Favourite Fast Food Restaurant and Favourite Sweet Treats Restaurant.

While Mangrove Philippines Cuisine and Dampa Seafood Grill won top honours in the first two, famed fine-dining Washington restaurant Cafe Milano, Saudi Arabia’s broasted chicken joint AlBaik and Bread Ahead, a bakery known for its doughnuts and sourdough goodies, emerged as favourites in the other three.

Ahmed Al Khatib, right, chief development and delivery officer at Expo 2020 Dubai, presents an award to the Dampa Seafood Grill team during the Expo Eats Awards ceremony. Photo: Expo 2020 Dubai

The categories also shone a light on two “highly commended” venues each (see full list below). For instance, Adrift Burger Bar, which Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, famously visited in October (without having to queue, we reckon) came highly commended in the list of casual dining spots.

The ceremony also gave a heartening shoutout to the behind-the-scenes players who made Expo 2020’s dining scene shine, from waiters and bartenders to dishwashers.

“For six months, Expo 2020 Dubai has become a global food destination. Today is the chance to recognise the outlets that have warmed the hearts of our visitors,” said Ahmed Al Khatib, the fair’s chief development and delivery officer.