StreetXO review: Punk rock meets tapas at eccentric Dubai venue of world's best chef

Mohawked Dabiz Munoz is more like a conductor achieving rock star status with a knife and vegetables

StreetXO's interiors are a mishmash of avant-garde art galleries, Victorian smoking lounges and somewhere people wake up in Saw films. Photo: StreetXO

"Madness on a canvas” and “Spain's new culinary enfant terrible” are merely a few of the weird and wonderful ways chef Dabiz Munoz and his wacky cooking have been described.

He’s punk rock meets vegetables, mohawk meets Michelin stars. And unlike many cooks breaking the rules, he’s not a rebel without applause.

Instead, he’s been crowned the world's best chef three years running; has three Michelin stars at his Madrid restaurant DiverXO (also number four on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list) and has opened his third StreetXO restaurant, this time in Dubai.

It’s a trio of triumphs for a man who’s achieving rock star status with a knife and some cooking oil.

Skulls meet culinary skills with Dabiz Munoz. Photo: One&Only One Za'abeel

He even has the stretch earrings, loyal online following and successful model/TV presenter wife to suit, and his Instagram is littered with snaps of him doing the “hand-horns” sign.

As a man who shares his appreciation for loud guitars and brilliant solo acts, I’m more than ready to rock and roll into his venue at One&Only One Za'abeel.

Where to sit and what to expect

I'm no Instagram user, but it's impossible to miss the entranceway that greets arrivals at StreetXO. It's all vibrant street art in a semicircular tunnel. Like someone has turned a graffiti-covered New York Subway train inside out. Or beamed me into a Fresh Prince of Bel-Air music video.

On the other side, it's a mishmash of blacks and blood reds, trendy interior design catalogues, avant-garde art, underground Tokyo nightclub, quiet Victorian smoking lounge and somewhere people wake up in Saw or Hostel films. And that's a good thing.

Entry to StreetXO is via a funky tunnel. Photo: StreetXO

There are food counters to sit at, long dining-hall-style tables for groups and families, two open kitchens, mighty sculptures hanging from the ceiling and terrifying busts sitting on the bar. Even the corridor to the toilets, which is wall-to-wall graphics, comics and film posters with a bright pink “XO” neon light at the end, is like walking through a gallery. There's also a queue to get through as diners tut and jostle to take a photo without anyone lurking in the background.

But for me, there is one place to head to: straight past the DJ and on to the fourth floor where a vast outdoor terrace (which has now shut for July) sits directly underneath the record-breaking cantilever known as The Link.

Whether it's Munoz's draw, StreetXO's growing reputation or simply a tour bus of confused tourists who've taken a wrong turn, the restaurant is packed on a Tuesday evening. It's come-as-you-are dining; children above 10 are welcome, shorts are fine and, if you must, flip-flops probably won't get you barred.

The menu

Munoz is Spanish, trained in London and cut his teeth at two of the globe's best-known Asian fine-dining restaurant chains: Nobu and Hakkasan.

Don't know his background? Well, his life is clearly illustrated by the dishes on the menu. And traditionalists beware: this is kitchen lawlessness. I find familiarity with the Spanish tapas staples of croquettes or crudos, but there are anything-but-normal twists such as kimchi, yuzu kosho or leche de tigre.

Everything on the menu is small plates apart from seven mains. And while this is a food critic cliche, it really is a round-the-world trip of ingredients, dishes and cooking styles. Even the mains section is called “XO Globetrotter”.

There are dishes such as Nikkei-style salad with “crying tiger” sauce from Thailand; not-so-Italian lasagne with kimchi (South Korea) and cardamom bechamel (itself a mash-up of Indian and Middle Eastern spices with French flair); and lamb kebab (again, Middle Eastern) wrapped in a Chinese wonton. And I have no idea what's happening over in the dish called “Spanish carabiners laksa”, but I love it.

Our warm, smiley waiter, Georgie, embraces the sharing-style mantra. After zipping off a few recommendations, he's back with the first plate. His service is quicker than Usain Bolt's 100-metre world record, but not as speedy as me and I demolish the croquette with kimchi and tuna sashimi. It's not sushi-ish or ferment-y, but rich, creamy with a grown-up punch of garlic that gives way to heat. The bechamel sauce is ridiculously good.

The arroz à la Cubana is Munoz's cheffy version of a paella. It's crispy sticky rice cake cylinders topped with all the best bits from the Spanish classic and some yuzu pesto and caramelised banana thrown in. It's sublime, as is the deep-fried lamb wanton, which challenges Burj Khalifa's excellent Atmosphere for one of the zaniest kebabs I've had.

The octopus tentacle taco is served with a butter mole. Dean Wilkins / The National

Soon, Georgie's back with a club sandwich, which is steamed black Angus in a bao; coal-grilled octopus taco with a butter mole; and green Thai curry with Wagyu cheeks, jalapeno, Parmesan cheese corn and coco epazote (a Mexican herb). The beef is so soft, it struggles to cling on to the fork.

The Pekinese dumplings (more on them later) are perhaps the maddest thing I've been served in Dubai. By the time desserts roll around, things such as brioche sponge cake, white chocolate and egg yolk lava cake and macadamia ice cream with marshmallows sound positively normal by Munoz's standards.

As I brave the explosion of lava, the house speciality I'm told, I ponder how on earth the team pulled this together. All these little ingredients from far-flung places, how do they track down the suppliers in Dubai, keep the contractors' deliveries coming, and on time, master the techniques shaped over centuries across continents and fallen empires and caress all the little nuggets of national treasures together?

This is not cooking, it's conducting. And where rules ebb, creativity flows.

Standout dish

It's not necessarily the wizardry of turning a Chinese duck pancake into one-bite Pekinese dumplings that's the genius of this dish, it's the presentation. In the most unpretentious of ways, Munoz is undoubtedly an artist. And this dish is a painted masterpiece, literally.

He forgoes plates, instead serving the crispy morsels on a sheet of paper. He splashes deep scarlet strawberry hoisin sauce around like blood before sending it out, a perfect example of “madness on a canvas”.

The Pekinese dumplings resemble edible art. Photo: StreetXO

Price point and contact information

Small plates and tapas range from Dh70 to Dh360; mains from Dh160 to Dh420; and desserts from Dh60 to Dh75.

StreetXO is open daily from 7pm to 2am; at The Garden, One&Only One Za'abeel, Dubai. For reservations, call 04 666 1617.

This review was conducted at the invitation of the restaurant