Ten to try: the best Chinese eateries in Abu Dhabi and Dubai

In the mood for Chinese food to help ring in the Lunar New Year? We round up some of our favourite restaurants around Abu Dhabi and Dubai to help welcome in the Year of the Dog. Here are 10 Chinese restaurants to try: Dragon Bao Bao Cafeteria Hamdan Street This new cafeteria is the only place in the capital that serves hand-pulled noodles - also known in China as Lanzhou lamian (watch the video above). Hand-pulled noodles are made by twisting, stretching and folding dough over and over until it is soft enough to be pulled into strands. Dragon Bao Bao is known for its hand-pulled noodles in beef broth (Dh18), and if you want a refill on either noodles or beef, it’s an additional Dh10. The cafe also has other items including steamed custard buns (Dh18), stir-fried eggs with hot green peppers (Dh22) and wonton soup (Dh20). Call 02 674 2235 ----------------------------------- Noodle Bowl Zayed Sports City This Chinese restaurant above the bowling alley is a dim sum lover’s delight. The menu has traditional favourites such as sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaf (Dh20), BBQ chicken chai siu bao (Dh19), chicken feet in black bean sauce (Dh22) and a variety of steam baos (such as custard and red bean, with prices starting from Dh18). They also have cheung fan, which is a popular Cantonese dish consisting of a light noodle roll with meat inside. In this case, barbecue chicken, prawn, fish or plain (Dh17-23). Call 02 447 2405 ----------------------------------- Dai Pai Dong Rosewood hotel, Al Maryah Island Billing itself as a place to experience Chinese street food, Dai Pai Dong has plenty of diversity in their menu. Favourites include spare ribs, ma po tofu (a spicy dish with chicken and tofu), crispy fried duck (Dh90) and wok-fried hakka noodles (Dh42). For those interested in also have an ‘all you can eat’ dim sum lunch as well (for Dh88/person) as a Saturday Yum chat brunch starting from Dh188. Call 02 813 5552 ----------------------------------- Beijing Restaurant Madinat Zayed Popular with Chinese tourists to the UAE, this restaurant offers plenty of authentic recipes and is in an ideal location near the busy Madinat Zayed Shopping Centre. The menu includes pan-fried Chinese pancakes with spring onion (Dh21), braised duck in Hoisin sauce (Dh71.40), and for dessert tangyuan, or sweet glutinous rice balls (Dh29.40). For those who enjoy a good hot pot, Beijing offers a hearty one for Dh40. Call 02 621 0708 for more details. ----------------------------------- Panda Bao Bao Airport Road This café is ideal for those with children, as the dishes are served in bowls and cups that are panda-themed, there's even a portrait of a happy panda on one of the walls. Serving traditional treats such as dim sum and noodles, they also have other dishes such as congee (Dh24), a type of rice porridge, shu mai (Dh28), a traditional Chinese dumpling, and desserts such as Sichuan Ice Jelly (Dh12). Call 055 512 7416 ----------------------------------- Chongqing Noodle House F15, China cluster, International City This tiny spot is basic, but the super-fresh noodle dishes make up for a lack of ambience. Order your noodles vegetarian (Dh10) or with beef (Dh15) and get ready for an unrelentingly spicy bowl of carbs. Another favourite is the hot and sour soup (Dh15), a tangy concoction that comes with glutinous sweet potato noodles. Other notable mentions in International City, which really is Dubai’s unofficial China Town, include Zam Zam Suyi, which serves Uyghur cuisine from the Xinjiang region, and Shabu Shabu Nine Squares, where you can cook your own hot pot. Call 050 284 0038 ----------------------------------- Zheng He’s Mina A’ Salam, Madinat Jumeirah This Dubai fine-dining Chinese restaurant has its own duck master. Celebrate Chinese New Year in style with the Voyage menu (Dh380 per person) – made up of more than 10 dishes, it includes the signature roasted Beijing duck (with pancakes), dim sum and the tiger prawns with kan-xiang sauce. Book a table on the terrace, which sits right on the Madinat's 'canal'. Call 04 432 3232 ----------------------------------- Din Tai Fung Mall of the Emirates and Al Ghurair Centre While this internationally famous chain began in Taiwan, its founder – Bingyi Yang – was born in China’s Shanxi province. It’s best known for xiao long bao (steamed dumplings filled with broth, from Dh22), but we particularly enjoy the moreish, herbaceous ‘house special chilli noodle’ (Dh31). Call 04 265 1288 ----------------------------------- Xiao Wei Yang Hotpot Jumeirah Beach Residence and Baniyas Road, Deira This is another no-frills option: you cook your own dinner here – boiling water bubbles away at your table in the ‘hot pot’, and you then plunge the ingredients into it, cooking the meat to your own taste. You can order the ingredients as a recommended combo (starting at Dh98), or separately (for instance, spinach and carrot handmade noodles are Dh10), and there’s a sauce station so that you can add oodles of flavour. Call 04 421 4650 ----------------------------------- Shang Palace Shangri-La, Sheikh Zayed Road The food at this hotel restaurant is traditional and consistently good – they will welcome in the Year of the Dog with three different 10-course Cantonese-style set menus (for lunch and dinner, from February 15 to February 22). The Dh258 option includes a dim sum platter and lobster, while the Dh358 also features a traditional lunar holiday “prosperity toss” salad and abalone soup, and there’s a Dh458 offering too. Call 04 343 888 ____________________ Read more: Celebrate Chinese New Year with light show at the Burj Khalifa 120,000 Chinese tourists to visit UAE in next two weeks Chinese visitor surge set to boost UAE ____________________

Ten to try: the best Chinese eateries in Abu Dhabi and Dubai

What better way to ring in the New Year than by trying out some of our favourite Chinese restaurants in the UAE