Best Dh189 Dubai Restaurant Week deals

For foodies, Christmas, Eid and Diwali have all come together this year — and they’re here in Dubai. In the first-ever Dubai Restaurant Week (DRW), some of the shiny emirate’s finest (and rather desperate) eateries are putting a selection of signature dishes on sale to bring in foodies, fans and the faintly curious during the annual Dubai Food Festival (DFF).

From February 25 to March 5, 30 restaurants are offering a DRW set menu at a uniform Dh189 per head, so you’re not blinded by what could otherwise be the one item on your credit-card bill that needs that a loan to pay off. Be warned that although taxes and service fees are included, drinks are not.

So you’re salivating already. But there’s a limit to how much even the most ambitious foodie can put away in ten days. While the spirit may be willing, even if the flesh could deliver, the entire shebang lasts only a week. Luckily, we’re here to help you make a selection so you know where to book. We’ve picked eight different cuisines to demonstrate the diversity of Dubai’s food scene (leaving two spots for your own favourites), so head over to Roundmenu.com/DRW and reserve your place.

Social by Heinz Beck
When in Rome, dine at La Pergola. German-born Beck helms the finest restaurant in Italy, which comes with the requisite three Michelin stars. He brought some of that magic to Dubai when he opened Social at Waldorf Astoria The Palm, where he immediately drew the punters with his much-copied Raspberry 1.1 — one fruit done in 11 different ways, including cream, biscuit, sorbet, gelatin, meringue and chocolate. The dish, which transports you to an Italian piazza on a beautiful summer day, is the sort of dessert you want to propose marriage after.

It’s on the DRW menu along with his most requested dish, the fagottelli carbonara (a sort of ravioli filled with sauce rather than the other way around) and beef tenderloin with an apple-onion jus. Book it now.

The Rib Room
His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai eats here, but that’s not why you need to go to this signature Dubai steakhouse. If you’re a regular diner, they’ll engrave a steak knife with your name, but that’s not reason enough to visit either.

For us, there are two reasons: the fantastic selection of ribs, particularly one with Moroccan spices, and an excellent Angus beef tartare that’s possibly one of the finest you can get in the emirate. Ribs are on the DRW menu as a wagyu short-rib burger (which alone makes the price worth it), but pair it with the latter — wait staff mix it table-side, and with no cooking (except for curing by the condiments) the quality of the meat shines through, and you’ve more than recovered your investment.

Rang Mahal by Atul Kochhar
For what’s possibly the priciest Indian restaurant in town, Dh189 is an absolute bargain. And Michelin-starred Kochhar serves up four courses in a culinary tour of the subcontinent.

Thankfully, the obvious biryani and dal makhani aren’t on the menu, so you can really expand your palate.
We loved a starter of potato cakes (with north or south Indian spicing and sauces), and a fenugreek-spiced prawn tikka masala, a neat variation on the British classic. But it’s the Andhra Pradesh-inspired Mamsam meriyal — slow-cooked lamb with pepper and coconut — that’s worth making the trip for.

Kiku
Yes, we know the Le Meridien Dubai is in an unfashionable part of town, and the airport traffic is annoying. But Dubai’s Japanese community eats here and that should be endorsement enough.

Unfortunately, the stunning soups aren’t on the menu, but an exquisitely cut sashimi is (sea bream, tuna and salmon). There’s also tempura (cuttlefish, among others), and a wagyu steak for mains.

The Croft
OK, so we haven’t been to The Croft yet (our social schedule hasn’t had a free evening in months), but we’ve been fans of Darren Velvick’s food since his Table 9 days.

This resident Dubai chef, who’s trained with Gordon Ramsay and Marcus Wareing, is at the forefront of two contemporary trends: the emergence of quality British food in the UAE, and an insistence on organic and locally-sourced fare. On this DRW menu are a late-breakfast farmhouse egg, served crisp but with a runny yolk, accompanied by home-style baked beans and fried potatoes, plus the flavours of a Sunday roast in a main course: lamb and mint. With a raspberry meringue dessert called Neat and Tidy, our gluten-free soul is leaping to the reservation site.

Zheng He’s
Better known for its lavish brunch, Zheng He’s is also worth booking for dinner — except that like many new Dubai restaurants, it can leave a hole in your pocket.
It earns a place on this list because the DRW menu features bestsellers at bargain prices. The Golden King Prawn starter, cooked in Chinese yellow mustard and served with a mango salsa, is Dh90 on the à la carte menu and the slow-cooked Wagyu Wu Xi short ribs are priced at Dh185. But it isn’t all about price — chef Kenmin Foo’s modern approach to Chinese food demonstrates the country’s astonishing diversity in a contemporary style.

Café Belge
On the face of it, this Ritz-Carlton DIFC eatery’s DRW deal doesn’t seem great value. There’s no amuse-bouche, and the main course is fish.
But the Belgian années folles-themed restaurant makes up in quality and presentation what it lacks in description. Atlantic grey shrimp form the base of its starter, and are served hot in a little croquette with a classic Belgian Andalouse dipping sauce. The main course is a seared sea bass with a warm Liege salad and lemon butter sauce, but it’s the Dame Blanche dessert that gets Belge a place on this list. A Belgian chocolate sphere filled with fresh cream and vanilla ice cream, it bursts open when molten chocolate sauce is poured over.

Seven Sands
While it has travelled leaps and bounds over the past few years, Emirati food still has a fair distance to go before it can play in Michelin or Gault Millau leagues. The cuisine’s classic dishes still aren’t widely known, and chefs are working to stand out within the larger ambit of Arabian food. Nor have the main recipes been standardised
and codified.

However, Seven Sands at The Beach opposite JBR is doing interesting things. On its DRW menu, a starter of beetroot hummus and baked kibbeh, served with a tahini-and-walnut sweet chilli paste, is a nice contemporary touch, while chicken breast traditionally stuffed on a bed of pomegranate rice harks back to the cuisine’s closeness to Iranian food. We’d also go simply for the unusual dessert — balaleet, or vermicelli, topped with custard and strawberry compote. Break out of your comfort zone and give it a shot.