Chinese New Year: 11 places to celebrate in the UAE

SHANGHAI ME: Shanghai Me at DIFC Gate Village welcomes the Year of the Ox with blessings and tradition. Dine amongst the lucky bamboo and lilies of the valley and rejoice in new beginnings alongside family, friends and those yet to become. Shanghai Me has curated a new selection of innovative special dishes, influenced by luck and fortitude for the year ahead. The menu features seafood for an increase in prosperity, dim sum for wealth, as well as noodles for happiness and longevity. The Shanghai Me Fortune Cookie predicts a delicious future and a sweet ending for all.

THE PALACE DOWNTOWN: Celebrate the Chinese New Year with a lavish buffet at the Palace Downtown on February 11 and 12. Step into the oriental style Ewaan to enjoy Chinese cuisine, from fresh seafood, signature mains, desserts and live cooking stations. Celebrate the spirit of the Chinese New Year as you enjoy the light and laser show on Burj Khalifa on both days along with the traditional Dragon Dance show. The Chinese New Year buffet is priced at Dh295 per person including soft beverages and Dh395 per person including house beverages.

HAKKASAN ABU DHABI: Hakkasan Abu Dhabi is offering a signature sharing menu featuring dishes said to bring good health and fortune and a specially crafted fortune-themed dessert. As part of the festivities, the venue presents a limited-edition signature menu, priced at Dh468 per person. Unmissable highlights include the Yu Sheng Salad, the Double Treasure Fortune, a Quail blossom puff coupled with a Seafood jade dumpling as an appetizer. For the main courses, Crispy kumquat chicken made of osmanthus kumquat, orange sauce, seven spiced salts, Wok-fried tiger prawn with macadamia nut accompanied with sweet chili sauce, Broccolini, black fungus, shimeji mushroom in a truffle sauce, all bought together with Braised abalone roasted duck fried rice with dried scallop, shitake mushroom. For dessert enjoy the special Mandarin dessert, a white chocolate mousse, pain de gene and orange cacao butter.The desert symbolizes auspicious mandarin fruit, which is traditionally given to the loved ones at New Year.

HUTONG: The contemporary Northern Chinese restaurant and bar located in the DIFC, invites guests to celebrate the Year of the Ox and Chinese New Year with a curated selection of festive dishes. Each plate has been designed to reflect the culinary traditions of the Far East and Hutong’s unparalleled commitment to exquisite ingredients and culinary excellence. The exclusive menu selection includes Sichuan Razor Clams, Lobster with Pickled Chilli and an indulgent Chinese New Year Platter. The highlights of the menu include Lobster Lo Hei. For dessert, the Golden Fortune ends the meal on a sweet note.

DRAGON MART: Dragon Mart, the Chinese mega-mall complex is set to celebrate Chinese New Year in style. Customers are invited to enjoy retail offers of up to 50 per cent off across multiple categories including furniture, building materials, games and toys, electronics, fashion and more. Additionally, customers will get the opportunity to enjoy fun Instagrammable Lunar Year experiences spread across different locations at Dragon Mart Complex. Tagging #DragonMartCNY will enable two lucky winners to get the chance to win Dh1,000 across two draws on February 12. The special deal will run until February 13.

THE NOODLE HOUSE: Dubai’s home of Asian soul food, is kicking off Chinese New Year celebrations with a limited-edition menu, full of flavours and traditions synonymous with the occasion across its venues from February 11 to 28. The dining experience, either available as a set menu or a la carte with dishes starting from Dh29. The menu features hand-rolled golden bars of vegetable spring rolls, symbolising wishes for prosperity and wealth, accompanied by crystal edamame dumplings with Szechuan chilli oil. A popular dish for celebrations, diners will be served a whole sea bream, signifying a good beginning and a good ending, steamed with ginger, red chilli, coriander, and sesame oil. This will be complemented with a choice of noodles, ranging from egg noodles to stir-fry, representing happiness and longevity. Tying the meal together, for dessert, guests can delve into sweet rice balls filled with toasted sesame, pear, and star anise syrup. As tradition states, eating rice balls represent family togetherness. Enjoy the complete ‘Chinese New Year Experience’ menu priced at Dh179 for two at Souk Madinat Jumeirah, Nakheel Mall or JBR The Walk.

HILTON RAS AL KHAIMAH BEACH RESORT: Celebrate the famous Chinese New Year Spring Festival and welcome the Chinese Year of the Ox. Hilton Ras Al Khaimah Beach Resort is offering a buffet of typical Asian specialities along with entertainment. The venue will be decorated with touches of traditional Chinese décor and will present a program of live performances from traditional Chinese dancers. The dancers will perform the famous lion dance and will encourage guests to learn about and celebrate the true spirit of Chinese New Year. Some of the tempting Chinese inspired dishes available at the restaurant include assorted Dim Sum, Salted Duck Egg, Chinese Spring Roll and Sticky Sesame Chicken Wings for appetisers. To finish, guests can choose from Fresh Mango Sticky Rice or one of the other favourite desserts on offer. The buffet, priced at Dh150, including soft drinks Dh195 or Dh259 for house beverages.

THE GALLERIA Al MARYAH ISLAND: The Galleria invites family, friends and the community to celebrate this new beginning and enjoy authentic Chinese experiences from February 11-20. With exclusive shopping options, Chinese New Year offers and Chinese & Asian-inspired dining options at Dai Pai Dong, P.F. Chang’s, Urban Wok and Royal Orchid, there’s no shortage of activities to celebrate the occasion. With any Dh500 spent in the mall, guests will also be rewarded with a gift – an authentic Chinese ceramic bowl & chopsticks set that can also be personalised on the spot by a Chinese calligraphy artist. There plenty of other activities taking place like the Tree of Fortune bearing lucky red envelopes, a traditional Chinese practice of wishing good fortune. This year the experience will be contactless, and guests can participate using their mobile phone.

LONG YIN: What better way to celebrate Chinese New Year than with all you can eat dim sum at one of Dubai’s most authentic Chinese restaurants. For Dh119 per person, Dim Sum Saturdays showcases a variety of hand-made dim sums where you can taste a little bit of everything. Additionally, Long Yin has curated a one-off Chinese New Year menu with dishes including hot and sour soup, steamed BBQ bun, fried prawns with wasabi cream, Cantonese style BBQ duck and chocolate banana roll served with vanilla ice cream. On Saturday from 12.30pm to 3.30pm.

THE DUBAI MALL: From February 11 to 20, The Dubai Mall will host a line-up of family-friendly activities which will take visitors on a journey through China’s rich culture and heritage. The world’s largest and most-visited retail and entertainment destination invites guests to celebrate the year of the Ox in style while also taking part in activities that honour the uniqueness and diversity of Chinese art. The Star Atrium will be the hub of activity with a Cherry Blossom Tree. Make sure to also catch a special Chinese New Year Light and Laser show tribute on the Burj Khalifa, which will take place every night at 7.45pm, 8.15pm and 9.45pm until February 20. Additionally, shoppers spending above Dh150 can take home a personalised keepsake of traditional Chinese calligraphy while shoppers spending a minimum of Dh500 or above between will receive a personalised silk bookmark.

HICKORY’S RESTAURANT: Dig into a Chinese buffet at Hickory’s Restaurant. The selection will include Chinese salads, a Dim Sum station, dumplings, hot dishes, delicious desserts, and fortune cookies for everyone. Taking place from 12pm to 3.30pm, the buffet is priced at Dh120 for the soft package, Dh199 with house beverages for two hours and Dh299 with house beverages for three hours.