Recently, the third Michelin restaurant guide was released in Dubai. How to choose a restaurant and what the stars mean – in our review of the most delicious places.
Historically, the Michelin Guide has been a guide for travelers by car. Restaurants were given stars. One star meant that it was a great restaurant in its category. Two stars – for the sake of visiting this restaurant, you can deviate from the planned route.
Now the Michelin guide is synonymous with the quality of gastronomic art. In fact, it is a guide to the best restaurants in the world. The restaurants and chefs themselves are proud and strive to get stars or at least be marked by a guide, tourists are happy to make all new gastronomic discoveries in the country of their vacation.
In 2022, Dubai officially declared itself as one of the main gastronomic centers of the world. For the first time in the Middle East, a Michelin guide was released here – 69 Dubai restaurants were marked at once.
In 2024, the number of restaurants awarded one of the most prestigious gastronomy guides in the world increased to 106: four restaurants with two Michelin stars, 15 restaurants with one star (four of them received a star for the first time), as well as 18 Bib Gourmand award-winning restaurants, and three restaurants with a green Michelin star.
In the Emirates, they know how to cook stylish and delicious cuisine. Photo: Dubai Tourism
TWO MICHELIN STARS
Two Michelin stars can only be awarded to restaurants with fine cuisine, where the individuality of the chef is clearly manifested. These are gourmet restaurants that are visited to get new taste impressions, to learn and try new things and discover the world of new gastronomic combinations.
If this is your goal, book a table at one of the four restaurants in Dubai that received 2 Michelin stars in 2024.
- The restaurant Il Ristorante – Niko Romito offers exquisite Italian cuisine, the menu includes popular Italian delicacies and seafood.
- The restaurant Row on 45 is a chamber institution for 22 visitors, run by chef Jason Atherton. You need to book a table in this restaurant in advance –the first working day after the summer holidays will be September 3.The restaurant’s guests are offered various tasting sets, the exact contents of which you will not immediately know. After your reservation is confirmed, the restaurant team will provide you with information about what to expect from the tasting menu. The full menu will be presented only on the day when you come to dine at the Row on 45 restaurant.
- The opening of the gourmet restaurant STAY by Frenchman Yannick Allen has become one of the most long-awaited events in the gastronomic life of Dubai. The restaurant’s menu includes cold and hot snacks, meat, fish dishes, as well as vegetarian cuisine. Another reason for visiting this restaurant in One&Only The Palm is chef Yannick Allen, the holder of the highest Michelin mark – three stars, which he previously received for the restaurant Le Meurice.
- The restaurant Trésind Studio is an opportunity to look at Indian cuisine in a new way. The restaurant’s tasting sets will surprise you with Indian gastronomic traditions and daring experiments. Special attention is paid to creative serving and theatrical serving of dishes. There are only 20 seats in the hall, and chef Himanshu Saini often goes out to chat with guests.
Japanese and Asian cuisine are widespread in Dubai. Restaurant 3 Fils. Photo: Dubai Tourism
ONE MICHELIN STAR
One Michelin star means that the restaurant has very good cuisine and is worth a visit. If two-star restaurants mainly offer tasting sets consisting of small portions of numerous dishes, then in a restaurant with one star the portions are usually larger, individual dishes are ordered from the menu. Both categories of restaurants are united by the fact that the service and the quality of the dishes will be at the highest level.
There are 15 Michelin-starred restaurants in Dubai. These are:
- La Damede Pic Dubai (modern French cuisine),
- Al Muntaha (French cuisine),
- Dinner by Heston Blumenthal (traditional British cuisine),
- Tasca by José Avillez (Portuguese cuisine),
- moonrise (creative cuisine with a Japanese touch),
- Hōseki (Japanese cuisine),
- Torno Subito (Italian cuisine),
- Hakkasan (modern Chinese cuisine),
- Orfali Bros (modern cuisine),
- Ossiano (creative cuisine),
- avatara (Indian vegetarian cuisine),
- 11 Woodfire (modern cuisine),
- Sagetsu by Tetsuya (modern Japanese cuisine),
- Smoked Room (modern kitchen),
- Armani Ristorante (Italian cuisine).
BIB GOURMAND – GREAT FOOD AT AFFORDABLE PRICES
Bib Gourmand is another prestigious award given to restaurants as part of the Michelin Guide. However, unlike Michelin stars, which rate exceptionally high quality cuisine, Bib Gourmand notes restaurants that offer excellent value for money.
The Bib Gourmand award has been awarded to 18 restaurants in Dubai.
This list is useful for those who want not only to eat delicious food, but also to spend a reasonable amount on food:
- Hoe Lee Kow (modern Asian cuisine),
- Indya by Vineet (Indian cuisine),
- DUO Gastrobar (modern cuisine),
- 3 Fils (modern Japanese cuisine),
- REIF Japanese Kushiyaki – Dar Wasl (modern Japanese cuisine),
- Bait Maryam (Middle Eastern cuisine),
- Revelry (Indian cuisine), Goldfish (modern Japanese cuisine),
- Ibn Albahr (Lebanese cuisine),
- Aamara (Asian and Western cuisines),
- Berenjak (Persian cuisine),
- 21 Grams (Balkan cuisine),
- Al Khayma Heritage Restaurant (Emirati cuisine),
- Konjiki Hototogisu (Japanese cuisine),
- Shabestan (Middle Eastern cuisine),
- REIF Japanese Kushiyaki – Dubai Hills (Japanese cuisine),
- Kinoya (Japanese cuisine),
- Teible (modern kitchen).
Al Khayma Restaurant in Dubai. Photo: Dubai Tourism
GREEN MICHELIN STARS
The Green Michelin Star is awarded to restaurants for which environmental care is no less important than gastronomy. Such restaurants use local, seasonal, organic products.
There are three Michelin-starred restaurants in Dubai:
- Teible (modern cuisine),
- Boca (Mediterranean cuisine),
- LOWE (modern cuisine).
It is worth noting that this is not a complete list of Dubai restaurants, which are recommended by international experts in the field of gastronomy.
Another 69 restaurants were recommended for visiting by Michelin experts. Do you want to eat delicious food in Dubai? The choice is huge!
Anna Biryukova
