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Time Out Dubai
3 days ago
- Time Out Dubai
12 underrated Dubai restaurants that aren't tourist traps
Dubai is mainstream, that's for sure. It's definitely not your average undiscovered city that no one's heard about. It's world-renowned alright… for its instagrammable skyscrapers, luxury shopping spots and (most importantly) a highly impressive restaurant scene that draws millions of tourists each year. Here, you will have no shortage of celeb chefs and glitzy glam dining rooms. But what if you want to discover Dubai the way residents and locals do? Away from the famous restaurants that top the best list here, and the star lists there? The real deal stuff that locals flock to? Here are some wonderfully low-key, underrated gems across the city that are worth your time. Birch Bakery Super underrated and tucked away in the depths of Al Quoz, Birch Bakery is the kind of spot that once you've discovered, you're never going to forget. So get ready for a trip that ends with you sampling croissants, bread and the like. This very un-touristy spot has just under a handful of tables, but more often than not you'll leave with armfuls of baked goods ready to scoff on the sofa (or in your car on the side of the road, we're not judging). Don't miss the Emirati honey and sea salt croissant, while top picks for bread include a nut and seed loaf or sea salt focaccia. Sweet tooth? The chocolate babka and apple tart have your name on them. One of the best bakeries in Dubai (for those in the know). Open daily from 7am-3pm. Al Quoz, (04 222 6665). Café Isan Underrated Dubai restaurants. Credit: Café Isan Located on the first floor of a random JLT hotel, Café Isan really is the most authentic, fun and friendly spot to enjoy top Thai food in Dubai. Featuring mismatched plastic furniture, a Thai market-style bar, pop tunes and affordable prices, this higgledy-piggledy spot serves up utterly delicious food for less. Coming from the Isan region of Thailand, expect punchy flavours (Thai spicy really means spicy, you've been warned) with curries, stir-fries, noodles and more. Take a seat out on the large terrace during the winter – but be sure to call and book ahead, the city's Thai food fans (who are in the know) love it as much as we do. Open Sun-Fri noon-midnight, Sat noon-2am. Armada Avenue Hotel JLT, Cluster P, JLT, (058 529 1003). Harummanis New restaurants in Dubai. Credit: Harummanis Well-loved Dubai chef Akmal Anuar launched a Singaporean-Malay restaurant in the heart of Jumeirah 1. Harummanis, which pays homage to the Harumanis mango, is a nod to Anuar's roots. This little spot offers up traditional dishes with a modern twist while remaining true to their origins. Diners can look forward to super unique dishes like beef cheeks rendang and a reimagined ketoprak, featuring Japanese sesame sauce instead of the traditional peanut dressing. We love a menu that's inspired by a chef's upbringing. Tue-Sun noon-11pm, Mon 6pm-11pm. Wasl 51, Jumeirah @harummanis.51 (056 536 1674). Kokoro Handroll Bar Underrated Dubai restaurants. Credit: Kokoro Dubai Alserkal Avenue is one of those areas in Dubai that's just so undeniably cool. Very well-loved by residents, if you walk around Alserkal you'll find some cool underrated eateries that you definitely don't want to miss. Kokoro Handroll Bar is one of them. Dubai's first dedicated hand roll bar offers sushi-lovers something truly amazing. Crispy squares of nori sheets, wrapped around your rice and delicious high-quality filling to ensure every bite hits you with everything it's got. And in Dubai, there's nowhere that does it better at a reasonable price than Kokoro, with its laid-back, quirky charm and rows of costumed rubber ducks dotted all over the venue. An underrated spot that's known and well-loved among the foodie crowds in Dubai. Open Sun-Wed noon-11.30pm, Thu-Sat noon-midnight or until sushi is sold out. Alserkal Avenue, Al Quoz @ Lila Wood-Fired Taqueria Underrated Dubai restaurants. Credit: Lila Wood-Fired Taqueria This cute taqueria in Umm Suqueim on Jumeirah Beach Road is a low-key, unlicensed restaurant that makes for a very cool yet underrated spot for casual dining. Wedged between a car accessories shop and a little shawarma cafeteria, Lila serves an eclectic and sociable menu, this Mexican joint is a decent shout for a laid-back meal with friends. Kick off with guac and chips before diving into the taco list. Yellowfin tuna, sweet potato and more can be found, but the top choice is the skirt steak version, laden with tender meat, loads of spices and melted cheese. Open Tue-Fri 4pm-11pm, Sat 1pm-11pm, Sun 1pm-10pm. Umm Suqeim, (04 282 0005). Long Teng Seafood Restaurant Underrated Dubai restaurants. Credit: Long Teng. Hidden deep in Business Bay, Long Teng is located at the base of the U Bora tower and is set over several floors (it's literally huge). This authentic spot is the go-to when it comes to traditional, fresh seafood-leaning Chinese dishes. If the weather permits, make your way right to the rooftop seating area and enjoy views of the city. There's a wide selection of dim sum – from crystal prawn to veg, as well as cute little chick-shaped custard buns. And delicious noodles and stir-fries. Literally, everything you could want in one very large almost book-like menu. It's so good there's even a location in Time Out Market Dubai. But it's this out-of-the-way spot that's one of our favourite tourist-free destinations in Dubai. Open daily from noon-midnight. U-Bora Business Tower, Business Bay, @longtengseafood (04 241 1666). LOWE Underrated Dubai restaurants. Credit: Lowe. This unreal spot in Al Barari is quite the drive if you live near or around Sheikh Zayed Road, but it's one of the most unique foodie experiences in the city. At the home-grown eatery, you can look forward to friendly service and tasty plates, plus plenty of coffee to pair with a delicious cake. An open kitchen preps interesting dishes with a combination of Middle Eastern and Japanese flavours, while the fully loaded burger is always a popular choice. It's licensed, too, so you can order a beverage to go with your meal. Wed-Thurs, 6pm-11pm, Fri-Sun, 8am-4pm, 6pm-11pm. KOA Canvas, Al Barari, (04 320 1890). Maisan15 Underrated Dubai restaurants. Credit: Maisan15 This hip spot located in a residential area in Al Barsha South takes a little bit of effort to find, but once you do, it's part art gallery, part café and attracts a cool, laid-back crowd. With a cute terrace out the front (pictured above), an eclectic array of furnishings, it's a quirky spot for a chilled-out bite to eat. Breakfasts are popular here with a menu serving up everything from eggs to pancakes, avo toast to açaí, while burgers, salads and pizzas populate the main course menu. There's a Middle Eastern touch throughout (think shawarma pizza et al) while the artwork inside rotates frequently meaning there's always something interesting to catch your eye. Open daily 8am-11pm. Al Barsha, @maisan15 (04 244 7291). Mythos Kouzina & Grill Underrated Dubai restaurants. Credit: Mythos Kouzina & Grill Located in JLT, this cute taverna-style spot has a friendly vibe, a petite terrace ideal for cooler months and a menu jam-packed with home-cooked favourites that you won't be able to get enough of. Hands down one of our favourite Greek restaurants in Dubai, Mythos is a go-to if you want incredible Greek food, prepared expertly at a reasonable price. Super underrated and very well-priced. To get there you have to walk through the parking garage of a four-star hotel (more like three if we're being honest). From creamy, garlicky tzatziki, to comforting, flavour-laden moussaka and gemista, a glorious baked feta and an unmissable mixed grill platter (those lamb chops are outstanding), this is one you'll be returning to time and again – we guarantee it. There is now a second, similarly excellent Mythos at C2 in City Walk, but it's the OG that holds our hearts. Open daily from 12.30pm-3.45pm and 6pm-11.30pm. Armada Avenue Hotel JLT, Cluster P, JLT, (04 399 8166). NETTE Underrated Dubai restaurants. Credit: NETTE Another one in the heart of Al Quoz, the absolutely beautiful green goddess coffee shop NETTE is almost like a little oasis in a sea of construction sites. Specialising in French-Japanese fusion food there's plenty to love about this spot, which is tucked away inside the Matcha Club, making it ideal for a post-padel breakfast or catch-up coffee or a matcha latte. Dig into overnight oats, egg sando or a Japanese breakfast skillet in the morning and later in the day turn your attention to a miso croquet madam or yuzu ponzu crispy salmon. A hip place that's perfect for a chilled-out coffee and one of the best cafés in Dubai. Open daily, 8am-10pm. Match Club, Al Quoz, @nettedxb (04 548 8369). San Wan Hand Pulled Noodles Credit: San Wan Hand Pulled Noodles Hidden away in an unassuming corner of JLT's Cluster F, right next to Asian Street by Thai, San Wan Hand Pulled Noodles' is really well-loved among local foodies. Service is friendly and there's a concise menu of Northern Chinese classics that you don't want to miss. Serving affordable, authentic Shaanxi cuisine, the main order here is, as the name suggests, those deliciously moreish noodles – which you can watch the chefs pulling in the kitchen. The chicken wontons are a must-try too. In short, don't miss it – it's a mighty find in a low-key location. Open daily, noon-10.30pm. Unlicensed. Cluster F, JLT, @ (050 759 9584). Tacosita Credit: Tacosita We, at Time Out, love a hole in the wall and Tacosita is the definition of that. Nestled in a little storefront in Barsha Heights, this new spot serves up amazing Mexican street food. Founded by chef Salam El Baba, who transitioned from a corporate career to the F&B industry, Tacosita's menu features standout dishes like slow-cooked birria tacos and shrimp tacos gobernador. The menu is packed with unique creations. The laid-back and easy atmosphere is super authentic and very stripped back. Prices are affordable, food is delicious and vibe is immaculate. What more could you need? Open daily from 11am-2am. Thuraya Telecom Tower, Barsha Heights, Want to make a reservation in the meantime? Over 100 of the best business lunch deals in Dubai, by area Upgrade your lunch with an incredible offer Dubai's best restaurants: 85 incredible places to dine in We know where you should book into this week The 40 best restaurants and bars on Palm Jumeirah Consider this your definitive, go-to guide to dining on the island
Daily Mail
01-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Inside the affordable hole in the wall restaurant chef Kylie Kwong can't get enough of - and the 'legendary' dish everyone should try
Celebrity chef Kylie Kwong has revealed the Sydney restaurant that she's visited repeatedly - and it has a surprisingly affordable menu. The Australian food icon recently spoke to Gourmet Traveller about the top ten restaurant dining gems located around the Western Sydney area. And one of the chef's stand out picks was Parramatta restaurant, Temasek. Kwong, 55, told the Australian food publication that she's been a repeat-customer at the authentic Singaporean-Malay institution for many years. Her go-do dishes at Temasek are their signature Singapura Laksas along with their Haianaese Chicken Rice, which Kwong described as 'legendary'. Both of Kwong's top pick menu choices are surprisingly well-priced. Temasek's Singapura Laksas start at $25.80 and are available in six different varieties. Diners can choose the laksa with either chicken, prawns, fishcake, vegetables, seafood, or a chicken and prawn combo. Meanwhile, the Hainanese Chicken Rice is even more affordable at $23 for a generous serve. The dish is described on the menu as 'a succulent tender boneless chicken served with flavoured rice, soup, chilli & soy sauce'. Bigger groups of diners could also consider ordering the Hainanese chicken in a half or full size. A whole Hainaese chicken, which can be served steamed or fried, is $62, while a half chicken is $32. Temasek has been a renowned Western Sydney dining spot for decades after being originally founded in 1992. The restaurant has changed location at points over the years, but Kwong explained in her recent interview that the feel of the restaurant remains unchanged. The Aussie chef, who is currently working as an associate for Sydney's Powerhouse museum, said she recently re-visited the dining venue after its most recent relocation. Temasek is now located on George Street in the heart of Parramatta. '[T]hey managed to maintain the essence and flavour of the Temasek we all love, which is an enormous achievement,' commended Kwong. Temasek was previously praised by revered SMH Good Food critique Terry Durack, who described it as one of the rare restaurants in Sydney to offer 'value with a capital V'. In his 2024 review, the food critic noted that many of the restaurant's most popular dishes, including Kwong's picks in the Singapura Laksa and Hainanese chicken rice along with other stalwarts like Nasi Goreng haven't 'changed much since it opened in 1992'. Kwong's other top dining picks around the Western Sydney area also included the likes of Gebran Lebanese Cuisine in Mount Lewis and Sri Lankan restaurant Chef Ceylon in Toongabbie. Much to the disappointment of fans, Kwong announced the closure of her own restaurant, Lucky Kwong, in June 2024 after being open for 24 years. 'At the end of June, I'm hanging up my restauranteur hat in order to make space for that which has become closest to my heart,' she began in a sombre Instagram post. 'I'd like to step into the next phase of my practice. Through the lens of food and interconnectedness, I wish to place my energy into helping share other people's stories.' Her famed restaurant in the Sydney suburb of Everleigh was renowned for its diverse menu, featuring many delicacies such as crispy skin duck and saltbush cakes. Kwong rose to fame in 2003 with her ABC TV series Kylie Kwong: Heart and Soul, a show that thrust her restaurant into the national spotlight and had customers queuing around the block. She also made a guest appearance on MasterChef in 2012, appearing in the show's fourth season.
The Guardian
21-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Adam Liaw: ‘Cooking has become this chore. It is a function of brainwashing of convenience food culture'
In a peaceful patch of North Sydney, Adam Liaw is unpacking his conflicted opinion of TikTok recipe videos. Specifically, the trend of recipes from amateur cooks going viral on social media; of who gets to position themselves as the expert on a dish, and what that robs us of. 'You've got millions of people who tune in to learn how to cook something from somebody on social media who is literally making it for the first time. So it's the blind leading the blind a bit there,' he groans. 'If you're making a dish for the very first time and you don't understand the cultural context of it, then you're trying to teach it to literally tens of millions of people – that, to me, is not ideal.' He takes a breath and keeps going – articulate, measured and, yet, clearly just a little bit annoyed. 'And to me, food's all about context. Anyone can combine two things in a pan, but the why you do it and where it's come from is, I think, just as important.' We are strolling through the Flat Rock Gully Walking Track, a leafy walkway where Liaw occasionally skateboards (an admittedly high-risk hobby for someone in his 40s and one he 'needs to stop') and next to the netball courts where he and his wife regularly take their kids to play. The reason why Liaw gets in the kitchen all comes back to family. It was a winning stint on MasterChef in 2010 that propelled him into the realm of professional cooking, but before that a love of food was the inheritance he got from his Singaporean-Malay migrant family. He grew up watching his grandmother create delicious meals and then, as a 'naturally curious person', set out to learn to make them himself. The walking track we're strolling down today isn't far from the Sydney suburb Liaw moved to after winning MasterChef all those years ago, to publish his contractually obligated cookbook and see what would happen next. 'It ages you quite a lot to realise how long you've been doing what you've been doing,' he says. 'I was saying to my wife just the other day that I've been cooking professionally now for 15 years – and I just now feel like I know what I'm doing, finally, after all this time.' Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning It feels unlikely that Liaw ever did not know what he was doing in the kitchen, but 'there are levels to it', he says. For instance, he used to be terrible at baking bread – though, along with much of the rest of Australia, he mastered that elusive skill during the pandemic. In the decade and a half since winning MasterChef, he's continually sharpened his skills and become one of the country's most trusted food authorities, working both as a host on shows like SBS's The Cook-Up and as a writer known for great recipes and refreshingly no-nonsense kitchen advice. (Such as: heat the pan before you add the oil. 'Every recipe starts with 'heat oil in a frying pan', but that's not how you cook. You heat up a pan, and then you put oil into it!') These days, Liaw's media career takes him far beyond just the kitchen. An episode of Dateline that airs in March will see Liaw visit Singapore's notorious Changi prison, meeting both the prisoners subject to harsh conditions and those on the outside campaigning for the end of the death penalty. It may seem like a departure from Liaw's usual bag, but it was a job he had a personal connection to on a couple of fronts. Firstly, his grandfather was interned at Changi for two years during the Japanese occupation in the second world war – a family history that made it difficult to see the conditions at the prison, where inmates sleep on straw mats, never see sunlight and are not allowed face-to-face visits from family. His grandfather died before Liaw was born. 'Mum always said that it was a period of his life that affected him quite deeply.' Secondly, Liaw has a long-held interest in justice. Before he was a celebrity cook, he made his living as a lawyer, and even 'wrote a dissertation at law school about the different sorts of moral imperatives in criminal punishment'. In fact, he was living in Japan and working as an in-house lawyer for Disney when friends back in Australia told him about a popular new cooking show called MasterChef and, aware of his abilities, encouraged him to apply. He had been thinking about returning to Australia anyway, so he put in an application, promptly forgot about it, and, when he got the call from producers, repeatedly turned them down – sure it was 'a bad idea'. Eventually they convinced him, and the rest is history. Sort of. 'I think people always focus on MasterChef being the 'big break' or whatever, but for me, I truly don't think it was – because there was a point there after that where there weren't actually a lot of things for me to do,' he recalls. 'There weren't a huge amount of commercial opportunities … I was looking to write a second cookbook and the publisher at the time said they wouldn't give me another book deal.' Sign up to Saved for Later Catch up on the fun stuff with Guardian Australia's culture and lifestyle rundown of pop culture, trends and tips after newsletter promotion It wasn't until SBS had a host drop out of the show Destination Flavour in 2012 that Liaw got called up to fill in – a gig that led to many more like it, and kickstarted his big career pivot. You'd think that being a lawyer is a very different job to that of a media food figure, but Liaw's take is a wry one. 'They're all the same,' he shrugs. 'Honestly, everyone's career is answering emails at this point, and it's just the subject matter of those emails that has changed'. For Liaw, the bigger picture beyond TV gigs and book deals and answering those godforsaken emails is getting to remind Australians that cooking is an act of love – something to be enjoyed, not endured. 'Cooking, for a lot of people, has become almost this chore that they want to avoid doing as much as possible. That's a real shame, and it is a complete function of brainwashing of convenience food culture,' he says. 'Cooking is and has been, for the entire history of humanity, the most normal thing in the world to do. And then as soon as convenience foods started to come to prominence in the 1950s there became this entire industry around telling you that cooking was too hard and that you need all these products and things to make your life easier.' We have, he thinks, collectively got our priorities wrong: 'Cooking is seen as [something] you should do as little of as possible, so that you can spend more time at your job that you also don't like, making money for somebody else. To me, that's a really broken way of looking at domestic life.' We've found a seat on a stone stoop in the shade, to take a breather before Liaw darts off to meet with an editor and talk recipes. For many, turning a hobby into a job can be a quick way to bleed the joy out of something you once loved. So, I ask, does Liaw actually still cook for his family every night? 'Of course! I think if I got to that point, that's when I would stop cooking for a living,' he says. 'Because cooking for my family is vastly more important [than my career] … It's the most important thing that I do.' Adam Liaw will feature on SBS Dateline at 9:30pm on 4 March 2025, and will be available on SBS on Demand
