Restaurants

Situated in the stylish Shangri-La Hotel, Dunes Cafe is a contemporary and elegant restaurant for leisurely lunches and evening meals. The menu offers a wide selection of well presented dishes with an international flavour, including Italian, Middle Eastern and Chinese. Depending on your appetite, you can choose to order a la carte or head straight to the buffet to fill your plate from a choice of live cooking stations.

Known for its generous portions that are ideal for sharing, The Cheesecake Factory has a vast menu featuring everything from pasta to seafood, steak, salad and pizza. Be sure to save space for dessert so you can sample one of 30 legendary cheesecakes. Tel No. +971 4 203 7555 

Get a taste of colonial era India at this popular new restaurant, decked out with palatial interiors and serving timeless sub-continental recipes. Tandoori chicken and chicken tikka remain a hot favourite, but the menu also invites you to venture outside the box with dishes like Calcutta-styled giant prawns steeped in ginger soy marinade. Tel No. +971 4 288 1587 

With branches in New York, Chicago and Italy, Oscar Farinetti’s food emporium will not disappoint. The generous seating configurations are ideal for family outings and the venue is constantly buzzing with happy customers. Savour authentic pastas, wood-fired pizzas, and delicious salumi and burrata – but don’t skip the stand-alone Nutella bar, which will tempt your taste buds with croissants, warm crêpes and other sweet treats. Tel No.   +971 4 224 1083 

Vanitas restaurant is one of eight places to eat in the Palazzo Versace Hotel, owned by the iconic fashion brand Versace. With views of the Dubai Creek, this Italian restaurant is tastefully decorated, and the Versace influence is clear on everything from the walls to the dishes. Once you’ve enjoyed lunch or dinner, you can cross over the Creek and pay a visit to Dubai Festival City mall, where you’re free to shop at over 400 stores. Tel No.  +971 4 556 8888

The wood burning pizza oven at Cucina Mia, located at Trident Grand Residence in Dubai Marina, is made from bricks manufactured exclusively in Italy for the restaurant. This is part of the reason customers keep heading back for the irresistible pizza, but it also owes its flavour to the mixture of flours, yeast and perfect temperature control from the talented chefs. Traditional raw ingredients are imported from Italy for true authenticity.

This chic French restaurant and lounge started out more than a decade ago on rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris, which has been described as one of the most fashionable streets in the world. Since then, it’s opened more venues around the world, and its Dubai location is a favourite of the city’s fashionistas. The menu includes a host of gourmet French dishes, for lunch and dinner, and if you’re feeling inspired after paying this restaurant a visit, it’s only a short distance away from The Dubai Mall. Tel No. +971 4 352 7105

You’ll find this café hidden away in the maze of streets that make up Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood. Take a break from the hustle and bustle of modern Dubai and explore this quiet, historical area. The XVA Café is in a courtyard in the middle of the boutique XVA Art Hotel, and serves up gourmet vegetarian dishes. It’s also home to an art gallery and a shop that stocks products by independent designers and brands, including jewellery, clothes and accessories. Once you’ve eaten, there’s plenty of shopping opportunities nearby, from Deira City Centre and BurJuman to the bustling Gold and…

In the trendy Dubai Design District, Harper’s Bazaar Café serves up casual dining with a stylish edge. It’s the world’s first Harper’s Bazaar Café, which should come as no surprise – this is Dubai, after all. This daytime dining spot is an ideal break for visitors taking in Dubai’s art, design and creative scene, and it doubles as an event space. The chic, sophisticated venue epitomises the luxury of Harper’s Bazaar, with a menu of sharing platters and cosmopolitan dishes, as well as décor that highlights the fashion and art normally found within the pages of the magazine. Tel No.   +971…