Modern European food and drink inspired by one of the world’s most exciting cities in a cool setting filled with music and art
A warm welcome, inventive comfort food and dynamic interior design – The Cheeky Camel is Dubai’s best new neighbourhood restaurant.
A celebration of the best in contemporary food and drink, The Cheeky Camel blends great European favourites with flavours from the Middle East and opens this Thursday (Oct 21).
Split over two levels, the laidback venue takes its design cues from the 1970s with themes of art and music throughout. The Cheeky Camel is perfect for late afternoon drinks with delicious bar bites or a memorable dinner featuring bold and unexpected dishes inspired by the classics. A beautiful terrace is JLT’s new hotspot for sundowners with views of Dubai’s ever-changing architectural skyline.
Bar nibbles include savoury Dubai donuts filled with zaatar and feta cheese mousse, smoked mozzarella ciabatta with garlic and truffle oil, and crudite with kale and sunflower seed hummus.
Chipotle chicken wings, lamb meatballs, and a succulent steak with addictive twice-cooked chips show The Cheeky Camel is an essential destination for comfort foods, while superfood salads of quinoa or heritage baby beets, plus butternut ravioli and a spicy roasted cauliflower dish provide healthy options, too. Other unmissable dishes include a juicy pork chop from the beloved British Butcher Shop, a charcuterie plate that’s great for sharing, and chargrilled Gulf tiger prawns with tastebud-tingling smoked paprika and garlic butter.
Local produce is championed with Dibba Bay oysters – grilled or on ice – plus there are heartwarming pizzas freshly baked in a wood oven. To finish, try the international cheese board, a traditional peach Melba, or the Baked Lotus Biscoff cheesecake that is set to become one of Dubai’s new talked-about desserts.
Over at the bar, The Cheeky Camel serves inventive cocktails featuring ingredients such as cardamom honey syrup, rhubarb jam and spirits infused with Earl Grey tea and Seville orange marmalade that will be a highlight of the hip new venue.
The Cheeky Camel menu is the brainchild of charismatic Irishman Derek Flynn and Khaled Hassan, who took inspiration from classic European dishes and combined them with local UAE produce and Middle Eastern flavours.
Flynn, an award-winning chef who’s been a mainstay of the Dubai culinary scene for more than a decade, said: “The Cheeky Camel brings to life the very best in classic European bistro and brasserie cuisine and gives it a touch of Dubai and the Middle East. Myself and Khaled are delighted to get the restaurant and bar open at a time of great energy in the city – to give people who live here and tourists from around the world a brilliant food and drink experience.” He adds: “Dubai is one of the most exciting cities in the world and The Cheeky Camel is very much a product of this city.”
Hassan, who started his career in his home country of Syria and rose to acclaim in Paris, admires Flynn’s creativity. “I think there is nobody better than Derek in taking brilliant and bold traditional dishes and giving them a modern edge,” he says. “It’s been a pleasure to look at how we can then influence the menu with the local scene in Dubai and around the region.”
The Cheeky Camel is located at the Bonnington Hotel in JLT’s Cluster J and is open from 5pm until 2am during the week and from 3pm to 3am at weekends.
For reservations, call (04)3560574, emaildine@bonningtontower.comor gowww.thecheekycamel.com
Instagram @thecheekycameldxb
