Where to eat in Dubai
This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK).
The food scene in Dubai is much like its skyline: ever-changing. Chefs constantly add new flavours to menus that represent the multitude of nationalities that call the emirate home. And while it's known for its opulent fine dining and pull-out-all-the-stops brunches, there are places to suit even more modest budgets, from homely holes-in-the-wall to Michelin Bib Gourmand-recommended restaurants.
Chef Reif Othman's well-priced, artfully presented dishes have earned this relaxed neighbourhood spot a Michelin Bib Gourmand for three years running. And devout carnivores will love the hearty Wagyu katsu sando. Between perfectly toasted slices of milk bread, you'll find Australian Wagyu tenderloin coated with charcoal panko breadcrumbs, deep-fried as you like (or to a recommended medium-rare). Layered with another beef slice, it's smothered in tonkatsu sauce and honey-mustard mayo.
The main draw of this small grocery store, on a quiet lane in the Jumeirah neighbourhood, is its regag — a thin, crepe-like flatbread made with a batter of unleavened wheat flour. The magic is in the toppings: order it with eggs, cheese and a drizzle of chilli sauce or mahyawa, a fermented fish sauce. The optional addition of crushed and sprinkled Chips Oman crisps really makes the dish — or you can go for the sweet chocolate filling instead. Served on a paper plate, handed to you through a hatch in the window, it's best eaten right there on the pavement.
Kunafa is a beloved Arabic dessert of molten cheese concealed under shredded filo pastry and drenched in a sugary syrup. Find it fresh and hot in large trays and cut into hefty golden slabs at Feras Aldiyafa Sweets. The dessert varies regionally — Dubai has many different versions, while the Egyptian recipe calls for a base of clotted cream — and here it's the Palestinian style that steals the show. Made with white brined nabulsi cheese, each bite of kunafa kheshna nabulsi is a mix of sweet and savoury, crispy and gooey.
Run by three Syrian brothers, whose food pays homage to their roots, Orfali Bros is an unpretentious, light-filled bistro with a two-storey open kitchen at its heart. It's won a number of accolades, including its first Michelin star earlier this year. The standout dish is a bite-sized caviar bun; delicate and fluffy as a beignet, it comes filled with sour cream and topped with kaluga caviar. Be sure to save space for dessert, though. The Aleppo pistachio cake is a homage to the brothers' hometown, with cake, mousse and praline all held together by a raspberry compote.
Head chef Kameel Rasyid's experimental approach to baking has gained a strong following, with queues forming for tables at Bkry, in the Alserkal Avenue arts centre, seven days a week. Everything is house-made, including jams and spreads; even the flour is milled on site. Warm, flaky croissants are made with Tanzanian chocolate or caramelised miso paste, but the rye-flour cinnamon rolls are a true highlight, served with a dollop of cream cheese, toasted pecans and a garnish of orange zest.
Fine-dining restaurant Avatara's modern, playful and artistic interpretations of vegetables made it the world's first vegetarian Indian restaurant to earn a Michelin star. The set menu takes diners on a culinary journey across India via local, seasonal produce — and the karuvelvilas (bitter gourd) is the dish to try. The humble vegetable is rarely seen on restaurant menus, and here it's been elevated by roasting with ghee and serving with mango gelato and crispy latticed rice and lentil dosa.
Published in Issue 26 (winter 2024) of Food by National Geographic Traveller (UK).To subscribe to National Geographic Traveller (UK) magazine click here. (Available in select countries only).
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17 hours ago
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This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK). As my Swedish army bike rattles down the last hill, I place a hand on the basket to secure my Midsummer contributions: two king-size sausage rolls and a green bean and orange salad. The wide-open fields of southern Sweden's fertile Söderslätt plain, yellow with rapeseed flowers, stretch out to my right, while to my left, the Baltic Sea has just slipped out of sight, having been there for most of my 20-minute ride from the station. When I turn into the gravel drive, Malin and Christian's century-old brick villa, Källbacken, meaning 'hill with a spring', is already clattering with preparations. Malin and her seven-year-old daughter Edith have been out picking the flowers and greenery that will decorate the midsommarstång, or maypole, which they've laid out neatly on a table. I place my sausage rolls alongside and am immediately marshalled into scrubbing potatoes. 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The celebrations segue into a house party, and then, later in the evening, a barbecue. Christian pulls a pile of waste wood from the barn and lights a fire, which we sit around as the mothers and daughters go out once again to pick flowers. 'You have to jump seven fences and pick one flower in each field, and you're not allowed to speak to one another. You have to be quiet the whole time,' Malin explains of this last ritual. 'And then you have this small bouquet; you put it underneath your pillow and you're supposed to dream about who you're going to marry.' This is one part of the celebrations I can't partake in, but as I bed down on a mattress upstairs, I feel satisfied that I've truly welcomed the summer. Midsummer feasts to visit While most Swedes will celebrate Midsummer in friends' country or island homes, there are organised celebrations for visitors. In 2025, Midsummer falls on 21 June. Tällberg, Dalarna Dalarna county is renowned for traditional Midsummers, with folk costumes, folk music and dancing. Åkerblads Hotel, in Tällberg on Lake Siljan, serves a traditional Midsummer smörgåsbord, with herring, new potatoes and västerbottenpaj, after which you can go into town and take part in the celebrations. Alternatively, at Våmhus Gammelgård, an old farm maintained by Sweden's main conservation organisation, you'll be served kolbulle, a thick pancake with diced, salted or smoked pork. Ringsjön, Skåne Bosjökloster, a country house and former nunnery on the shores of Lake Ringsjön in Skåne, Sweden's southernmost county, puts on a lavish Midsummer spread. Expect all the classics, plus specialities containing ingredients foraged in nearby forests, and plenty of vegan and vegetarian options. Once the buffet's over, join the dancing around a maypole erected on lawns leading down to the lakeshore – one of the most popular celebrations in Skåne. Småland Getnö Gård, a resort on Lake Åsnan in Småland, offers a traditional Midsummer buffet – served, untraditionally, after the maypole dances – including a strawberry cake prepared to a recipe handed down by the owner's grandmother. Most visitors stay over in the campsite or cabins. Fjäderholm In Stockholm, the archipelago is the place to celebrate, and Fjäderholm is the closest island, 30 minutes by ferry from the centre. Rökeriet Fjärderholmarna, a smokery, serves a traditional Midsummer buffet, with all the essentials and more. There's also live music and dancing around the maypole on the island. Väderö Storö The Väderöarnasor 'weather islands', a 35-minute ferry ride from Fjällbacka on the west coast, are the most far-flung islands off the Bohuslan coast. Väderöarnas Värdshus restaurant on Väderö Storö, the biggest island, lays on a Midsummer buffet, picking guests up from nearby Hamburgsund. Published in Issue 26 (winter 2024) of Food by National Geographic Traveller (UK). To subscribe to National Geographic Traveller (UK) magazine click here. (Available in select countries only).
National Geographic
a day ago
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7 unmissable UK beaches to visit this summer
This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK). Don't believe anyone who says the United Kingdom is a poor comparison to the likes of Australia, or South Africa when it comes to beaches. What the country lacks in palm trees or exotic wildlife, it makes up for in the sheer variety of its coastline. Somewhere in its four nations, your perfect beach awaits: places with birdlife or wild beauty and destinations where fish and chips with your feet in the sand is an essential part of the beach-going experience. You may need a windbreak but what could be more British than shrugging off a bit of weather? 1. Porthcurno, Cornwall All of Cornwall's magic is concentrated in these couple of acres. The sand is a deep wedge, which expands at low tide, the sea is of a blue that would make a peacock blush and pillar-like granite cliffs ripple along the coast like fortifications. There's culture, too, at the open-air Minack Theatre, where the backcloth is the horizon of the Atlantic. The price of such beauty is crowds in the summer months — traffic jams on the approach lane are legendary. Arrive early- or mid-afternoon or try the quieter sister-beach, Pedn Vounder. It's accessible on foot around a headland at low tide. Porthcurno beach is located at the very tip of Cornwall, in southern England. Photograph by Getty Images, John Harper 2. Weymouth, Dorset For 12 years, George III holidayed at Weymouth, transforming a fishing village into a resort for flaneurs — then, in the late-1800s, for the public arriving on the London train. Come for a classic English seaside experience — deckchairs on the promenade, donkey rides on the pampered beasts of West Hill Donkeys, pedalos, Punch and Judy shows twice a day and sand perfect for castles. Factor in toddler-friendly shallows and you have a favourite with young families. And for fish and chips? There are over a dozen options in town but there's a reason why family-owned Marlboro has been around since 1974. (Welcome to Weymouth, the British seaside resort with a twist.) 3. Sanna Bay, Ardnamurchan The Highlands are an idea of isolated beauty as much as a real destination. Enter Sanna Bay, the most westerly point in Britain. To get there, you take a pretty drive snaking along the shores of Loch Sunart. Beyond Kilchoan village, you're on a single-track lane — over moors and past white smallholdings, sheep and Highland cattle — to reach a remote carpark at the end of the road. Even so, you won't be prepared for the impact of walking through dunes to these icing-sugar sand arcs before turquoise shallows. Smaller beaches notch beyond headlands and sunsets are otherworldly. Better still, there's usually a breeze, which means none of Scotland's infamous midges. The isolated beauty of the Scottish highlands is what makes the beach at Sanna bay so appealing. Photograph by Getty Images, Simon Hodgkiss 4. Bamburgh, Northumberland There's a debate to be had about the appeal of cosy coves versus epic beaches. If you lean towards the latter, this is your spot. Bamburgh beach is vast: four magnificent miles from Seahouses harbour to a monster castle at Bamburgh, all backed by silver-green dunes and dotted with rockpools to poke at with a shrimp net. Walk the lot and you can stop for king prawn chilli burgers at Creel & Reel food truck at the carpark in Waterford. You will also deserve a pint of Bamburgh Blonde at the Bamburgh Castle Inn back at Seahouses. 5. White Park Bay, Antrim A public campaign raised £15,000 to safeguard this beauty for the National Trust. Now, otters gambol at dusk (a sure sign of eco-health), 17 species of butterflies and countless rabbits flit in the grasslands behind. Not forgetting the most-photographed cows in Northern Ireland, known for grazing on the beach, swaying along sands whenever a local farmer moves his herd. The squeaky 'singing sands' (the sand is known to produce a humming or buzzing sound) hold fossils — bullet-like squid and the shells of extinct mollusks, commonly known as devil's toenails. The absence of people will put you in mind of Australia rather than Antrim. Just be wary of swimming: the current can be vicious. 6. Holkham, Norfolk On summer weekends, when up to 1,000 cars fill the parking area, it can seem like half of Norfolk has arrived. Through a fuzz of pine trees and a small sea of dunes, you will wonder where they all went. Holkham is big — two-miles long and 1,640-foot wide at low tide. Co-ordinate a visit for that time because it's the scale that wows at Holkham. This is a beach for cricket and kite-flying, to throw balls for madly excited dogs or to lie behind a windbreak and watch vast cloudscapes roll past like galleons under full sail. The beach at Holkham is one of the longest stretches of sand in the country. Photograph by Getty Images, Jackie Bale (How to spend a weekend in North Norfolk, UK.) 7. Whitesands Bay, Pembrokeshire Wales has bigger beaches like the Gower's Rhossili and pretty coves like Mwnt or Porth Iago. This stretch of coastline near St Davids wins because it has all you need from a beach. The pale sand gets emptier the further you go from the carpark. There's surfboard rental to ride friendly summer waves, plus seasonal lifeguards. Footpaths track to St Davids Head, the Land's End of Wales, marked by a neolithic tomb or to the rocky ridge of Carn Llidi hill, which rises above the beach. Save an ascent till dusk to see islands scattered in a sheet of golden sea. To subscribe to National Geographic Traveller (UK) magazine click here. (Available in select countries only).
