Photo by @smart1brat (https://www.instagram.com/p/BwFqJllpk3D/)
When you’re deep into your retail therapy, it can quite quickly become thirsty work! If you find yourself needing to have a break and refuel, these are our favourite places to grab a bite to eat in Dubai Mall. With more than 200 restaurants to choose from, you can be sure that whether you’re looking to spend carefully (so you’ve got plenty left for shopping) or you want to splash out on the finest food there is on offer, there’s something for all budgets and all diets.
Walnut Grove
If you want the best view in the house, then you should make your way to Walnut Grove. This classy new eatery has stunning views of the Burj Khalifa, so you can sit on the terrace and quietly ponder the odds of becoming rich enough to afford a view like this. Whilst you may need a lottery win to buy the view for yourself, the menu here, although delicious, is surprisingly affordable. You can eat here for under 100 AED and there are a wide variety of dishes on offer.
The breakfasts here are phenomenal and truly a vegetarian’s heaven; there are eggs in every style you could imagine and a healthy amount of avocado. The Scrambled Eggs Kayana are particularly good, mixed with plenty of sauteed vegetables and topped with sharp, crumbly feta. They’re served alongside a squidgy sundried tomato flatbread, perfect for soaking everything up. If you need a little pick me up then be sure to peruse the coffee menu. Those with a sweet tooth will delight in the Nutella cappuccino, or if you prefer something a little stronger then the Turkish coffee is very good.
Downtown Eats
If you’re shopping with a larger party it can be difficult to accommodate everyone’s tastebuds. Thankfully, Dubai Mall has provided the answer with a selection of trendy new concept restaurants, which span a range of global cuisine. Downtown Eats is situated just outside the mall in a box park style, so everyone can choose what they’d like for lunch and congregate in the centre to eat together.
Two of the containers serve particularly tasty food. The first is Hooked on Bao, a Taiwanese street food stall, that serves light, fluffy and delicate Bao buns, stuffed with everything from beef short ribs to silky smooth tofu. They also have a smaller selection of food that doesn’t come in buns, but honestly, with buns this good, you’d have to be crazy not to want them!
Our other favourite is Smart Brat. A first for Dubai, this German Bratwurst grill serves up delicious traditional sausages but cooked on a state of the art grill. This grill is truly innovative and allows the bratwurst to be prepared without using any oil, making your naughty lunchtime meal, a little less sinful (but no less delicious) than you might have expected!
L’Artisan Du Burger
One of the first burger restaurants to have been awarded a Michelin star, L’Artisan Du Burger is a cut above the usual burger joint. With French-style beef burgers, which are cooked exactly to your liking, and a selection of more unusual patties, there’s plenty for carnivores and vegetarians alike. The quality of the ingredients speak for themselves, with grass fed beef being the undisputed star of the show. Whilst it would be almost criminal not to sample a burger, those who are watching their waistlines can still enjoy a generous crunchy salad, with falafel or mozzarella.
Their summer specials are particularly delicious, with an unusual offering from chef Tara Khattar in the form of a fresh crab cake, served with a pickled mango salsa, juliette of cucumber and an unctuous garlic mayonnaise. It’s also worth giving a special mention to their fries. Although it’s hard to get fries wrong, its a real art to make them quite so perfectly – fried until crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle, then served with Himalayan pink salt alongside so you can season to your liking. It would be incredibly easy to single-handedly demolish several servings!
