Colourful Burj Al Arab view from Uptown bar at Jumeirah Beach Hotel

Set menus for business lunches are aplenty here in Dubai, but when it comes to dinner, we have to pay full whack for à la carte or an umpteen-course degustation menu. Why can’t we have prix fixe menus à la the Parisians, day AND night? Well we can for a few days only, thanks to the folks at Jumeirah who are running their hugely popular Restaurant Week promo for the second consecutive year in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and for the first time across their international hotels - starting next week. Modelled on the long-standing New York Restaurant Week, 50 plus restaurants will offer three-course set menus with a choice I should add, for dinner and/ or lunch every day – and that includes signature dishes.

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The chef’s table at Thiptara

Dubai; I dine out a lot, in restaurants that is. But I don’t often dine INSIDE the kitchen. Not my kitchen, even though on occasion I do, but a restaurant’s. Otherwise known as the chef’s table, smack bang in the kitchen or in some cases just outside but with a full view. You can either order à la carte with any special requests, or indulge in a tasting menu – with the chef jotting down your order and even serving you. A sommelier usually takes care of the vino. And there’s no extra charge. Whether you’re after an intimate dinner à deux, or a raucous group celebration, it certainly makes for a different dining experience. Well in Dubai we have quite a few chef’s tables, so allow me to give you the low-down…

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Love, love, love this clever, creative idea from Fortnum & Mason

Earlier this month, I drummed on about restaurant and food trends in London that Dubai should eat up. Well looks like someone’s taken note, as Peruvian restaurant, Coya will open in Dubai later this year (from the same guys who brought us Zuma and La Petite Maison). Anyhow more on that another time. For now, building on those capital recommendations, here’s a few more to take you from breakfast and lunch to afternoon tea and dinner, plus gourmet shopping, and even a foodie escape. Bon appetit!

Breakfast

The Wolseley – If your hotel stay doesn’t include brekkie, start your day here at this London institution and celeb haunt with Eggs Benedict, or as I did with an espresso cup of pure and hot dark chocolate fondant, not the milky version commonly found in Dubai. Reservations essential.

Daylesford – Another breakfast alternative which we only popped into for a fleeting tour, but whose bright and airy café left me wishing I’d skipped the hotel breakfast. Locations in Pimlico and Notting Hill.

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