With the impending arrival of Expo 2020, it seems that Dubai is set to gain an even greater profile on the global stage.
And whilst everything from the shopping opportunities at the Dubai Mall to the architectural wonder of the Burj Khalifa tower continue to fascinate visitors, it’s clear that the city could seal its tourist legacy by having its own Michelin Guide.
Michelin have been producing their restaurant guides for over 100 years, and it’s hoped that Dubai could become the first country in the Middle East to get the honour of having one of these prestigious guides.
Although Michelin has always had a European focus, by publishing guides on nations as far afield as Singapore and Brazil, it has helped reward those country’s chefs for their pioneering efforts by making their restaurants noteworthy tourist attractions.
There’s certainly no shortage of innovative culinary efforts on display in Dubai. Restaurants like Zuma Dubai and La Petite Maison have both featured in the World’s Top 100 Restaurants list, and it’s the cosmopolitan nature of the city that has helped it become so attractive to many of the world’s top chefs.
With over 9,000 restaurants offering an enviable selection of cuisines from the 200 nationalities within the city, it’s easy to see why everything from upmarket European restaurants to the wide range of Thai takeaways featured at Deliveroo have enjoyed making Dubai their home.
But it’s perhaps the cosmopolitan nature of Dubai’s food outlets that has prevented it from receiving the Michelin Guide accolade. Whilst having an impressive selection of Thai, Mexican and Japanese restaurants will undoubtedly impress foreign visitors, it has been noted that more could be done to showcase Dubai’s homegrown cuisine.
But with restaurants like Rüya showcasing lesser known Turkish dishes and Play serving up an interesting ‘Mediterrasian’ cuisine, it shows that the time is ripe for Dubai’s chefs to introduce the flavours of the Middle East to the rest of the world.
Traditional Emirati dishes like maq’louba, margooga and harees might be unfamiliar to most foreign visitors. But with Persian and Lebanese cuisine starting to find increased popularity amongst tourists, it’s hoped that even classic desserts of the region like luqeymat might find themselves within the pages of a Dubai Michelin Guide.
So although we can enjoy having Thai food delivered to our homes, and we can go out to enjoy fine dining at an Indian restaurant, it might be little longer until Dubai gets its own Michelin Guide.
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