What’s On Dubai Awards 2025: The Shortlist

The very best of Dubai, as chosen by you…

Registration has closed, the votes are in, and your ballot box picks for the best dining and entertainment venues in Dubai, have been weighed, measured and counted. This is a list for the people, by the people – a manifesto of your favourite menus and venues, fighting it out for a shot to take home the crown in each category of the What’s On Dubai Awards 2025.

Did your favourite make the cut?

The winners will be announced at a glittering award ceremony, to be held at Dubai Media City Amphitheatre on Wednesday, April 16. Table bookings can be made now via Platinumlist.

New for 2025

This year, we’re switching things up a little, because like the F&B we’re honouring – our awards are served fresh. We’re saying farewell to the long-held format of dividing restaurants by ‘average date nights spends of more or less than Dhs400’. And, in its place, we have a simplified, casual or fine dining designation.

Seven restaurant categories will sit outside of these distinctions, with one unified group of fine and casual dining for – Favourite All-Day Dining Restaurant, Favourite Brasserie, Favourite French Restaurant, Favourite Seafood Restaurant, Favourite Steakhouse, Favourite Restaurant: Northern Emirates and Favourite Brunch: À La Carte.

Grand Prix

Four more categories; Homegrown Restaurant of the Year, Chef of the Year, Newcomer of the Year, and Restaurant of the Year will also be awarded on the night, voted for solely by an expert panel comprised of the What’s On team.

Without further ado, here is the shortlist (in alphabetical order) for the What’s On Awards Dubai 2025:

Entertainment

Favourite Attraction

• Aquaventure
• Aura Skypool
• Legoland Dubai
• Ribambelle Family Restaurant
• Topgolf Dubai

Favourite Bar

• Amelia Dubai
• Blind Tiger
• CÉ LA VI Dubai
• Gigi
• Mimi Kakushi
• Paradiso Dubai, FIVE Luxe
• The Coterie

Favourite Concert, Show, or Festival

• Bohemia, FIVE Palm Jumeirah
• Elrow ft FISHER, JA The Resort
• Live Nation Presents: Cigarettes After Sex live at Coca-Cola Arena
• Pacha ICONS featuring Keinemusik duo, Adam Port and Rampa, FIVE Luxe
• Phantom of the Opera at Dubai Opera
• Singin’ in the Rain at Dubai Opera
• Snoopy Beats

Favourite Daycation

• Be Beach
• Gigi
• La Cantine Beach
• Maison Revka
• Nikki Beach Resort & Spa Dubai
• San Beach
• Twiggy

Favourite Staycation: Dubai

• Address Beach
• Bab Al Shams Desert Resort & Spa
• Centara Mirage Beach Resort Dubai
• Hilton Dubai Palm Jumeirah
• Raffles The Palm Dubai
• Sofitel Dubai The Palm
• W Dubai – The Palm

Favourite Staycation: Northern Emirates

• Anantara Mina Al Mina Al Arab Ras Al Khaimah Resort
• DoubleTree by Hilton Sharjah waterfront hotel and residencies
• Fairmont Fujairah
• InterContinental Ras Al Khaimah Mina Al Arab Resort & Spa
• Movenpick Resort Al Marjan Island
• Rixos Al Mairid Ras Al Khaimah
• Sandy Beach Hotel & Resort

Favourite Spa

• Amara Spa, Park Hyatt Dubai
• Cinq Mondes Spa at Raffles The Palm Dubai
• Serenity – The Art Of Well Being, Fairmont The Palm
• Sofitel Spa with L’Occitane
• Talise Ottoman Spa
• The Pearl Spa and Wellness
• The Spa, Mandarin Oriental

Food concepts

Favourite Afternoon Tea

• Aelia
• Balloons at the Palace
• Blue Box Café
• Home Bakery
• Mashrabiya
• Noor Lounge
• Portico, Melia Desert Palm

Favourite Business Lunch

• CÉ LA VI Dubai
• Eugène Eugène
• La Petite Maison Dubai
• La Cantine du Faubourg
• Mimi Kakushi
• Nobu
• Sushisamba

Favourite Breakfast

• BohoX
• Brunch & Cake
• Huqqabaz Garden
• Jones the Grocer, Emirates Golf Club
• Lana Lusa
• Mina Brasserie
• Zouzou

Favourite Café

• Blue Box Café
• Comptoir 102
• Hoya Cafe & Restaurant
• Madeleine et Marcel
• Risen
• The Coffee Club
• Unwind Cafe

Favourite Pet-Friendly Restaurant

• Beach By Five Deck, FIVE Palm Jumeirah
• Bounty Beets
• Horse and Hound
• Lila Molino + Cafe
• Revo
• Tap & Grill
• The Duck Hook

Favourite Pub Grub

• Biggles
• Ernst Biergarten
• McGettigan’s
• The Croft
• The Irish Village, Al Garhoud
• Toad in the Hole
• UBK

Favourite Burger

• Chez Wam
• Good Burger
• Jamjars, Marina
• Slaw
• Smokd Eatery
• The Meat Avenue
• The Stables Dubai

Favourite Alfresco Restaurant

• Attiko
• Cala Vista
• Gigi
• Kyma
• Nuska Beach
• Surf Club
• Tagomago

Restaurants

Favourite All-Day Dining Restaurant

• Allo Beirut Restaurant
• Babel Dubai
• Flow Kitchen
• Huqqabaz Dubai
• Kitchen6
• Society Dubai
• Trove Restaurant

Favourite Brasserie

• Bastion
• CQ French Brasserie
• Mina Brasserie
• Rare Brasserie & Bar
• The Guild
• The Maine Land Brasserie
• The Spaniel Brasserie and Bar

Favourite French Restaurant

• Carine
• Casa Amor
• Couqley Downtown
• Drift Beach
• La Dame de Pic
• La Petite Maison Dubai
• Pierre’s TT

Favourite Seafood Restaurant

• Alici
• Aprons and Hammers
• Ibn Albahr Restaurant
• Kovalam Restaurant
• Rockfish
• Tasca
• The Maine Oyster Bar and Grill

Favourite Steakhouse

• Carna
• Hunter & Barrel
• Leña
• Netsu
• Porterhouse Bar & Grill
• Prime68
• Smoki Moto Dubai

Favourite Restaurant: Northern Emirates

• Copper Lobster
• Karma Kafe by Buddha-Bar RAK
• Levant & Nar
• Mekong
• Orient restaurant
• Spice Grill
• Ula Beach Rak

Favourite Brunch: À La Carte

• Bar Du Port
• CÉ LA VI Dubai
• City Social
• Demon Duck
• Sucre
• The Maine Oyster Bar and Grill
• Tasca

Casual Restaurants

Favourite Casual Asian Restaurant

• Andaliman
• Anwa
• Asia Asia
• BA – Boldly Asian
• Vietnamese Foodies
• Zengo
• ZETA Seventy Seven

Favourite Casual Brunch: Buffet

• Flow Kitchen
• Imagination Brunch, Mowsem
• La Mezcaleria Meydan
• McGettigan’s Dubai Science Park
• SoulCaliCool Brunch at Soul St., FIVE Jumeirah Village
• Vero – Amalfi Brunch
• Wanderlust

Favourite Casual Indian Restaurant

• Carnival By Tresind
• Indya By Vineet
• Khadak
• Khyber Restaurant
• Rang
• Rohini By Little Miss India
• Zafran

Favourite Casual Italian Restaurant

• Arrogante Dubai
• Carluccio’s
• Cucina The Palm
• Fi’lia
• IL Motto
• Luigia
• Trattoria by Cinque, FIVE Jumeirah Village

Favourite Casual Japanese Restaurant

• Goldfish
• Izakaya
• Kata
• Kinoya Restaurant
• Makira Japanese Restaurant
• Sushiyaki
• Virgin IZAKAYA Dubai

Favourite Casual Latin American Restaurant

• Canary Club
• Frevo
• Fusion Ceviche
• La Barra – Peruvian Tapas
• Lila Wood-Fired Taqueria
• Maiz Tacos
• Maya by Richard Sandoval

Favourite Casual Mediterranean Restaurant

• Cielo, FIVE Luxe
• Fish Beach Taverna
• Lola Taberna
• Lana Lusa
• OIA
• Taverna
• The Lighthouse

Favourite Casual Middle Eastern Restaurant

• Allo Beirut Restaurant
• Al Mayass
• Courtyard, The Heritage Hotel Dubai
• Em Sherif Cafe
• Huqqabaz Garden
• Samakjë
• Zouzou

Fine Dining Restaurants

Favourite Fine Dining Asian Restaurant

• Attiko
• Demon Duck
• Jun’s
• Ronin, FIVE Luxe
• SHI Restaurant & Lounge
• Tong Thai
• Zheng He’s

Favourite Fine Dining Brunch: Buffet

• Al Qasr Brunch
• Brasserie 2.0
• Bubbalicious
• Le Brunch, La Brasserie Sur Le Boulevard
• London Social Garden Brunch at The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai
• Nikki Beach Resort & Spa Dubai – Cafe Nikki
• Traiteur

Favourite Fine Dining Indian Restaurant

• Amala
• Armani/Amal
• Avatara
• Kinara By Vikas Khanna
• Little Miss India
• Rang Mahal
• Tresind Studio

Favourite Fine Dining Italian Restaurant

• Belcanto at Dubai Opera
• Chic Nonna
• Il Borro Tuscan Bistro
• Lunarossa
• Pierchic
• The Artisan
• Toto Dubai

Favourite Fine Dining Japanese Restaurant

• Akira Back
• Kayto
• Netsu
• Okku Dubai
• Sagetsu by Tetsuya
• Salvaje Dubai
• Sushisamba

Favourite Fine Dining Latin American Restaurant

• Above Eleven Dubai
• Amelia Dubai
• Coya
• La Niña
• Nazcaa Dubai
• Sucre
• Tamoka Dubai

Favourite Fine Dining Mediterranean Restaurant

• Estiatorio Milos
• La Cantine Beach
• OPA Dubai
• Shimmers
• Spica
• Tatel Dubai
• Twiggy

Favourite Fine Dining Middle Eastern Restaurant

• Alaya
• Al Nafoorah
• Amaseena Dubai
• Anar
• Asil Step into the Orient Restaurant
• Huqqa
• Ninive, Bab Al Shams

Table bookings can be made now via Platinumlist.

Images: What’s On Archive

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