Cafe Arabesque

Description:

• If you really want to feel that you're in the Middle East (which happens less frequently than you'd think in Dubai), book a table at Café Arabesque. Some of the finest regional cuisine is served here, with specialties from Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey. The dining room, with its open kitchen, hardwood floors, marble columns, and candlelit white linen tables, is one of the city's prettiest. Diners are greeted upon arrival with a basket of vegetables and nuts, and then begin their meal with a trip to the cold meze (appetizer) buffet. Main dishes are then ordered from the a la carte menu, accompanied by homemade flatbreads. Two of the best plates are the shish taouk Bil Laban (grilled chicken with yogurt) and Adana kebab (minced lamb kebab). The food coming out of the traditional oven is marvelous, with a rich dessert buffet awaiting you after. A trio plays live Arabic music nightly, except during Ramadan.

• © Frommer's 2013

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Highly Recommended 2010