The best restaurants Dubai

This new brasserie with its classic, natural feel is enjoying rapid, well-deserved success. Right in the center of town, in a luminous setting thanks to a magnificent glass roof, Couqley offers an upscale casual dining experience. The menu is varied and comprehensive, with above all affordable and reasonable prices. It really is the ideal place for a romantic dinner or a relaxed meal with friends, in a warm atmosphere. Smart recommendations: the moules-frites formula, the meats, the wine list and the house cocktails.

Less picturesque since it got a permanent building instead of the old container where the kitchen was located, Bu Qtair is still one of the most popular restaurants in the city: the choice of dishes is limited to marinated grouper or breaded shrimps with spices that are eaten on paper plates. For more than 20 years, Haroon Rasheed and his family from Kerala have been delighting the whole of Dubai, from fishermen to tourists and expatriates, with their products from the day's catch

Under monumental baroque chandeliers in black drops, giving off convivial or intimate spaces according to the desire of the evening, the room - a little dark - seems to converge towards this luminous counter where the pastry chef, a divine laborer, puts the cherry on the cake live. The borgiate strength of this Eyes Wide Shut-style place, the power of flavours, service under good French direction, Stay sounds real, simple perhaps in appearance, complex too, like those fish splinters made of Parmesan foam as soon as they arrive. The deal is happily settled for a reasonable price.

Here is a restaurant that has been able to combine cabaret style with divine Italian cuisine with a few Japanese dishes, and even flambéing at the table. On the service side, here are enthusiastic waiters and on the customer side we could see during our visit the presence of many VIPs and celebrities. The atmosphere is at the rendezvous. During the dinner and intermittently, cabaret numbers and music follow one another. Fortunately, during the breaks, it is possible to converse without breaking one's voice.

Like the rest of the establishment, the Plantation Lounge looks good in its neo-classical clothes. It is a pretty counter that offers typically French specialities, an oasis of civilisation and calm just a stone's throw from the promenade and one of the trendiest and liveliest areas of the city: taste the house specialities with Mediterranean flavours (Burrata, Provençal-style lamb chops), local produce (burgundy snails, frogs' legs and beef stew with its mushrooms) and the sea (sole meunière, sea mussels).

The restaurant's name is taken from the street that housed the chain's first restaurant in Beirut, and which is an institution in Lebanon. Located in the heart of Souk al Bahar, the restaurant offers one of the most beautiful terraces for admiring the dancing fountains and the laser show at the Burj Khalifa. It's best to book in advance to enjoy a few mezze between the various shows, as the restaurant is very popular and the Levant-inspired interior lacks the charm of the exterior. Good food and reasonable prices.

Are you looking for a local restaurant, local and no fuss? This is Al Hajarain! This restaurant with oriental and Indian accents is truly one of the best dining options in the town of Hatta. It's simple, copious, but tasty cuisine. You can just order a salad and a dish and share it like Makboos, a Biriyani or a Kebab. There is also a pizza and pasta menu for the diehards. As they don't serve alcohol in this place, you can still try one of their mochtails like the Mojito.

Very pleasant terrace where you can enjoy various cocktails. Varied menu changing regularly and always first choice products. The restaurant is located near the swimming pool and on weekends the music can be loud.

Located in the heart of the superb Wafi souk, it is a very lively open-air patio and often crowded on weekends. In the same spirit as the shopping mall, the architecture and the menu are of Arab inspiration, the waiters are in traditional costume. A mile-long menu of Egyptian, Persian and Lebanese specialties. The desserts and the Moroccan tea are also very famous. The atmosphere with hookahs, the music and the quality of the menu, as well as the clientele, willingly local, make it a very recommendable place in a decor of oriental soap opera.

Two levels below the public observation platform, at 408 meters high, and accessed by a private elevator, this is the most perched dinner in the city. At noon, it's breathtaking and if you can, choose this option rather than the traditional climb. In the evening, you can't see anything very specific. On the menu, there is a choice between seafood, meats imported from Japan and internationally inspired dishes. It's very expensive, but when you're in the highest restaurant in the world, how can you not be tempted?

Opened in 2003, in the heart of the maze of the historic district, it is a charming shady patio located in the most arty-fanatic guest house of the neighbourhood. One can stop there at any time to take a break either for the best lemon mint in town, or a salad or a burger such as the eggplant, tomato, cucumber and feta burger. A chance to discover this unique establishment, which pays tribute to the country's heritage and is both an artistic centre and a place to stay. Its interior architecture is typical of the houses in the area.

Welcome to the house of Persian delights on the first floor of this hotel that is a legend! Known and frequented by many Iranian Emirati people, it is the den of quality Iranian dishes: fried aubergines, saffron rice, kebabs... Not forgetting the creamy ice creams. Live music except on Sundays, but keep away from the speakers so as not to leave your hearing. This is an address where you can go to dinner with your eyes closed. The service is attentive and the maitre d' has been there for more than 25 years.

The Milanese company, which is more than a century old, is accompanying the great Giorgio in his Dubai adventure. Smoky cured meats, fresh transalpine cheeses, soft almond sponge cakes, the stalls play the catering card and everyone does their own little gourmet market, also picking from the menu of hot dishes. To take away in pretty boxes or to eat on the spot, with an exceptional view on the big fountains. We particularly recommend the Friday Brunch. The tables on the terrace are a must. Chic and casual. One Michelin star.

Unique of its kind in Dubai, all words weighed up, because we're not talking here about an air-conditioned beach-resto with a few tables on the terrace, but a large deck laid out on the beach between the palm trees, naked, in flip-flops. Shimmers is a table in Bermuda shorts, under the palm trees and in the wind, just like you'd find on the beach at Pampelonne with the DJ in front of his turntables. In the evening, we tuck into the sun while smoking a double-apple hookah, watching the lofty profile of the nearby Burj Al Arab on the right and the Pierchic on the left, before enjoying a light dinner.

In the context of a reconstructed souk and knowing that the number one objective is to be able to get the best seats for the fountains and the Burj Khalifa, the Little Wise Guy offers you a selection of the best placed restaurants in the souk. Either on the first floor: on your right, Bice Mare (Italian marine) and the Lebanese restaurant Abdel Wahab. On the first floor, on the right, Sammach (and its fish stalls) and on the left, Meat&Co.

It's difficult to choose the terrace, even though it is open onto the seigniorial swimming pool and the waters of the Palm, when you discover a room so beautiful, shiny, as if enchanted by the silver reflections, the nuptial white! Do according to the weather and your taste of the moment, but make sure you settle in, because the moment will be memorable: the menu is created by the starred chef Yannick Allieno. Let's set off on a trip to Asia, the Arab world and the shores of the Mediterranean. For dessert, you can choose between smoothies, milkshakes and fresh desserts.