Fine dining in Abu Dhabi and Dubai
- Luke Griffiths
- Dec 30, 2025
- 5 min read
Our trip to Abu Dhabi and Dubai was everything that you’d expect from that region of the world. The buildings were incredible, everything was spotlessly clean and the service was impeccable… the fine dining options were pretty decent too!
Li Beirut, Abu Dhabi
So much food, and so many flavours.
Li Beirut is in the Conrad Hotel in the Etihad Towers… these are iconic buildings and the food perfectly matched the surroundings.
We opted for a set menu as recommended by our friendly and helpful waiter - this was a great idea as it gave us a chance to eat the best of Lebanese food without having to try to choose, or embarrass ourselves trying pronounce the names!
The food itself was great; big bold flavours with each part perfectly presented. It was a feast for all the senses. We had a bottle of Lebanese rosé wine to accompany the food, and this worked brilliantly with the various elements.
After dinner I had a Turkish coffee, and Gill had a Moroccan tea – both were great ways to round off the evening.
Ce La Vi, Dubai
Wow... the views are incredible, but the food is the star of the show.
Next up in our fine dining tour of Abu Dhabi and Dubai was Ce La Vi. This was as glamorous as you'd expect for Dubai, and the food is perfect for the location - a delicious mix of East meets West. To start I had a stunning yellowfin tuna carpaccio which came with a flavourful chilli and avocado accompaniment, and wagyu tenderloin for main. Gill had beef bao buns to start (they were great, she's much better at choosing food that is shareable than I am!) followed by salmon as her main. The salmon was delicious and came with edamame beans along with one of Gill's favourite - shimeji mushrooms!
Our food was washed down with plenty of lovely cocktails (of course) - this also led to me completing the best negroni selfie yet with the Burj Khalifa as a backdrop!
The service was lovely and friendly - and the tiramisu that was prepared at our table was ace... Ce La Vi was a fab experience from start to finish – well chosen Gill!
Burj Al Arab, Dubai
Another day, another iconic location for food!
The Burj al Arab is a real bucket list/pinch yourself location - it's Gill's all-time favourite building and is generally seen as the height of luxury.
I think we were both a bit awestruck from the moment we turned up and were welcomed by the team of concierges... they probably saw our faces and decided that we needed some help 🤣. We walked though the immense lobby that was beautifully decorated for Christmas and then to a special elevator to whisk us up to floor 27 – this is where even more magic started.
We were booked in for champagne afternoon tea in the Skyview Restaurant and had a table looking out to the Burj Khalifa - my favourite building... we both won this time! The service was next level (which is a theme across the UAE from what we experienced), the perfect mix of friendly and professional. The food was incredible, and the portions were ‘Luke sized’ too, which is unexpected for a venue like this, but of course much appreciated!
The selection of teas were quite remarkable. I had an amazing tiramisu inspired tea as one of my options… so different and tasty. We were treated to an additional dessert as a gift for our 10-year wedding anniversary, and Gill was presented with a rose – another touch that made this feel like the most amazing experience.
Tresind Studio, Dubai
You'd expect a 3 Michelin star restaurant to be good! Tresind Studio raises the bar so much higher... it's not a surprise that it is consistently voted up there as the one of the Middle East's best restaurants!
Like the previous places we ate at in the UAE; Tresind Studio is in an iconic location. It is on Dubai’s Palm Jumeriah, which I think is one of the manmade wonders of the world.
When we ate at R-haan in Bangkok they took us on a journey through regional Thai food and Tresind Studio did the same but for India. We'd run out of superlatives by the time the snacks were served! Delicious and varied snacks from each region were followed by 2 dishes from each region to complete a countrywide food tour.
The wine pairing was perfectly matched to most courses, as was the 'synergy' pairing that Gill chose - this started with champagne and finished with sweet wine but contained a lot of fruit juices (and alcohol distilled from cooking by-products) in-between. Both pairings were just the right size.
A lot of the courses came with a delicious broth that was drank while or after eating to enhance to food. This worked perfectly every time...we both love a 'sauce'! On that note, there were very generous amount of the various curry sauces too - the excess was left in the jug so you could add more to suit your taste (which I of course did every time!)
I need to mention choreography… which may sound like a strange attribute for a restaurant! One course was assembled on our table with 12 members of the team each adding an element to the plate in front of us. The teamwork and planning that leads to this being possible (in procession across all the tables in the restaurant) is really impressive and gives an idea of the quality of the place that we were eating in.
The staff were all fabulous. We arrived early, so were able to enjoy a cocktail while sat at the bar sharing stories. The cocktails were inventive – mine was a ‘Kung Fu Pandan’ which was made using rum which had been infused in-house with roasted peanuts and green peppercorns. Sharing stories was a theme for the evening; it was awesome to hear about where the staff were from, and even how some of them had studied local to us.
Every part of the experience at Tresind Studio was next level. It is the best restaurant that I have ever eaten at for both the quality of the food and the service… wow!
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