There’s more to affordable dining than meets the eye
For so long, Dubai dining was a battle of the fundamentalists; the cheap, casual eateries and the fine dining behemoths, with not much in between. That has changed considerably in recent years, and much has been written about the ‘maturation’ of the industry. Quite simply, Dubai means business.
Some of that change is practical. Consumer habits have shifted, MICHELIN has levelled the playing field to an extent, traffic makes us think twice about crossing Dubai for dinner, and restaurants increasingly understand the value of returning guests rather than simply chasing the next reservation. But something less measurable has happened too. We have found places we actually want to belong to. Restaurants where the welcome becomes familiar, somebody remembers what you drink, or walking in alone feels entirely normal. Increasingly, the restaurants I value most are not those saved for an anniversary six months away. They are the ones I want to return to next Tuesday.
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What does Dubai’s New Middle look like? Not every venue ticks every box, and that is OK. Nick Alvis, Chef Patron of The Beam, hits the nail on the head by defining the category as “places that tick several boxes: resident families, catching up with friends, overseas family visits, and evenings when you lack the energy to cook at home.”
These are restaurants cooking seriously without making you sit up straight for three hours. They tend to be chef-led, ingredient-led or personality-driven, sometimes all three. Ingredients have an identity, service is knowledgeable and, importantly for me, somebody has usually given the drinks and grape programme some proper thought. Yet the defining characteristic may be much simpler: you want to come back. Not next year. Maybe next week.
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That repeatability creates familiarity. You recognise faces, develop favourite tables and start bringing visiting family because you know exactly how the evening will feel. There is a particular luxury in being somewhere you feel wanted rather than merely served. Luxury dining has its own space, a space that I love dearly, but in the New Middle luxury is slightly more nuanced. Sometimes luxury is simply walking through a door and somebody being genuinely pleased to see you.
For fellow writer Liam Collens, it includes the décor. “It’s nicely decorated inside. It’s not pretentious. They’re cooking the kind of food that most people can probably cook themselves but maybe don’t trust themselves at the level a restaurant can operate.”
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My acid test remains: “Would I recommend this venue for a Tuesday dinner as readily as a birthday or celebration?” If the answer is yes, welcome to the New Middle.
Chris Malone, former Head Chef of Dinner by Heston, shares a similar view: “the middle ground is family style, no pretentiousness, yet consistent. Good quality, atmosphere, doesn’t break the bank but when you go, you know it’ll be good.” Those final six words matter: you know it’ll be good. The New Middle allows you to spend properly without turning dinner into a four-figure event, while offering the consistency that turns restaurants from somewhere you have eaten into somewhere you regularly go.
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Before we dive into the New Middle itself, my favourite perspective came from Alvis. Having lived and breathed the full spectrum throughout his career, he observes that “the restaurants are community-focused and make you feel that they are more approachable from a cost perspective, even if they are actually not”.
As clever as a crispy hen’s egg, that.
‘Community’ is increasingly overused in restaurants, but the real thing cannot be manufactured. It happens when you recognise the room, the team recognises you, and a restaurant gradually becomes one of ‘your places’. Like all good qualities, if you have to repeatedly tell people you are something, you are probably not. If you are pushing the community narrative too hard, you are missing the point. The New Middle should feel as organic as the tomatoes from Mary Anne’s Fresh Produce, and so should the message around it.
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Who represents the New Middle? The list was around 130-strong when I started. I applied the criteria, performed the Tuesday Dinner versus Birthday acid test and eventually asked myself something more personal: which restaurants have actually become part of my Dubai?
That changed things.
Some are places I take visitors. Others are restaurants where I know the people, the dishes and probably what I am ordering before opening the menu. Others are connected to particular friends, family or memories. That emotional attachment is difficult to score, but perhaps that is precisely why it matters.
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Some names fell by the wayside. It hurt when they did, but this is where you, the reader, can play. Tell me who absolutely should be on the list, and why.
- 21 Grams. Nobody ever visits just the once and the Stasha-led team is as warm as the Spinach Phyllo Pie.
- Berenjak. When you have to keep going back for the Koobideh, this imported concept sits right every time.
- CQ Brasserie. Arguably the king of the New Middle, if they could bottle their community feel it would sell as many as their famous steak frites.
- DUO Gastrobar. I visit for coffee. I pop in for lunch. I took my mum. Enough said. Oh, and always order the Oxtail Pie with Tallegio cheese.
- Girl and the Goose. Can you get more community-driven than awesome person + former supper club + warm service?
- Hawkerboi. Hidden away in JLT, I nealry always see a familiar face when I stop by for Crispy Aubergine and crazy cocktails.
- Iranish. Never mind Tuesday dinner, this places turns over twice on a Tuesday afternoon. Great meat, great people, let the team pick your dishes.
- Juns. Kelvin and Neha love to bring the community together. They thrive on it. We thrive on their pani puri and incredible steak cookery.
- Khadak. Another morning place for me; long tables and natural light make you feel very at ease here.
- Kinoya. I swear that people move to The Greens to be part of the Kinoya community. You can’t get bigger than that and one of the forerunners of the New Middle.
- Lila Molina. A genuine mix of coffee drinkers, taco lovers, and a customer base so diverse you cannot really identify them. Chef Shaw draws them all in.
- Maison Mathis. The OG. Long before half of this list founded, Maison Mathis brings the families and after-work drinks to one place.
- Maiz. Community emanates from the owner, Luma Makhlouf and she’s the voice that always speaks up on behalf of others. The Birria Taco is the only dish to make my annual top 10 more than once. Heart, soul, community, Maiz.
- Manao. As close to the fine dining end of the spectrum as you can get but with the edges dulled enough to allow Chef Abhiraj’s food to shine brightly.
- Moli. Tucked away in the corner of Dubai Hills Business Park, a venue that we visit for a quiet lunch as much as a wild Friday night with a table of 20. Authentic, stunning Peking duck.
- Mythos. Another longstanding hero that has always been as brilliant on a Wednesday night, as it is packed with dating couples on a weekend.
- Odeon. The community is such that you can live and breathe your own products through this French-led gourmet market-come-brasserie. Our breakfast of choice for out-of-town visitors and eqaully fabulous for lunch and dinner.
- Pitfire. Unique in that this venue might entice you as much inside, as it does into your delivery apps. The level of consistency here is outrageous and the words ‘Truff Daddy’ come out of my wife’s mouth on a weekly basis.
- Reif Kushiyaki. Always unconventional, always delicious. Reif and team deliver casual dining with a touch of brilliance. More Bib Gourmands than I have had Chicken Katsu Sandos.
- Teible. Brings my favourite sector alive at the table; farm-to-plate dining. Minimilaist setting allows the ever-changing menu to take centre stage.
- The Beam. This is where we go as often as possible as a family. Feels as accessible as Nick says but delivers luxury and generosity.
- VNTG. My prediction for Future Great of the New Middle. A perfectly humble interior encases grapes, cheese, and a pie that is anything but humble in flavour.
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There you have it. Dubai’s New Middle; a sector as much about perceived accessibility, informality and repeatability as absolute price.
Perhaps, though, I was looking at it too analytically when I started writing this. The more I thought about these restaurants, the less it became about price points, MICHELIN recognition or ingredient provenance.
It became about belonging.
These are restaurants woven into our lives in Dubai. Places that feel special without requiring a special occasion.
Fine dining gives us restaurants we remember.
The New Middle gives us restaurants we miss.
Image credit: @hawker.boi on Instagram
Matthew Broderick is a food writer, hospitality consultant and founder of APEX Mystery Shoppers, drawing on nearly 30 years of F+B experience. A member of the Guild of Food Writers, he has written extensively about restaurants across the UAE and Saudi Arabia, combining a passion for great food with a sharp eye for hospitality and service.
