Dubai Restaurants

  1. Benjarong

    Gold-leafed columns, drop-dead views and a carved wooden ceiling make quiet Benjarong the prettiest Thai restaurant in town, ideal for a tête-à-tête with your paramour. Start with gung hom sabai (deep-fried prawns in egg noodles) or tom yam goong (spicy prawn soup with lime, lemongrass and chilli), then move on to the specialty: coconut curry - red or green - best served with duck and pineapple. For maximum atmosphere, book the tatami-style Ayotoya room and sit on cushions on the floor.

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  2. Smiling BKK

    Locals will kill us for including this indie hole-in-the-wall Thai gem, but it's too good not to share. The walls of the cheek-by-jowl space are covered with hipster mishmash (think Van Gogh paint-by-numbers, postcards, and a moustached Mona-Lisa), and scratchy rock-and-roll blares on the speakers (sit outside for quiet conversation). A Thai national cooks your dinner.

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  3. Thai Kitchen

    The decor is decidedly un-Thai, with black-lacquer tables, a swooping wave-form ceiling, and not a branch of bamboo, but the two open kitchens dominating the room are run entirely by Thai nationals. This is the real deal: dishes are based on Bangkok street eats, served tapas-style. Come for Friday brunch and sample the entire menu. Standouts: prawns in pandan leaves, and crispy catfish in baconlike strips with green-mango salad. One complaint: they under-spice. Ask for it hot!

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  4. Thiptara Royal Thai

    The prices are as high as the adjacent Burj Dubai, but if you're looking for a reason to linger long beneath the world's tallest tower, Thiptara's elegant interpretations of classic Thai dishes and its location in a lakeside Thai-style pagoda provide just the excuse. The note-perfect som tum (green-papaya salad) is as good as we've had in Bangkok; the smoky-hot ka pohn nau (beef in spicy brown sauce) is intensely spiced with on-the-vine peppercorns.

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