New stars, seafood by the water, and the tables that take walk-ins only, checked on 27 October 2026
Dubai redraws its dining map faster than most cities, so a list of the best restaurants in Dubai is only useful if it is current. This guide groups the top restaurants in the city by what each one does best: a starred tasting room, a new opening, a seafood table by the water, or a long evening out. Where we have a detailed page on a venue, we link to it rather than repeat it.
Each venue below was checked on 27 October 2026, on its own website or in the Michelin Guide. Dubai dining also follows the calendar. Some hotel restaurants pause in summer, and the Michelin Guide has kept the stars of four restaurants that are currently closed, so we confirm that a restaurant is open before we request a table. We do not promise tables, but we explain what each place offers so that the request can be precise.
The Michelin Guide published its fifth Dubai selection on 6 October 2026, with 122 restaurants across 38 types of cuisine. FZN by Björn Frantzén and Trèsind Studio kept three stars. Orfali Bros rose to two stars, two years after its first, and Il Ristorante-Niko Romito, Row on 45, and STAY by Yannick Alléno kept theirs.
Orfali Bros is run by three brothers who cook from their Aleppian, Armenian, and Turkish heritage, with dinner service from Wednesday to Monday according to its website. For the full list of starred rooms and how booking works, see our guide to Michelin star restaurants in Dubai. For the wider picture of the city’s kitchens, read our guide to fine dining in Dubai.
The same guide is the most reliable way to see what is new. Birch and KIGO are its two new One Star restaurants, and both sit in DIFC. Birch is led by Chef Arslan Berdiev, whose Turkmen roots shape a menu built around produce such as Uzbek tomatoes, cooked in a kitchen the diners can see. KIGO offers sushi omakase at the counter and a kaiseki option at a table, and its team won the guide’s Service Award.
Window, in Alserkal Avenue, won Opening of the Year for its wood-fired cooking. Its website describes 32 seats and says walk-ins only, so it is a place to visit rather than to reserve, and we plan the day around it instead of promising a table. For something lighter, the new Bib Gourmand entries include Three Bros, the sister restaurant of Orfali Bros, and YUBI Dubai, a hand-roll counter at One Central.
Three seafood restaurants listed by the Michelin Guide show how different a waterside table can be. Rockfish at Jumeirah Al Naseem has a terrace facing the Burj Al Arab, and the guide praises its fresh fish and shellfish. It serves lunch from 1 pm to 3 pm and dinner from 6 pm to 10:30 pm daily, with a smart casual dress code.
Sea Fu at Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach is a beachfront Asian seafood restaurant, with sashimi, maki, nigiri, tempura, and wok-fried dishes, and it opens daily from 12:30 pm to 12:30 am. Bordo Mavi is at Jumeirah Fishing Harbour, with fresh fish on ice at the entrance, outdoor seating over the harbour, and Black Sea cooking led by fishmonger Ersan Yılmaz. Hours change with the season, so we confirm them when we make the request.
Some of the best-known tables are not about stars at all. Nammos is the Mediterranean beach club at Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach, built for sunlit lunches and golden sunsets. OPA at Fairmont Dubai opens every evening from 7 pm to 3 am, with Greek cooking, live music, and plate smashing. Nusr-Et is in the same Restaurant Village as Nammos, open daily from 12 pm to 1 am, and carves its steaks at the table.
Tell us the occasion, the date, and the area, and we will arrange the table
At Perfect.Live, we choose the restaurant with you, check that it is open, and request the table where availability allows. We arrange the transfer, plan the evening around dinner, share dietary needs and the occasion with the restaurant in advance, and remain one point of contact if the plan changes.
The Michelin Guide Dubai 2026 gives the clearest list, with FZN by Björn Frantzén and Trèsind Studio at three stars and Orfali Bros at two stars, and we check which are open before we request a table
Birch and KIGO are the two new One Star restaurants of 2026, Window won Opening of the Year, and Three Bros and YUBI Dubai are new Bib Gourmand entries
Rockfish, Sea Fu, and Bordo Mavi are three seafood restaurants listed by the Michelin Guide, set on a Burj Al Arab terrace, a beachfront, and a fishing harbour
Most of the restaurants above take reservations, but Window and YUBI Dubai take walk-ins only, so we confirm how each table is booked before we plan the evening
Some hotel restaurants pause service or close for refurbishment in summer, so we confirm that each one is open and favour indoor rooms for the hottest months
