MY KIND OF FOOD
Qbara has got the feel and the food right up there
This week, one of Dubai’s very own restaurant concepts was named in the list of ‘Six Top Restaurants to Discover in the Middle East and Africa’ by the team at The World’s 50 Best Restaurants. If there ever were a homegrown concept that should deserve such recognition, it’s Qbara in Wafi City. So why do we love this place? For starters, from the minute you walk in through an entrance that’s more like a posh nightclub to the moment you take your first bite of the food, you get the sense that the folks here are not mucking about. It’s not all show and jazzy hands and, trust me, Qbara has plenty of that — hands down one of the best interiors in all of Dubai with wonderful little details from the well thought out crockery and cutlery to the simultaneously fun and intimate setting. There’s a giant 3D wall that you have to see to believe.
Qbara loosely means inside out, or back to front, in Arabic, which is the ethos of the food. It’s what modern Arabic food would look like if it was upgraded to scenes beyond a cafeteria selling shawarmas and falafels. There are things like truffle scented labneh — that just sounds fantastic, and tastes even better — a falafel salad with a cucumber and tahini tarator, grilled eggplant and Syrian lamb and sour cherry kofta, and a crispy soft shell crab in a saj wrap, served with garlic and harissa.ss That lasts one? Arguably the best shawarma in town. E Eat your heart out lobster rolls!
Other favourites, and all this is on the Qbara Experience menu option — the menu can be a bit daunting, so we recommend picking one of the Experience choices — are the spiced crispy salmon with Moroccan tomato jam. Perfectly cooked salmon, with a delightfully crispy crackle when you cut through, with subtle hints of oregano and cumin bursting through from the spice rub. The really observant foodies will also notice that every dish in every course either builds or leads into the other, which is quite a masterstroke.
For desserts, definitely go for the Baklava Smash — a deconstructed version of the classic Arabic dessert, with walnuts and camel milk ice cream. Oud, one of the house’s signature desserts, is also very good. The baked kunafa pastry filled with orange cream and cubes of iced nougat is truly special. All worth trying.
Qbara is a testament of what a well crafted, creatively and thoughtfully put together menu served in a simply beautiful restaurant can look like. For traditional Arabic and Levantine dishes with a contemporary fusion twist, this is your place.