The Review
11 Woodfire sits in a stand-alone white-brick villa on Jumeirah Beach Road, across from the Mandarin Oriental Jumeira. From the outside it looks like a pleasant neighbourhood restaurant. The vibe inside — open kitchen, leather-and-iron interior, heavy brick finish, a wall of dry-aged beef visible from the door — tells you immediately this is something else. Chef-owner Akmal Anuar, Singaporean by birth and culinary upbringing, opened the room in January 2022 and collected a Michelin star in the inaugural 2022 Dubai guide. He has held it in every edition since.
The cooking philosophy is as simple as Anuar describes it and as hard as any chef who has tried to emulate it will tell you. Every savoury item on the menu is cooked over wood or embers — specifically the hand-built brick oven and the forged-steel grill in the open kitchen. There are no induction rings. There are no sous-vide water baths. The kitchen controls temperature by moving protein closer to or further from live coals, managing a system of airflow and blended embers that Anuar tends himself when he is on service. Ingredients are flown in weekly — Galician rubia gallega beef, Hokkaido scallops, Tasmanian ocean trout, Spanish carabineros prawns.
The menu is à la carte — a rare format among Dubai's starred restaurants — and reads as a short list of exceptional proteins alongside a handful of grilled vegetables and shared sides. You order as a table: a seafood opener (the carabinero or the ocean trout), two mains (the steak flight is the obvious choice), two sides (grilled asparagus, charred leeks, the smoked hispi cabbage), a dessert to share. The pacing is relaxed, not rushed — it is very much a restaurant for long dinners with people you like. Wine list is deep and non-didactic; the somm will find a bottle in your range without making a ceremony of it.
Budget approximately AED 500–700 per person for three courses; AED 800–1,000 per person if you go for the larger aged steaks and a proper wine pairing. 11 Woodfire is open seven days a week, with a prix-fixe lunch Monday–Friday from 12pm–4pm that is Dubai's best-value Michelin-starred meal. Book through SevenRooms; two to three weeks' notice is typical for prime weekend tables.
Best for Team Dinner
11 Woodfire is one of the best team-dinner rooms in Dubai, and the best Michelin-starred one. The format solves several problems at once: everybody eats at the same time (no staggered tasting courses), the pricing allows you to choose between a moderate bill and an extravagant one without awkwardness, the open-kitchen energy sustains conversation, and the menu gives vegetarians real options instead of a pitying aside. Groups of six to twelve fit naturally at the long communal table in the back. For team dinners involving clients, the private Heritage Room — hidden behind a vault door, accommodating five to seven guests on Thursdays and Fridays — is Dubai's best-kept private dining secret, with a separate Colombian-heritage tasting menu from Head Chef Brando Moros.
Signature Dishes
The carabinero prawn — flame-licked in its shell, served whole, head-on — is the starter against which all other starters in Dubai should be judged. The Hokkaido scallop, grilled in its shell with brown butter and caviar, is the second. For the meat course, the Galician rubia gallega sirloin (priced by weight) is the signature and usually the best choice: the beef has a depth of flavour that no Australian or American wagyu reaches. Sides are non-negotiable: the charred hispi cabbage with shio koji butter has become a social-media icon for a reason. For dessert, the flame-grilled pineapple with tamarind and vanilla ice cream is the most ordered and also the most deserving of the attention.
What to Know Before You Go
The restaurant is on Jumeirah Beach Road, in a stand-alone villa opposite the Mandarin Oriental Jumeira. Valet parking is free. Dress code is smart casual — no dress shirts required; no shorts or flip-flops for men. The restaurant is moderately loud by design, which is fine for dinner with peers and suboptimal for a first date (try LOWE in Al Barari if quiet is the priority). The Heritage Room requires a separate reservation and typically sells out a month in advance. Anuar is frequently on the pass — if you want a kitchen-side table, request it at booking. Vegetarian and pescatarian menus are fully developed, not afterthoughts.
Also consider LOWE for a quieter wood-fire alternative in Al Barari, Orfali Bros Bistro for a neighbouring creative-chef dining room, and BOCA for sustainable Spanish cooking in DIFC. See more in our Team Dinner and Close a Deal guides, or browse the full Dubai directory.