Berenjak

About Berenjak

Berenjak is the Dubai outpost of the Tehran-inspired kababi that chef Kian Samyani first opened in London's Soho, and it has carried the idea east intact: charcoal grills, mazeh sharing plates, and a noisy, mosaic-tiled room built for a table of friends rather than a hushed tasting. It sits inside Dar Wasl Mall on Al Wasl Road, and within a year of opening it picked up a Michelin Bib Gourmand — the guide's nod to serious cooking at a fair price. Koobideh kababs start at 98 AED and the saffron tahdig at 50 AED, which is why the room reads as good value despite the $$$ billing. For the qualities we weigh, see our seven signs of a great restaurant.

The Kitchen

Kian Samyani built Berenjak around the kababi tradition of working-class Tehran, and the Dubai kitchen holds that line: a charcoal grill at the centre of the menu, with the meat seasoned simply and cooked hard over fire. The koobideh is the dish to order first — minced lamb and beef pressed onto flat skewers, grilled until the fat catches, and laid over barbari bread that soaks up the drippings. At 98 AED it is the anchor of any order here.

Around it sit the supporting plates that make the meal: tahdig, the prized crisp-bottomed saffron rice scraped from the pot at 50 AED; the tikkeh masti, a marinated beef-fillet skewer at 165 AED for a table that wants something richer; and a run of mazeh — kashk-e bademjan, mast-o khiar, smoked-aubergine dips — meant to be torn through with bread before the skewers land. The Michelin Bib Gourmand the Dubai room earned in 2024 is the dated proof that the cooking carries beyond nostalgia.

The Room

The room is loud and warm rather than refined: patterned mosaic tiles, low pendant lighting, and a counter where you can watch the grill work. It takes its cues from the cafes and kababis of downtown Tehran, and the energy is communal — tables sharing plates, bread passed around, the grill smoking in the background. Tucked into Dar Wasl Mall off Al Wasl Road, it is an easy, unfussy booking. Dress is smart-casual, and the format rewards a group that wants to order broadly and linger.