The Review
Berenjak won a Michelin Bib Gourmand in Dubai's 2024 guide after less than eight months of trading — one of the fastest recognitions in the history of the city's still-young Michelin chapter. That speed is not an accident. The restaurant is an outpost of Soho's cult Persian kababi, the project of chef Kian Samyani and JKS Restaurants (the London group behind Gymkhana, Trishna, BiBi, and Hoppers), and Samyani has transplanted his obsession with charcoal, sourdough, and Iranian home cooking almost uncut to Dar Wasl.
The room is dim to the point of moody — opulent chandeliers, intricate Persian rugs, tilework echoing Isfahan, themed portraits on earth-toned walls. Capacity is 140 across indoor and outdoor seating, designed to combine the charm of the Soho original with the Borough Townhouse's more polished ambience. The open kitchen is the restaurant's heart, because almost everything here emerges from the charcoal grill or the sangak oven.
Start with the taftoon. Samyani uses a 24-year-old sourdough starter, no yeast, and bakes to order in an oven calibrated to produce a crisp back and a pillowy front — a bread unlike anything else on offer in Dubai. It arrives with a meze trio: a pureed black-chickpea hummus, a smoky kashke bademjoon (aubergine, garlic, walnut), and a cool yoghurt mast-o-khiar. Eat them together with your hands. The logic of the menu reveals itself quickly.
The kababs are the reason to return. Jujeh (chicken marinated in saffron, onion, and tomato in three stages) and koobideh (pure lamb shoulder, ground with intent, marinated separately in each stage) both emerge from the skewer dripping onto a rested piece of bread that soaks the fat. The baal-e-morgh — chicken wings marinated in fermented red pepper paste and grilled over charcoal — has become the dish Dubai's food writers order first. Desserts are sparse but disciplined: an elevated date-and-walnut koloocheh with Medjool, brown butter, muscovado and a cup of hot Persian tea closes the meal at the temperature your stomach wants.
Best for First Dates & Shared Dining
Berenjak is the Dubai restaurant to bring somebody on a second or third date — impressive enough to signal taste, relaxed enough to actually have a conversation. It is also excellent for team dinners: the menu is designed for sharing, the price point is comfortable at around AED 250–350 per head, and the private dining setup in the back handles groups of eight to twelve without losing the rest of the room's ambience. For solo dining, grab a seat at the kitchen-facing counter and order the meze trio, one kabab, and a glass of house red.
Signature Dishes
The taftoon bread with meze trio is the first-order recommendation, every time. The baal-e-morgh wings are the dish everyone photographs. The koobideh kabab, built from Samyani's father's technique and rested twice, is the main course you remember three days later. The elevated koloocheh — walnut, date, muscovado, brown butter — with Persian black tea is the only dessert you need.
What to Know Before You Go
Book a week out for Thursday–Saturday dinner; weekdays are easier. The Dar Wasl car park is free and attached. The venue is licensed. Dress code is smart casual — no one is going to turn you away for jeans, but this is a restaurant where people dress up because they want to. The outdoor section is excellent November–March. Berenjak also has a sister location in Aljada, Sharjah if you're closer to the Emirate border.
Also in Dubai, explore Trèsind Studio for the world's finest Indian tasting menu, Orfali Bros Bistro for MENA's #1-ranked Syrian contemporary, and Zuma Dubai for Japanese robata sharing. For all First Date occasions globally, see our dedicated guide. Read more in our editorial on Dubai's dining scene.