The Review
Hakkasan arrived in London in 2001 with a Michelin star and a mission to prove that Chinese fine dining could command the same reverence as French or Japanese. Twenty-five years later, the Dubai outpost inside Atlantis The Palm continues that argument with authority. The setting is unmistakable: a vast, moody room divided by hand-carved wooden screens, illuminated by the glow of a blue-lit bar, with booths positioned for discretion and the open kitchen visible at the far end like a theatrical backdrop.
Chef Andy Toh's menu is a reimagining of Cantonese tradition through the prism of luxury hospitality. The dim sum alone justifies the reservation — har gau of near-transcendent delicacy, crispy prawn and pomelo rolls, and a baked venison puff that has appeared on this menu since opening and shows no signs of leaving. The larger dishes balance respect for source material with the confidence to add luxury: lychee lobster with yuzu pearl is a Dubai exclusive, engineered for the cosmopolitan palate that has come to expect flavour across cultures.
The restaurant is one of the first recipients of a star in the inaugural MICHELIN Guide Dubai, awarded recognition that the kitchen had been earning from guests for over a decade before Michelin arrived. The main dining room seats 250 but feels intimate at booth level — request one when booking. The private dining rooms, accommodating groups from eight to sixty, are the most requested power spaces for boardroom celebrations and contract closings in the Palm Jumeirah district.
Dinner averages AED 700–1,200 per person including beverage, placing Hakkasan firmly in the luxury bracket without reaching the rarified pricing of the tasting-menu restaurants. For a table that delivers the entire package — recognition, setting, cuisine, service — at a price that remains below the two-thousand-dirham ceiling, it is difficult to fault.
Best for Close a Deal
Hakkasan operates as one of the great business dining rooms of Dubai. The architecture does the work: carved screens provide acoustical privacy, the booths create the sense of a conversation that belongs only to the people in it, and the Michelin star signals to any guest that their host has made a considered, serious choice. Cantonese cuisine is broadly understood and non-confrontational — no one is uncomfortable here. The service is formally trained and discreet. Bringing a counterparty to Hakkasan says: I know this city, I am at home in it, and I am prepared to invest in this evening. That is a powerful opening position before a word of business is exchanged.
Signature Dishes
The dim sum selection is the finest in Dubai. Har gau — the benchmark of any Cantonese kitchen — arrives with the translucent wrapper at the precise tension that distinguishes a master from a practitioner. The crispy duck salad is a perennial bestseller, its shredded duck offset by pine nuts and pomelo in a composition that is simultaneously rich and light. Among the larger dishes, the Peking duck carved tableside remains the occasion dish of choice, while the Dubai-exclusive lychee lobster with yuzu pearl is the dish that marks the house as something more than a franchise export. The black pepper rib-eye, cooked on the Josper grill, has converted more than a few guests who arrived expecting a delicate Chinese meal.
What to Know Before You Go
The restaurant is located within Atlantis The Palm on the Palm Jumeirah — a twenty-minute drive from Downtown Dubai, accessible by taxi, Uber, or the Monorail from Nakheel Harbour. Valet parking is available at the Atlantis entrance. Smart casual dress minimum; jackets are worn by most male guests at dinner. Reservations are essential and should be made a week to ten days ahead for regular evenings, longer for weekend peak. Private dining rooms seat eight to sixty and require direct inquiry via the restaurant. The team accommodates dietary requirements with advance notice, including full vegetarian menus of equal ambition to the standard card.
Also in Dubai, see Nobu Dubai for Japanese-Peruvian at Atlantis, FZN by Björn Franzén for three-star Nordic-Asian, and Orfali Bros Bistro for MENA's most acclaimed contemporary dining. For all Close a Deal occasions globally, see our dedicated guide. Explore more in our Dubai dining editorial.