Maybe it’s because Ezaz is tucked down a Barsha back road, in the shadows of far larger (and grander) hotels than its home in the Ibis, that this quaint little bar has escaped the eyes of Time Out’s reviewers until now. We’d love to tell you how much you’ve been missing – and stepping through it’s shady sliding doors certainly feels like being let in on a secret – but in pen-and-paper terms there’s nothing to jump up and down about here.

Yet something about this basic bar’s relaxed European ambiance seduced this reviewer. Was it the lack of pretension, the rather poky, quaint layout, or the lone barman’s cheery smile? It’s hard to put your finger on exactly why this bar works, but it has an undeniable charm for simply not trying to be anything it’s not, a rarity in Dubai. Oh-so-many bars choose to replicate a ‘relaxed Brit-pub experience’, but stick out like a sore thumb for the minor details they get wrong (mainly that they’re located in the wrong country).

Despite its generic hotel food, Ezaz feels distinctly genuine. Comfortable with its own limitations, the bar is what it is and nothing more; a pleasant, dimly-lit watering hole where normal people come to enjoy a normal drink, which feels far more homely than a hundred faux-British bars ever could.