Al Reef Lebanese Bakery in Karama, Dubai - Restaurant Reviews

Al Reef Lebanese Bakery

The Lebanese bakery champion of Dubai 7 Reviews

This stretch of Za’abeel Street, just down the street from the Karama post office, is the Lebanese bakery capital of Dubai. We presume that Al Reef and Al Arz bakeries, directly across the road from each other, are healthy old-fashioned arch-nemeses.

After ordering from a wall-mounted menu behind the counter, we sat on the pavement next to a massive Al Jazeera-blasting Flatron television, which probably cost more than the rest of the décor put together. Our food reached us ten minutes later, piles of white bread with fillings undeviating in their tastiness. The zataar from the saj was savoury and crisp, the cheese manakish was warm and gooey, and the sausage and egg version possessed a comforting all-day-breakfast quality. Our stuffed vine leaves were served warm, a little unusual but not unpleasant, and our lamb kibbeh were steaming hot. Also, most admirably, the olives in the side salad had been pitted and sliced. We finished with a selection of nutty Arabic sweets from a vast selection. But beware, an entire meal at Al Reef can easily involve a severe white bread overload.