Hukama

Modern Chinese in cool and quirky surroundings in The Dubai Mall 44 Reviews

Meal Deal

Hukama yum cha

Try Chinese teas, along with deliciously unique dim sum. Dhs145 Timings: Noon-3pm (Friday)

1

© ITP Images

 

• 
• Picture 1 of 2
• 

From Time Out Dubai Eating Out 2011

Take a seat in Hukama and there’s no doubting you’re in Dubai: the impossibly sleek interior, sky-high ceilings and sweeping views of Burj Khalifa will assure you of that. However, the dishes could have come straight out of a kitchen in Bangkok – albeit a five-star kitchen. Go all-out with the top set menu at Dhs888 per person and you will find there is no expense spared with the ingredients: a huge lobster comes out dissected, bearing its succulent meat, a scooped-out mud crab sits mightily on your table, two shrimps lean against each other, we imagine struggling to bear their hefty weight alone.

Seafood is indeed a highlight, the Oriental flavours marrying with the delicate flesh beautifully. It has to be said, though, that the staples of duck pancakes and beef in black bean sauce, while superior to their cheaper brethren, do not taste astoundingly so, plus the service is almost uncomfortably polite and, at times, overbearing. There are two other menus on offer, along with a standard à la carte. Go for a cheaper set menu and you will see a drop in the quality of ingredients, but the standard of cooking will remain the same. If you want to experience Hukama, we recommend you do it at this more manageable price.

By Time Out Dubai staff
Time Out Dubai, 28 March 2011

• Previous reviews
  • 22 March,2012- reviewed by Time Out Dubai staff
  • 12 September,2011- reviewed by Time Out Dubai staff
  • 07 April,2010- reviewed by Time Out Dubai staff
  • 24 March,2010- reviewed by Time Out Dubai staff
  • 17 March,2009- reviewed by Time Out Dubai staff
  • 17 November,2008- reviewed by Daisy Carrington

• Share | |
• E-mail:
• 
• Print:
• 

Time Out reviews restaurants anonymously and pays for meals. Of course, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or independence of user reviews.

User reviews:

Posted by: Jasmine Cosh on 18 May ' 12 at 13:50

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Romantic
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

As a lover of chinese food, this is undoubtedly the best chinese in town in every respect!

Service was fabulous, ambience and food superb!

Thoroughly recommend for a quality night out

Posted by: susan on 30 Mar ' 12 at 19:02

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Romantic
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

Posted by: susan on 30 Mar ' 12 at 19:02

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Romantic
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

Posted by: AmeriPair on 23 Mar ' 12 at 08:35

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Romantic
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

The wasabi shrimp appetizer is the single best dish in the restaurant and one of the best dishes in Dubai. Unfortunately you get only 4 fat prawns for 90 AED. It was so good we would pay it again though. We think at Hukama it is necessary to order the 5 courses in order to get a balanced meal. We only did 3 courses and did not manage to eat any vegetables. The soft shell crab was good but simply a bowl of fried crab. If we go again, we will make sure to go with a group and share dishes to get more variety or spend the extra money for more courses. The house white wine was surprisingly good. Order the wasabi prawns!

Posted by: Hana on 17 Feb ' 12 at 10:47

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Romantic
• Would you go back to this restaurant? No

We heard from our friend that its good but we were very disappointed.
-Very bad service.I did not see the waitress smiling at all. Seems like there were just doing their job to deliver the food,thats it.No smile,No explanation about the food.
We ordered a bottle of wine but no one to pour for us so we had to actually ask one waitress to pour for us.
Not friendly and they can not even speak good English.
No communication between them. When we were having our meal,in 10 minutes,3 waitresses came and ask if our meal was alright,which was annoying.

-Not worth the money.
We ordered deep fried soft shall crab which was 158 aed.We love soft shell crab and tried in so many restaurants but it was the worst and it was the most expensive.

Even we made a reservation,they took us to a table which was in the middle so we did not like.
There were so many empty tables so we asked if we can change but the chinese lady told us that its fully booked so we can not change.
When we said that we are not going to eat here,then the lady said that she can change the table for us.
We stayed in the restaurant till 10pm but still so many empty tables.

Really unhappy with everything.We will never come back.
Its really not worth the money at all.

If you want to eat nice chinese restaurant,go to Noble House in Raffles House.
Much better food,and much better service.

Posted by: karen on 10 Nov ' 11 at 12:10

OverallDecorService

AmbienceValue

• Best for: Romantic
• Would you go back to this restaurant? No

Truly bad food experience, spend Aed890 for 2. Not fine dining ! Seem like fast food concept, good thing is we still can have a nice views..and Beautiful hotel..

Posted by: Bahar on 03 Jan ' 11 at 11:18

• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

I had the best experience ever with them. We're invited some friends for our son's birthday, their service was great, their food was excellent, the place was really nice. I'll surely go there again.

Posted by: Xiaopa on 19 Oct ' 10 at 18:01

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Would you go back to this restaurant? No

Was invited there with a bunch of friends for the Friday brunch a few weeks ago. Seeing the surroundings I was expecting some excellent dim sum brunch. I knew it would be a la carte but thought that as we were a table of 15 there would be quite a good selection. Unfortunately, the menu is clear: "3 steamed dim sum per table, 2 fried ones per table". We had to argue for quite some time before they finally accepted to serve all the dim sums in smaller portions. Come on, what is this logic?? A table of 2 gets the same selection as a table of 12 or 20 persons? This is crap.

Quality-wise it was hit and miss... One or two steamed dim-sums were pretty ok while most were simply worse than what you can get at a street stand in China. Disappointing.

The next selection, namely the soups was also hit and miss: the duck option seemed pretty ok but I can tell that the crab and tofu soup contains definitely tofu. For the crab, I still haven't found any trace of it.

Main courses (what has a main course to do in a yum cha!?) were of same level, none of them having anything worth writing home about, maybe the chili fish was the best of the lot.

Desserts on the other hand were interesting (if you accept this on a dim-sum menu): finally something worth tasting! And a courageous move away from the traditional fried bananas and lychees! The red bean dessert as well as the sesame one were pretty good.

Overall, for this price, you can have much better dim sums options in Dubai, simply check this website.

Posted by: Daniel Westerholm on 13 Sep ' 10 at 07:55

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Would you go back to this restaurant? No

The entire experience was awful.

Firstly, Friday night 8pm and there were 3 covers in the entire restaurant. Alarm bells should have been ringing.
Set menus were very complicated and staff unable to communicate effectively or accurately.
Food was atrocious and completely overpriced. Dim Sum was bland. Drunk chicken must have been so drunk and also driving when it had been killed as the meat presnted was full of broken cartilige and grizzly muscle.
Half duck was anaemic to the extent of embarassment. Full of fat and decidedly dry and not tasty.
We cancelled our mains and promptly orered the bill and left.
Went home and ordered same fare from Soy for fraction of cost.

Not recommended.

Posted by: Rich on 09 Jun ' 10 at 06:54

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Romantic
• Would you go back to this restaurant? No

I came here on a strong recommendation from a friend. I brought three friends and I was very embarrassed for bringing them

The food here was just AWFUL. STAY AWAY! And its expensive. There's bad food in Dubai and then there's REALLY BAD food. THIS IS REALLY BAD FOOD.

We ordered the dim sum, the wasabi prawns, the wagyu beef pot, chicken, a fish dish, and a few other things (dont remember the names of all the dishes). The dim sum was ok. The wagyu beef (expensive!!) was dry, tough, and perhaps several weeks old. It was like eating leather. The chicken was awful too, very dry and the skin was tough and not tasty. The little chef appetizer, fried eggplant was ok too. The wasabi prawns were very tough. The reason the prawns were a good order is because we could use the wasabi sauce to cover the flavor of the other horribly-tasting food.

Stay away. save yourself the money

Posted by: David & Connie Briston on 14 May ' 10 at 14:38

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Brunch served
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

Being a Chinese woman and British man living in HK for over 45 years and 32 years respectively, we are spoiled, to certain extent fussy, with Chinese food, especially dim sum. However, we have to congratulate Hukama's chef. We like the dim sum much more than the main dishes. Perhaps it is because we are not big eaters and were already filled up with a complientary bun, 5 different kinds of dim sum (one each) plus the tasty crab meat sweet corn soup and delicicious seafood congee, we could hardly finish 4 main dishes + dessert. Anyway, we finally did it. The sago with mango sorbet is fantastic, must try !!
All the waitresses from Mainland China are really friendly, well-trained and speak very good English, and Mandarin of course.
Hukama offers lunch once a week, Fridays only, and we were lucky to pick this super value dim sum (Yum Cha) lunch at AED108/person, and we were still so full that we had to skip dinner .

Posted by: Thomas Norberg on 05 Mar ' 10 at 15:44

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

Super brunch! Make sure you request to sit outside.

Posted by: Thomas Norberg on 05 Mar ' 10 at 15:40

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Romantic
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

Hukama Restaurant was stunning. The restaurant has thought of every detail from the decor to service to the food. An out of this world experience.

Posted by: Kiki on 18 Feb ' 10 at 13:33

• Best for: Romantic
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

The interior design is very elegant and contemporary. Unlike other Chinese resturant in Dubai, the resturant downplayed its Chinese flavour. Spectecular view of the Burj and fountain! Service is excellent, almost all the staff are from mianland China, very well trained and very customer orientient. However, the food Hukama serves is not authentic Chinese food, it is westernized to satisfy western expats. The quality of food and presentation is excellent. However quantity is not so appealing. It is a good place to go for special occasion, not recommemded for family or close friend gathering.

Posted by: Lindsey on 15 Dec ' 09 at 04:42

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Romantic
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

Wonderful food. The flavors are rich in variety yet delicate. The decor is great, atmosphere great and service is perfect. A little expensive, but worth it!

Posted by: LMR on 25 Oct ' 09 at 10:54

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Would you go back to this restaurant? No

Very disappointing meal which was also very expensive. Food was avaerage but nothing special (apart from the wasabi prawns which were delicious).

Posted by: Sayso on 21 Jun ' 09 at 07:57

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Would you go back to this restaurant? No

Don't let the interior or the view of this restaurant fool you. If you've come for the food then I would advise that you save yourself the agony and a second meal afterwards! As a resident of Dubai , trying new restaurants is a weekly affair. Hakuma was by far one of the worst restaurants I have ever tried. There was zero excitment in all the dishes we ordered. Exotic names for dishes and interesting interior do not translate into good food. Be careful , it's NOT worth the money.

Posted by: h. a. on 31 Mar ' 09 at 21:12

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Would you go back to this restaurant? No

Entering the restaurant with my father, we were amazed by the interiors; the lighting and arcitechture were stunning.
However understanding the details of what was in the meals was difficult from the menu.
Regarding waiters' and waitresses' uniform, I didn't quite like it; the men looked like they were wearing pyjamas as my father made a joke about it, and the women's dresses were too revealing from the back as they were completely backless.
When it came to the food, I remember not liking what I ordered; the taste and texture were too peculiar. Also, the amount of food served per portion seemed very little compared to its price.
Leaving the restaurant, my father and I politely smiled at the waitresses saying good night, then smiling back at each other as we were in the elevator we knew that we wouldn't be coming here again any time soon.

Posted by: jimb on 27 Mar ' 09 at 13:02

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Business lunch
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

Posted by: lijun on 26 Mar ' 09 at 22:47

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

very good!the best chinese restaurant in UAE!

Posted by: alice 张 on 26 Mar ' 09 at 01:07

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Romantic
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

Posted by: 徐华荣 on 25 Mar ' 09 at 23:35

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Family friendly
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

Posted by: daiwei on 25 Mar ' 09 at 00:39

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Brunch served
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

Posted by: jacky on 24 Mar ' 09 at 23:30

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

Posted by: Eric on 24 Mar ' 09 at 23:24

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

hukama delicious food!
hukama more beautiful girl!
I usually patronize hukama!
hukama are warm home!
I love everything here!

Posted by: IRAN on 24 Mar ' 09 at 22:18

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Romantic
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

Posted by: JACK on 24 Mar ' 09 at 22:16

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Business lunch
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

BESTCHINESE RESTAURANT IN TOWN

Posted by: Weiwei Gan on 24 Mar ' 09 at 22:13

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Romantic
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

Posted by: zhangxianan on 24 Mar ' 09 at 22:11

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Romantic
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

Posted by: Yu Ning on 24 Mar ' 09 at 22:11

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

the best Chinese Restautant in Dubai I think~

Posted by: fanghao xu on 24 Mar ' 09 at 22:07

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Family friendly
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

best food best serves.can be best restaurant in Dubai

Posted by: huang bo on 24 Mar ' 09 at 21:55

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Family friendly
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

Posted by: Levanna on 24 Mar ' 09 at 21:49

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Romantic
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

good food and service

Posted by: Samantha on 24 Mar ' 09 at 21:46

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Romantic
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

everything is good

Posted by: Sulei Yin on 24 Mar ' 09 at 21:45

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Family friendly
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

I like the Chinese food,and the Hukama is my best choice.

Posted by: Ellie on 24 Mar ' 09 at 21:42

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Romantic
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

good food .good service

Posted by: summer on 24 Mar ' 09 at 21:39

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Romantic
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

I like it .very good viewand food.excellent service

Posted by: Dongliang Wang on 24 Mar ' 09 at 21:22

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Family friendly
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

food and service is very good

Posted by: chen xi juan on 24 Mar ' 09 at 21:10

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Romantic
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

I love the food and service in Hukama restaurant ,the food is very tasty and in excellent presentation ,the staff are very friendly and attentive ,will come back .

Posted by: Kayla Kay on 23 Mar ' 09 at 07:31

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Romantic
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

The interior design of the restaurant is amazing. Love it!

Posted by: Ernesto Holbox on 23 Mar ' 09 at 06:30

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

Very good restaurant.

Posted by: Gonzalo Rodriguez on 23 Mar ' 09 at 06:28

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Romantic
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

I love Chinese food and Hukama is the best in town. It is pricey but it is worthy

Posted by: jim on 21 Mar ' 09 at 14:03

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Would you go back to this restaurant? No

Posted by: Laura Pinto on 20 Mar ' 09 at 15:33

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

I love Hukama restaurant!! The best Chinese restaurant in Dubai!!