Bebabel

If you think you won’t find brilliant food in a shopping mall, you’ve not been in Dubai long enough. Or, possibly, at all.

A word to the unenlightened – there’s an abundance of it. And this new arrival at The Dubai Mall’s mind-bogglingly enormous  (and extremely culinarily competitive) Fashion Avenue expansion only bolsters the trend.

From the team behind Babel, the superb seafood restaurant in Beirut’s Zaitunay Bay (of which there is now a branch in Dubai’s La Mer), comes Bebabel.

Something of a Babel-lite, this is a more casual outfit, though still chic inside and out.

It’s absolutely fitting for shuffling into for a frazzled refuel once your credit card is as weary as your feet, and comes without Babel’s focus on seafood. (This one is also unlicensed.)

Take a seat – if you can get one – on the outdoor balcony for prime views of The Dubai Fountain and the shuffling, gawping masses, glowing smartphones aloft for a snap of the Burj Khalifa.

Service isn’t exactly charming – but at least the food makes up for it. In spades.

Beautiful fresh salads, including a particularly zingy fattoush, tangy stuffed vine leaves, crunchy flatbreads topped with meat or cheese (or both, or neither), and sublime grills. Flame-cooked meats ooze with juices, each marinade singing with classic, warming Middle Eastern spices.

Andrea Bocelli mightbe telling you it’s Time to Say Goodbye over the spray of the Fountain, but you won’t share the sentiment here.

Try it now.

WHAT IS IT...
Fresh, tasty Lebanese food straight from Beirut

WHY GO...
For a Levantinefeast overlooking The Dubai Fountain