Rave Dines: Al Hallab, Dubai Mall
by Khadija Husain
13 Apr 2026
I've eaten at Al Hallab a few times now. The first was almost accidental — I'd been at The Dubai Mall longer than planned, but since then, it has been my go-to place for Levantine food whenever I have been craving it.
The restaurant sits on the second floor near the famed waterfall. , and if there is one thing you must do, it is request the outdoor terrace. You eat with the Burj Khalifa directly in your eyeline. The Dubai Fountain runs every thirty minutes from dusk, and eating through a fountain show with a plate of mixed grill in front of you is, genuinely, one of those Dubai experiences that actually lives up to the idea of it.
The interior is warm without being heavy — dark wood, carved detailing, lanterns, enough space between tables that you're not conducting dinner in someone else's conversation. The service is unobtrusive in the best sense: they refill the bread without being asked, and they don't hover.
The atmosphere is cosmopolitan with family lunches, shoppers pausing in between, a group of people conducting business discussions, and tourists discovering Lebanese classics against the backdrop of Dubai’s skyline. Despite being set inside the city’s busiest retail landmark, the restaurant somehow preserves a calm that makes the entire experience feel considered rather than rushed.
Dining here begins the way the best Lebanese meals should, with a table transformed by mezze. Silken hummus, deeply smoky moutabal, vibrant fattoush salad, crisp sambousek and freshly baked bread arrive in generous succession, each plate designed for lingering conversation and slow indulgence. The Mohamara is worth ordering specifically, a Levantine spread of roasted red peppers blended with walnuts, breadcrumbs and Aleppo chilli, tangy and slightly sweet and unlike anything you'll find on most menus in this city.
The waraq enab, stuffed vine leaves, served at room temperature, deserve their own mention. Filled with rice, tomato, parsley and lemon, rolled tightly and cooked low and slow, they are the kind of thing that are easy to underestimate until you're eating your fourth one.
For mains, the mixed grill is what people come for, and it earns the reputation. Kafta, shish tawook and lamb chops arrive exactly as they should: the chicken remains juicy, the kafta beautifully yielding, and the lamb blushing pink at the centre.
And then comes the final flourish, at Al Hallab, sweets are not an afterthought but part of the brand’s DNA. The kunafa, a dish with Ottoman roots, is beautifully balanced, crisp at the top and base, with a molten centre of soft white cheese, soaked in rose water syrup and finished with crushed pistachios. At the same time, the baklava offers delicate layers of buttery filo, nuts and syrup, a reasonable way to finish the meal with cardamom coffee that follows.
The Al Hallab story starts, as so many great food stories do, with sweets. The original shop in Tripoli, the city in northern Lebanon, was founded in 1881 and became famous across the region for its pastries, its knafeh, and the kind of hospitality that turns a quick stop into a two-hour sit. Over generations, the brand evolved into a full-service restaurant.
By the time Ghassan Al Hallab brought it to the UAE in 2002, it carried not just recipes, but an entire philosophy of dining. Lebanese food is communal, generous, and deeply tied to the idea that feeding someone well is a form of respect. That philosophy is visible the moment you sit down.
Al Hallab
Location: Second floor, Dubai Mall
Opening hours: 11 AM- 11 PM
Call: +971 43308828