New Korean, Greek, Japanese and French restaurants to open in Dubai in 2022

RSVP, Hoe Lee Kow, Attiko and Kai Enzo are all on track to open this year

Korean dumplings at Hoe Lee Kow by chef Reif Othman. Photo: Panna Munyal / The National

Belcanto at Dubai Opera. Dinner-and-show concept 53 Dubai. Jun’s by award-winning Chinese chef by Kelvin Cheung. These are only three latest of many, many restaurants that have opened their doors in Dubai in 2022 alone.

The end of this year will also feature the much-anticipated and highly delayed launch of Atlantis The Royal, which will bring international names such as Heston Blumenthal, Jose Andres, Ariana Bundy and Mich Turner to Dubai.

In the meantime, here are four restaurants coming to Dubai to pencil into your culinary diaries.

RSVP

Opening: July 2022

The brainchild of Lyonese chef Aadel Ouaoua, RSVP will bring modern French fare to the hip Boxpark complex in Dubai next month. Ouaoua is known for his passion for Japanese techniques, which he marries with Mediterranean ingredients and French flair.

Case in point, at a four-hands dinner in Dubai last month, the chef served a carpaccio of sea bass with Stracciatella basilic oil and raspberry. This will be on the RSVP menu, although other dishes and details are yet to be revealed.

Attiko

Opening: September 2022

Translating as “the attic” from Greek, Attiko will be located on the sprawling rooftop of W Dubai — Mina Seyahi in Dubai Marina. The restaurant already has an outpost in the METT Hotel & Beach Resort Bodrum, with the same team bringing it to Dubai in September in collaboration with Sunset Hospitality (the group behind SushiSamba and L’Amo Bistro del Mare).

Attiko will serve classic and modern pan-Asian dishes, and is going for a high-energy resto-lounge vibe. Think sundowners, live entertainment and thumping music.

Initial renderings show the 600-square-metre indoor space and terrace decked out in lush foliage, floor-to-ceiling windows and chic minimalist furniture.

Hoe Lee Kow

Opening: September 2022

Reif Othman is best known for his Japanese Kushiyaki restaurant, which has outposts at Dar Wasl Mall, the Time Out Market Dubai and even in Cairo, Egypt. The prolific chef is now trying his hand at Korean barbecue with Hoe Lee Kow, which will open at the artsy Indigo Hotel Downtown in September.

The National got a taste of the menu last month, and we can attest that it’s masterful. The chef uses gochujang (Korean red chilli paste) to add zing to a dish of thinly sliced Kagoshima Wagyu with Oscietra caviar rice; and in what he calls KFO, or Korean fried octopus.

Another must-try are the mandu (Korean dumplings) served with Wagyu, and sizzling mozzarella and Monterey jack cheeses. The kimchi fried rice served with Wagyu ribs and a Japanese-style onsen egg is another highlight, as is the nori-wrapped tuna tartare that comes with kimchi-marinated melon.

Kai Enzo by Izu

Opening: Q4 2022

Another versatile Dubai chef, Izu Ani (of Gaia, Fika and La Maison Ani fame) recently took over food and beverage operations at a hotel. The Hyatt Centric Jumeirah, which opened on La Mer Beach this year, serves an Ani-approved a la carte breakfast (think fried eggs and foie gras with perigueux sauce) as well as giving guests and visitors two restaurant options: Eunoia by Carine, which opened last month, and Kai Enzo by Izu, which will open at the end of this year.

Kai Enzo will have Ani moving away from his preferred French-Mediterranean repertoire to a fusion of Japanese and Mediterranean fare.

Scroll through the gallery below to see restaurants that have opened in Dubai this year