Fusion-Indian restaurant Tresind Studio melds flavours such as confit duck, ash-roasted artichoke and black lime chutney. Photo: Tresind Studio
Fusion-Indian restaurant Tresind Studio melds flavours such as confit duck, ash-roasted artichoke and black lime chutney. Photo: Tresind Studio
Fusion-Indian restaurant Tresind Studio melds flavours such as confit duck, ash-roasted artichoke and black lime chutney. Photo: Tresind Studio
Fusion-Indian restaurant Tresind Studio melds flavours such as confit duck, ash-roasted artichoke and black lime chutney. Photo: Tresind Studio

Dubai's Tresind Studio and Orfali Bros on World's 50 Best Restaurants list again


Evelyn Lau
  • English
  • Arabic

Orfali Bros and Tresind Studio are among the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.

The annual list was revealed on Thursday night in Turin, Italy. Tresind Studio ranked at No 27 (down from No 13 last year), while Orfali Bros re-entered the list at No 37 (up from No 64), making them the only restaurants from the Middle East to make it into the prestigious ranking.

In May, fusion-Indian restaurant Tresind Studio earned its third Michelin star after what head chef Himanshu Saini described as a “marathon” effort by his team of “champions” over the past few years. The immersive dining restaurant opened in 2018.

Saini first made headlines in 2022, when Tresind Studio – which is located at St Regis Gardens on Palm Jumeirah – made it on to both the debut Mena's 50 Best list (coming in at No 4) and the Middle East's first Michelin Guide (earning one star, before another in 2023 and a third this year).

Orfali Bros – run by Syrian brothers Omar, Mohamad and Wassim – topped this year’s Mena’s 50 Best Restaurants, making it the third time in a row that the Michelin-starred restaurant has won the honour.

Located at Wasl 51 Mall in Jumeirah 1, Orfali Bros serves Mediterranean cuisine with a global influence. The creativity of its fusion fare is evident in dishes such as foie gras with quince vinegar and hazelnut miso; umami eclair with porcini emulsion, Marmite, cacao nibs and beef prosciutto; and adobo chicken wings.

Adobo chicken wings at Orfali Bros Bistro
Adobo chicken wings at Orfali Bros Bistro

Winners at World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2025

1. Maido, Lima, Peru

2. Asador Etxebarri, Atxondo, Spain

3. Quintonil, Mexico City

4. Diverxo, Madrid, Spain

5. Alchemist, Copenhagen, Denmark

6. Gaggan, Bangkok, Thailand

7. Sezanne, Tokyo, Japan

8. Table by Bruno Verjus, Paris, France

9. Kjolle, Lima, Peru

10. Don Julio, Buenos Aires, Argentina

11. Wing, Hong Kong

12. Atomix, New York City, US

13. Potong, Bangkok, Thailand (new entry)

14. Plentitude, Paris, France

15. Ikoyi, London, UK

16. Lido 84, Gardone Riviera, Italy

17. Sorn, Bangkok, Thailand

18. Reale, Castel di Sangro, Italy

19. The Chairman, Hong Kong

20. Atelier Moessmer Norbert Niederkofler, Brunco, Italy (new entry)

21. Narisawa, Tokyo, Japan

22. Suhring, Bangkok, Thailand

23. Borago, Santiago, Chile

24. Elkano, Gipuzkoa, Spain

25. Odette, Singapore

26. Merito, Lima, Peru (new entry)

27. Tresind Studio, Dubai, UAE

28. Lasai, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (new entry)

29. Mingles, Seoul, South Korea

30. Le Du, Bangkok, Thailand

31. Le Calandre, Rubano, Italy

32. Piazza Duomo, Alba, Italy

33. Steirereck, Vienna, Austria

34. Enigma, Barcelona, Spain (new entry)

35. Nusara, Bangkok, Thailand (new entry)

36. Florilege, Tokyo, Japan

37. Orfali Bros, Dubai, UAE

38. Frantzen, Stockholm, Sweden

39. Mayta, Lima, Peru

40. Septime, Paris, France

41. Kadeau, Copenhagen, Denmark (new entry)

42. Belcanto, Lisbon, Portugal

43. Uliassi, Senigallia, Italy

44. La Cime, Osaka, Japan

45. Arpege, Paris, France

46. Rosetta, Mexico City, Mexico

47. Vyn, Simrishamng, Sweden (new entry)

48. Celele, Cartagena, Colombia (new entry)

49. Kol, London, UK

50. Restaurant Jan, Munich, Germany (new entry)

About Karol Nawrocki

• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.

• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.

• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.

• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Most sought after workplace benefits in the UAE
  • Flexible work arrangements
  • Pension support
  • Mental well-being assistance
  • Insurance coverage for optical, dental, alternative medicine, cancer screening
  • Financial well-being incentives 
UK-EU trade at a glance

EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years

Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products

Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries

Smoother border management with use of e-gates

Cutting red tape on import and export of food

What is tokenisation?

Tokenisation refers to the issuance of a blockchain token, which represents a virtually tradable real, tangible asset. A tokenised asset is easily transferable, offers good liquidity, returns and is easily traded on the secondary markets. 

The biog

Age: 30

Position: Senior lab superintendent at Emirates Global Aluminium

Education: Bachelor of science in chemical engineering, post graduate degree in light metal reduction technology

Favourite part of job: The challenge, because it is challenging

Favourite quote: “Be the change you wish to see in the world,” Gandi

SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20M3%20MACBOOK%20AIR%20(13%22)
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Coming soon

Torno Subito by Massimo Bottura

When the W Dubai – The Palm hotel opens at the end of this year, one of the highlights will be Massimo Bottura’s new restaurant, Torno Subito, which promises “to take guests on a journey back to 1960s Italy”. It is the three Michelinstarred chef’s first venture in Dubai and should be every bit as ambitious as you would expect from the man whose restaurant in Italy, Osteria Francescana, was crowned number one in this year’s list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.

Akira Back Dubai

Another exciting opening at the W Dubai – The Palm hotel is South Korean chef Akira Back’s new restaurant, which will continue to showcase some of the finest Asian food in the world. Back, whose Seoul restaurant, Dosa, won a Michelin star last year, describes his menu as,  “an innovative Japanese cuisine prepared with a Korean accent”.

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal

The highly experimental chef, whose dishes are as much about spectacle as taste, opens his first restaurant in Dubai next year. Housed at The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will feature contemporary twists on recipes that date back to the 1300s, including goats’ milk cheesecake. Always remember with a Blumenthal dish: nothing is quite as it seems. 

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The%20specs
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The specs: 2018 Chevrolet Trailblazer

Price, base / as tested Dh99,000 / Dh132,000

Engine 3.6L V6

Transmission: Six-speed automatic

Power 275hp @ 6,000rpm

Torque 350Nm @ 3,700rpm

Fuel economy combined 12.2L / 100km

Tax authority targets shisha levy evasion

The Federal Tax Authority will track shisha imports with electronic markers to protect customers and ensure levies have been paid.

Khalid Ali Al Bustani, director of the tax authority, on Sunday said the move is to "prevent tax evasion and support the authority’s tax collection efforts".

The scheme’s first phase, which came into effect on 1st January, 2019, covers all types of imported and domestically produced and distributed cigarettes. As of May 1, importing any type of cigarettes without the digital marks will be prohibited.

He said the latest phase will see imported and locally produced shisha tobacco tracked by the final quarter of this year.

"The FTA also maintains ongoing communication with concerned companies, to help them adapt their systems to meet our requirements and coordinate between all parties involved," he said.

As with cigarettes, shisha was hit with a 100 per cent tax in October 2017, though manufacturers and cafes absorbed some of the costs to prevent prices doubling.

Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
  • Priority access to new homes from participating developers
  • Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
  • Flexible payment plans from developers
  • Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
  • DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
F1 The Movie

Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem

Director: Joseph Kosinski

Rating: 4/5

Six large-scale objects on show
  • Concrete wall and windows from the now demolished Robin Hood Gardens housing estate in Poplar
  • The 17th Century Agra Colonnade, from the bathhouse of the fort of Agra in India
  • A stagecloth for The Ballet Russes that is 10m high – the largest Picasso in the world
  • Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1930s Kaufmann Office
  • A full-scale Frankfurt Kitchen designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, which transformed kitchen design in the 20th century
  • Torrijos Palace dome
Living in...

This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home. 

Green ambitions
  • Trees: 1,500 to be planted, replacing 300 felled ones, with veteran oaks protected
  • Lake: Brown's centrepiece to be cleaned of silt that makes it as shallow as 2.5cm
  • Biodiversity: Bat cave to be added and habitats designed for kingfishers and little grebes
  • Flood risk: Longer grass, deeper lake, restored ponds and absorbent paths all meant to siphon off water 
The smuggler

Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple. 
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.

Khouli conviction

Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.

For sale

A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.

- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico

- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000

- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950

Tearful appearance

Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday. 

Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow. 

She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.

A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.

Jawan
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Updated: June 20, 2025, 5:25 AM`