Dubai Summer Restaurant Week is scheduled from July 13 to August 2, 2026, featuring more than 50 restaurants offering two-course lunch at AED 80 and three-course dinner for AED 120. It falls under Dubai Summer Surprises, with all reservations being made via Careem, DineOut with a one-time refundable reservation fee of AED 1. I've spent the past two weeks working through the list, and these ten are the ones actually worth putting in your calendar before the window closes.
If you've done Dubai Restaurant Week in the cooler months, forget what you know about the pricing. This is the summer edition, and it's noticeably cheaper: the spring event ran diners AED 125 for lunch and AED 250 for dinner, so at AED 80/AED 120 this is close to half price at some genuinely serious kitchens. The trade-off is that you're eating indoors in August heat, which honestly isn't a trade-off at all.
How Dubai Summer Restaurant Week actually works
Booking is exclusively through the Careem app. Open Careem DineOut, tap the Summer Restaurant Week tile, pick a restaurant, and you'll see the exact festival menu before you commit, no guessing what "set menu" means once you sit down. You can either reserve for AED1 and pay the bill in person, or pay in advance through the app if you'd rather not think about it at the table.
A few things I'd flag from actually using it:
• Book at least 2-3 days in advance for any one of these restaurants. Those located in Palm Jumeirah and Downtown are quick to book out their best slots for dinner from 8 pm - 9.30 pm. • The menu is set and not "up to". You will receive the actual starters, main courses, and desserts exactly as specified in the app, often with 2 or 3 options per course. • Drink service is excluded from the deal, unless specifically stated.
The 10 Best Summer Restruant Week Menus to Book
1. Leña, Palm Jumeirah
Leña is chef Dani Garcia's fire-and-charcoal steakhouse, and it's usually a splurge. During Summer Restaurant Week, you're getting the same open-flame cooking and Palm Jumeirah setting for AED120 at dinner. This is the one I'd book first if you only do one restaurant off this list. It's the biggest gap between what you'd normally pay and what you're paying now.
Good for: date nights, steak lovers, anyone who wants the "expensive night out" feeling without the expensive bill.
2. Yù & Mì, Mandarin Oriental Downtown
Yù & Mì is located at the Mandarin Oriental at Downtown Dubai and specializes in modern Asian cuisine with elegance. This is one of the newest restaurants offering fine dining Asian cuisine in the city, while the Downtown setting makes it easy to follow up your meal with either a Boulevard stroll or Burj Khalifa view.
Good for: tourists staying Downtown, dining out for special occasions, and customers looking for a picturesque interior.
3. Fish Beach Taverna, The Westin
Fish Beach Taverna is a beachside restaurant located in The Westin and specializes in coastal dishes, including grilled fish and salads. This is one of the most promising beachside restaurants on the list considering the current season.
Good for: groups, birthdays, those preferring seafood to beef.
4. Duo Gastrobar, Dubai Creek Harbour
The cuisine served in Duo Gastrobar combines elements of the European, Mediterranean and Asian kitchens with an emphasis on using contemporary European techniques. Located in Creek Harbour (as opposed to Downtown or Marina), this is the kind of place you might discover when you're not satisfied with your usual dining choices.
Good for: people who have already "visited" all the obvious places, weeknight dinners for a change of scene.
5. Brasserie Uptown
Brasserie Uptown offers a traditional French bistro lunch menu for AED 80: chicken liver mousse, egg mimosa or tomato soup to start; followed by baby chicken, halibut, croque-monsieur or pistachio-cream spaghetti, and then finishing up with apple crumble or chocolate brownie. You will find it difficult to find a similar two-course menu in Uptown Dubai.
Good for: business lunch, alone, French bistro food without French bistro prices.
6. Lavang, Downtown Dubai
Lavang's dinner menu opens with a choice of mushroom galouti kebab or lamb chops done in a Kuwaiti-kebab-shop style, moves into mutton rogan josh or tawa chicken, and closes with a rasmalai tiramisu. The lunch swaps in malai broccoli, butter chicken, and a pistachio-avocado kulfi. It's more inventive than most set-menu Indian food in the city.
Good for: anyone who thinks they've had enough butter chicken and wants to be proven wrong.
7. Varq, Palm Jumeirah
Varq's dinner set is entirely vegetarian. A burnt sweet potato chaat or palak patta chaat to start, paneer lababdar or a nawabi tarkari biryani for the main, and gulab jamun or tilla kulfi to finish. It's the standout choice if you're dining with a vegetarian in the group and don't want to feel like an afterthought was made for them.
8. India Palace
India Palace's set menu starts with Kashmiri dynamite prawns or Amritsari fish fingers, moves into butter chicken or tandoori prawns makhani, and ends with guava kulfi or a chocolate lava cake. Lunch swaps in a spicier gunpowder chicken starter. It's dependable, generous, and exactly what you want from a North Indian set menu.
Good for: larger groups, first-timers to Indian cuisine in Dubai, reliable weeknight bookings.
9. Purani Dilli, Sheikh Zayed Road
The menu of Purani Dilli is a collection of the traditional old Delhi street food and household recipes where there is an option for either bhutte ki tikki or mutton galawati kebab for appetizer, followed by palak paneer or mutton rogan josh as the main course and ending with cardamom rasmalai. It should be noted that on Careem, the mentioned menu is found under Sheikh Zayed Road restaurant rather than DIFC.
Good for: everyone who is looking for a comfort food experience instead of fancy meals; smaller parties.
10. Shamiana
Shamiana provides a dinner set from tandoori chicken tikka or bhatti paneer, followed by dal makhani or butter chicken, ending with either gulab jamun cheesecake or crème brûlée. The combination of desserts is noteworthy since there is an unusual fusion along with the traditional dessert on the menu, making it unique among other options that are predictable.
My pick, if you only book one
Leña. The gap between what a Dani Garcia steakhouse normally costs and what you're paying during Summer Restaurant Week is bigger here than almost anywhere else on this list, and the quality doesn't get scaled down to match the price. I'd book the 8pm slot to avoid the last-minute cancellation scramble that tends to hit the earlier seating.
