Just months after unveiling their list of the world’s 50 best lodgings, World’s Best — the authority that compiles annual rankings on various sectors of the hospitality industry — has returned with a fresh proclamation, this time shifting the attention to the best restaurants that exist in the Middle East and North Africa.
Compiled from the votes of hundreds of independent experts, this year’s list, which happens to be in its inaugural edition, cruises through cuisines and countries, featuring entries from 10 different nations across the different sub-regions that make up the Arab World. Out of the 50 handpicked eateries, half happen to be located in the UAE, making the tiny Gulf State the most represented in the list by a landslide, monopolizing the chart with a visibility that overshadows even long-established culinary capitals elsewhere. The top 10 reads as follows:
10. Moonrise; Dubai (UAE)
9. Manao; Dubai (UAE)
8. Jun’s; Dubai (UAE)
7. Sufret Maryam; Dubai (UAE)
6. Kuuru; Jeddah (KSA)
5. Beihouse; Beirut (LEB)
4. Orfali Bros; Dubai (UAE)
3. Trèsind Studio; Dubai (UAE)
2. Kinoya; Dubai (UAE)
1. Khufu’s; Giza (EGY)
Alongside the full ranking, a slew of independent awards were also handed out, rewarding the different institutions or individuals that push the region’s culinary ecosystem forward; whether through service, sustainability, design, or other. Across 10 different categories, the honors sketch a clearer picture of who is shaping the region’s dining culture beyond the top-50 list itself from La Grande Table Marocaine, which took home the Art of Hospitality Award, to Muna Haddad, who earned the Champions of Change Award, and Salam Dakkak, crowned with the Sevenrooms Icon Award.
Chef Himanshu Saini secured the Chefs’ Choice Award, while brothers Wassim and Omar Orfali were named MENA’s Best Pastry Chefs. Sara Aqel won MENA’s Best Female Chef, Dubai-based restaurant Middle Child was tagged One To Watch, Farmers received the Sustainable Restaurant Award, and Beihouse and Reif Kushiyaki Cairo closed the list as Highest New Entry and Highest Climber, respectively.