UAE chefs are reinventing Emirati classics for fine dining, with Murmur in Sharjah turning traditional machboos into crisp arancini while other restaurants modernise thareed, harees and local desserts.
SHARJAH: Emirati cuisine is being reimagined for a new generation of diners, with chefs across the UAE transforming traditional dishes into modern fine-dining creations while trying to preserve the flavours that make them recognisably local.
At Murmur, a recently opened Emirati-owned fine-dining restaurant in Sharjah’s Aljada district, one of the standout dishes is machboos arancini. The concept takes machboos, the traditional rice dish cooked with meat or seafood and aromatic spices, and reshapes it into crisp, bite-sized arancini.
Tradition meets contemporary technique
Murmur founder Saeed AlGaz said the idea was to retain the identity of machboos while presenting it in a format more familiar to international diners. The restaurant’s wider menu follows the same approach, incorporating Gulf flavours into globally recognisable dishes.
Other examples include saffron in a lobster roll, karak-inspired San Sebastian cheesecake and a coconut sponge dessert with sago pearls that draws on the UAE’s pearling heritage.
The restaurant spent around 18 months developing its menu, reflecting a broader effort among UAE chefs to move Emirati food into more experimental and upscale settings.
A wider movement across the UAE
The trend is not limited to Sharjah. At Michelin-listed Gerbou in Dubai, chefs have experimented with machboos as a tart and considered adapting it into risotto, while traditional dishes such as margooga have also been reworked with new textures and presentation styles.
In Abu Dhabi, Erth, which became the world’s first Emirati restaurant to earn a Michelin star in 2023, has also modernised local classics while relying on ingredients such as bezar spice and dried lime to maintain familiar flavour profiles. The Michelin Guide describes Erth as a restaurant that bridges tradition and modern culinary technique.
Meanwhile, newer concepts such as Jaww Spot have embraced what they call “neo-Emirati” cuisine, turning harees into croquettes and using camel meat in vol-au-vent pastries.
Impact to expect
The growing fine-dining treatment of Emirati cuisine could give traditional dishes greater international visibility while encouraging more homegrown restaurants to experiment with presentation, technique and global influences.
