Alaya is a restaurant in Dubai created by chef Izu Ani and Evgeny Kuzin - a pair of hospitality professionals who founded Alaya to shine a light on the diverse cuisine of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East.
You’ll find the restaurant in the DIFC, where Alaya’s foliage-laden, green-tiled entrance stands out. Inside the restaurant is equally chic, integrating many details of the Eastern Mediterranean culture into the design, from colour palettes to handcrafted ceramic tiles and traditional tapestries. The focus of the room is an elegant marble bar, which has gold accenting as well as a gorgeous decorative light installation overhead, whilst high ceilings and white-tablecloths make the restaurant look grand and palatial.
The menu concept draws inspiration from the wide spectrum of dishes across the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East, merging a variety of herbs and spices from both East and West and translating that into a contemporary menu. The menu includes mezze dishes like baba ghanoush, vegetable dolma, muhammara, fried calamari and grilled octopus. Main dishes include rotisserie meats - Wagyu striploin, Wagyu tenderloin and milk-fed lamb, as well as some dry-aged meats available on request. There are also main dishes like seafood or short rib manti dumplings, whole-grilled seabass, white truffle freekeh and Wagyu shish, available with sides like cinnamon rice and baked potatoes.
Save room for desserts too, which range from an apricot tart with vanilla ice cream to kunafa, and pistachio ice cream with pomegranate seeds.
There’s also a cocktail list which takes the same east meets west approach as the food. Try the Byblos Sling (vodka, tarragon, vermouth and soda) or the Alexandra Fizz (rum, cinnamon and sour apple).