Updated 9 October 2026
Dubai Festival City is more than the mall’s restaurant directory. It also has waterfront dining at Festival Bay, the Market Island food hall and restaurants inside the neighbouring hotels. This is a shortlist of sit-down restaurants inside the mall and hotel dining rooms nearby; it does not try to list every food-court counter, Festival Bay outlet or Market Island vendor. The picks are grouped by setting and the kind of meal they do well, not ranked from first to last.
An AED65 weekday lunch, a buffet and a fixed-price five-course dinner answer different budgets and occasions. We’ve chosen venues with a distinct reason to go, and give a current price only when an official menu or offer publishes one. Several mall restaurants do not show current dine-in prices online, so we have left those prices open rather than borrow delivery listings or old seasonal menus. Hotel offers below are different meal formats, not like-for-like price comparisons.
Inside Dubai Festival City Mall
Al Fanar — Emirati dishes in a waterfront setting
For a meal rooted in the UAE rather than another international menu, start with Al Fanar. The mall places it beside the waterfront promenade, and its menu centres on Emirati cooking: think harees, luqaimat, local seafood and a traditional breakfast tray. It is the most direct pick here for visitors who want local dishes in a setting designed around Old Dubai.
Price: Current dine-in prices were not published on the official branch page reviewed. Check the live menu or ask the restaurant before visiting; an older breakfast-tray offer is not a current price guide. Al Fanar’s Festival City branch · Mall listing
Din Tai Fung — Xiaolongbao and dumplings made for sharing
Choose Din Tai Fung when the table wants to order across a few plates. Its signature xiao long bao are folded by hand, while the Festival City listing also highlights shrimp lettuce wraps and garlic egg fried rice. That gives the meal a natural rhythm: dumplings first, then a couple of larger dishes for the middle of the table.
Price: The current UAE menu lists dishes but does not expose AED prices on the official page reviewed. Festival City listing · UAE menu
Eataly — Italian dinner with a food-market detour
Eataly suits a group that cannot agree on just one Italian format. It combines sit-down dining with counters for fresh pasta, stone-baked pizza, bakery, gelato and Italian products to take home. It is less a single-speciality restaurant than an easy place to let the table split between a full dinner and a lighter stop.
Price: The accessible official pages reviewed did not show a current Festival City dine-in price list. Mall listing · Eataly Arabia
Haidilao — Hotpot that turns dinner into the activity
At Haidilao, dinner happens around the pot: guests cook their chosen ingredients at the table, and the mall says the branch stages hand-pulled noodle demonstrations and Sichuan face-changing performances. It is a good fit for a lively group that wants a long, participatory meal rather than a quick order-and-go stop. The mall listing gives performances as Monday–Friday, 7:30–8pm; Saturdays and Sundays, 2–2:30pm, 7–7:30pm and 9–9:30pm. Confirm the schedule before planning around a show.
Price: No current branch-level AED menu prices were available on the official listing reviewed. Haidilao at Festival City Mall
Shvili — Georgian khinkali, khachapuri and room for children
Shvili brings Georgian dishes—khinkali, khachapuri and lamb chops—to the mall, with an outdoor terrace and a children’s playroom noted by the mall. That combination makes it one of the more useful choices for a family meal when adults want a proper sit-down dinner and younger guests need more than a chair and a colouring sheet.
Price: The operator links a Festival City menu, but current prices could not be verified from the accessible official pages. Mall listing · Shvili menu links
Hard Rock Cafe — Burgers, music and a terrace
Hard Rock Cafe gives the mall list an American, music-led option: its Festival City branch has a stage, terrace, VIP room and Rock Shop alongside the familiar burger-and-mains menu. It works when dinner is part of a bigger night out or when the group wants a livelier room than a conventional restaurant.
Price: Current à-la-carte prices for the Dubai branch were not available on the official pages reviewed. An older set-menu PDF has unclear validity, so it is not used here. Festival City listing · Hard Rock Cafe Dubai
At the Festival City hotels
These venues sit in the neighbouring hotels, rather than inside the mall. The shortlist includes the InterContinental, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn & Suites, so the hotel section offers more than one style of dining and more than one hotel setting.
Belgian Café — Belgian mussels, frites and live sport
At Crowne Plaza Dubai Festival City, Belgian Café pairs mussels and frites with Belgian beer and a terrace overlooking Dubai Creek. It is the pub-style pick for a match, a long lunch or a relaxed evening; the hotel lists live sport screenings and a daily happy hour. Its weekday business lunch is AED85, Monday to Thursday, 1–4pm, for one bite, one main, a soft drink, water and a hot drink. The happy hour lists draught beer at AED40 a pint, daily 4–7pm.
Belgian Café menu and current offers
Joe’s Backyard — Rooftop barbecue above the city
Joe’s Backyard sits on the 19th floor of Holiday Inn & Suites Dubai Festival City, with a rooftop terrace, a 2.5-metre grill and views of the skyline and Burj Khalifa. Choose it for barbecue-focused dining above the city; this is a different mood from the Creek-side hotel dining rooms. The hotel links current menus and brunches, but the menu PDFs could not be opened during this review, so no price is quoted.
Joe’s Backyard at Holiday Inn & Suites · Restaurant and menu links
Anise — A buffet when the group wants range
Anise, at InterContinental Dubai Festival City, is the clearest choice for a mixed group that would rather browse several cuisines than settle on one. Its eight live-cooking stations span international flavours, and the hotel lists Creek views as part of the restaurant setting.
Current buffet prices are AED145 per adult for breakfast and AED199 per adult for either lunch or dinner. Anise’s restaurant page says breakfast includes still water, juices, tea and coffee; the hotel’s offers page also lists soft drinks for the same breakfast price. Children aged 6–12 are AED50, and children under six eat complimentary. Lunch and dinner include still water, juices and soft drinks, with a two-hour house-beverage add-on at AED99 per person. Children aged 6–12 are AED100 for lunch and dinner; under sixes eat complimentary. Breakfast runs 6:30–10:30am on weekdays and to 11am on weekends; lunch is 12:30–3:30pm weekdays and 1–4pm weekends; dinner is 6:30–11pm.
Anise menu, prices and service times
Karam Al Bahr — Lebanese seafood with a weekday lunch price
Karam Al Bahr is the hotel’s Lebanese seafood choice, set on the promenade level with a Creek-side terrace. For a lower-commitment visit, its current hotel offer is a weekday business lunch at AED65 per person, Monday to Friday, 12:30–4pm. The offer describes a choice of mixed grill, chicken or fish with starters and sides; confirm the day’s choices and inclusions when reserving.
This is a specific weekday lunch package, not a guide to the à-la-carte bill or the price of a seafood dinner. Restaurant page · Current hotel offers
Pierre’s TT — French cooking for a planned occasion
Pierre’s TT is the hotel choice for a more structured dinner. The restaurant pairs modern French cooking with a waterfront setting; the hotel describes it as a Pierre Gagnaire restaurant. Its current Menu Découverte offer is AED590 for five courses, against a listed usual price of AED890, served Tuesday to Saturday from 6:30–9:30pm. The menu and discount are time-sensitive, so confirm that the offer is still running before booking.
The AED590 is for that five-course menu; it is not a typical à-la-carte spend. The offer page does not state whether drinks are included, so check when booking. Pierre’s TT · Current offers
Which one fits your plans?
- For Emirati food: Al Fanar is the clearest match.
- For a shared table: Din Tai Fung’s dumplings or Haidilao’s hotpot make ordering part of the meal.
- For a family: Shvili has the mall-listed playroom; Eataly offers the broadest range of formats in one stop.
- For a buffet with a published rate: Anise lays out breakfast, lunch and dinner prices by adult, with child rates and drink inclusions.
- For a weekday lunch under AED100: Karam Al Bahr’s AED65 business lunch is the most specific current hotel offer in this guide.
- For a set-menu celebration: Pierre’s TT gives the clearest five-course price, provided the offer is still live on your date.
- For a pub lunch or live sport: Belgian Café has a defined AED85 weekday lunch and lists daily screenings.
- For rooftop barbecue: Joe’s Backyard is on the Holiday Inn’s 19th floor, but confirm the current menu and price before you go.
If the exact spend matters most, call the mall restaurants for their current dine-in menu before setting out: the official pages reviewed do not publish comparable à-la-carte totals. Festival Bay and Market Island are separate dining choices with many outlets, rather than single restaurants, so check the mall’s current directory if you want a food hall or a waterfront row of cafés instead. For Anise, Karam Al Bahr, Pierre’s TT and Belgian Café, check the booking date and offer terms directly with the hotel or restaurant.
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