Beyond Riyadh and Dubai: The Restaurants Shaping the Wider Gulf
Abu Dhabi, Jeddah, Doha, Kuwait City and Oman are building dining reputations of their own, often around a heritage site, a museum, a hotel or a festival.
The Gulf’s dining conversation tends to run through two cities. The 2026 awards cycle suggests that is changing. Abu Dhabi, Jeddah, Doha, Kuwait City and Salalah have each put forward restaurants or events that can stand beside the better-known names, and several have done so by anchoring a kitchen to something larger than itself.
Recognition is arriving city by city
Michelin has been the most visible driver. Its Abu Dhabi guide, which launched in 2023, grew from 42 recognised restaurants in its first edition to 56 in the fourth, announced in October 2025. Erth, Hakkasan and Talea by Antonio Guida each kept a star, though for the first time one restaurant lost its star, Khaleej Times noted. In Doha, the guide’s second edition on 10 December 2025 gave the city three one-star restaurants: Alba was promoted, and Jamavar and Idam by Alain Ducasse kept theirs. In February, the first Michelin selection for Saudi Arabia named 51 restaurants across Riyadh, Jeddah and AlUla, with 11 Bib Gourmand awards and 40 in the Selected category.
MENA’s 50 Best, which we cover in our awards report, adds a regional layer: Kuuru in Jeddah at No. 6, Idam at No. 44 and Cantina in Kuwait City at No. 18 were each named the best in their country.
Abu Dhabi: a heritage site and a palace
Erth sits within the Qasr Al Hosn cultural site, the old fort at the heart of the city. The Michelin Guide says its name means legacy and describes modern cooking rooted in Emirati flavours, cookware and ingredients from farms across the UAE, with a lamb machboos finished in a sweet-and-savoury sauce and a Liwa date batheeta for dessert. Talea, led by Antonio Guida, takes a different register: home-style Italian cooking inside the Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental. Hakkasan, under chef Lee Kok Hua, has held its star since the guide arrived in 2023.
Jeddah: seafood, Nikkei and a new season
Kuuru, part of the Leylaty Group, is led on the pass by Eddie Castro and Kenji Sarco. The 50 Best listing credits it with turning Jeddah’s access to fresh Red Sea seafood into Nikkei dishes such as wagyu tataki, ceviche and spicy passionfruit shrimp. Kaia, on the Corniche, began a new season on 1 October, serving small plates inspired by South America, the Mediterranean and the Red Sea coast. The first Saudi Michelin selection also recognised Jeddah’s Samia’s Dish and The Lucky Llama with Bib Gourmand awards, and gave its Service Award to Yaza in the city.
Doha: dining on the museum’s top floor
Idam occupies the fifth floor of the Museum of Islamic Art, in a space designed with Philippe Starck, and serves an eight-course tasting menu. The 50 Best page singles out a dish built on locally grown Qatari beetroot. Elsewhere in the Michelin selection, Berenjak Al Maha earned a Bib Gourmand, and Koo Madame won the Opening of the Year award.
Kuwait and Oman
In Kuwait City, Cantina, led by chef Basmah Marouf, serves Italian-led Mediterranean cooking, and Matbakhi, the list’s final entry at No. 50, offers modern Palestinian and Levantine dishes from Sawsan Da’ana.
Oman’s route is the festival. The Al Baleed Culinary Festival at Al Baleed Resort Salalah by Anantara is due to run throughout November, in its fifth edition, with Michelin-linked guests including Frankie Wong, the 2025 Michelin Guide Young Chef Award winner, on 12 and 13 November and Osman Sezener, of the one-star OD Urla in İzmir, on 24 November. An Omani heritage dinner on 7 November marks the resort’s 10th anniversary. In Muscat, the Oman Observer described a calendar of hotel collaborations last October, including a three-night guest menu pairing Talea’s chef Luigi Stinga with Essenza at the Mandarin Oriental, a sign that Gulf kitchens now travel between cities.
What the pattern says
The same recipe repeats. A heritage site, a museum, a hotel or a festival gives a restaurant a reason to be a destination, and an international guide gives it an audience. For a city-by-city view of where to go, read our five-city guide.
Sources & fact-check11
- Erth, Abu DhabiMichelin Guide, October 2025
- Talea by Antonio Guida, Abu DhabiMichelin Guide, October 2025
- Michelin Guide Abu Dhabi: 3 restaurants retain one-star; full list of winnersKhaleej Times, 23 October 2025
- One New Star Shines in the MICHELIN Guide Doha’s Second EditionAAP (MICHELIN Guide press release), 10 December 2025
- 3 Special Awards Announced at the MICHELIN Guide Restaurant Celebration Saudi Arabia 2026AAP (MICHELIN Guide press release), 14 February 2026
- KuuruMENA’s 50 Best Restaurants (the50.com), 2026
- IdamMENA’s 50 Best Restaurants (the50.com), 2026
- CantinaMENA’s 50 Best Restaurants (the50.com), 2026
- Kaia Jeddah | Now OpenKaia Jeddah, October 2026
- Al Baleed Culinary Festival 2026Al Baleed Resort Salalah by Anantara, 2026
- Why Oman is emerging as the Gulf’s quiet culinary powerOman Observer, 9 October 2025
Every name, number and date in this story was checked against the sources above before publication. Spotted something wrong? Tell us — we correct errors openly. See our editorial standards.
