This was published 4 years ago
Best things to see, eat and do in Dubai: Expert expat travel tips
Burj Al Arab and Jumeirah Beach Hotel at sunset. Credit: iStock
TOM ARNEL
From Geelong to Vue de Monde, chef Tom Arnel flipped a coin for his next job: at the Fat Duck restaurant in Bray, UK – then the world's No. 1 – or to launch a franchise in the Middle East. He took the UAE option. In 2011, he opened his Tom & Serg café in Dubai, where he now has six restaurants, a bakery and a coffee roaster, tomandserg.com
SEE
Tom Arnel.
Dubai has the weather and the beaches to go with it, and the water is warm and clear. Sunset Beach is a long, sandy beach right beside Burj al Arab in central Dubai, which is easy to find. It has a small beach break, so I surf here a couple of times a month. We get waves here in Dubai mainly in the winter. I'm a true advocate of people coming to see how amazing the beaches are here.
DO
I surf a lot and play golf, and there are amazing golf courses here in Dubai. I play at Emirates Golf Club in the middle of Dubai, off Sheikh Zayed Road, and the Jumeriah Golf Estate: they're very high-quality courses, both have major tournaments here and are open to the public. I also snowboard in Ski Dubai, which is awesome, though we're so central, so I often fly to Germany, Switzerland and Georgia for snowboarding, dubaigolf.com, skidxb.com
EAT
I order the shio ramen at Daikan Ramen, in Jumeirah Lake Towers. It's the richness of their chicken-bone broth that makes it amazing. Of course, for a flat white and avo on sourdough, I go to Tom & Serg, jltdining.com
DRINK
I have three kids and I don't really drink like I used to, but I'll drink anything from the barman Jimmy Barratt at Zuma Dubai, which is a Japanese restaurant near the Burj Khalifa. Jimmy's an award-winning mixologist and I think one of the most creative guys – Fish Bag is his G&T: it's a plastic bag filled with G&T with fruit cut to the shape of a goldfish in it, all tied up with a straw zumarestaurant.com
AVOID
Stay away from Sheik Zayed Road at 7pm on Thursdays; it's crazy as everyone's heading to the next emirate, Sharjah. Peak hour finishes around 9pm. It's a busy place, and a late place, too.
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