A buzz, then another, and another. I’m half asleep when an unfamiliar alarm jolts me awake, its vibration insistent against the bedside table.
This isn’t my usual alarm. The last thing I remember is falling asleep to the news: tensions between the US and Iran were escalating once again, with all the sadly familiar language of strikes and retaliation and what-might-happen-next.
What on earth might this alarm be warning about? The trill once more. It isn’t an alarm at all. It’s my grandmother, calling. Repeatedly.
She has also seen the news, and is, perhaps understandably, concerned about me here in Dubai, in the middle of what, from the outside, looks like a region on (or over) the brink.
Yet standing beneath the gleaming glass and steel skyline later that morning, with the traffic streaming past and the city carrying on with its usual polished efficiency, there’s no hint of anything out of the ordinary.
The planes are still soaring in from across the globe. The hotels are humming with guests. The flamboyant synchronised LED and laser displays continue each evening illuminating the Burj Khalifa, the world’s highest building (at 829.8 metres).
In Dubai, the show goes on. Reports of its demise, to paraphrase Mark Twain, are greatly exaggerated.
The emirate, one of seven within the UAE, remains very much open for business – as I’ve seen in the days since arriving, shortly after the UK’s Foreign Office lifted its ‘do not travel’ advice that was originally issued in February following one-off drone attacks on the Fairmont The Palm Hotel and Dubai International Airport. In the event, one local worker was tragically killed by falling missile debris.
Hotels such as W Dubai – Mina Seyahi overlook the city’s glitzy glass-and-steel skyline
Discovering a different side to Dubai: The Emirati city has plenty of culture if you look for it
Wooden boats can ferry you between parts of the city, taking you to the more historic side
And pent-up demand is clearly there. Emirates, Dubai’s flag carrier, says forward bookings leapt 16 per cent when restrictions were eased, while it reports ‘sustained demand’ for the upcoming winter sun period.
It’s been a tricky time for the airline. In June, in a bid to drum up sales, Emirates became the first airline to offer comprehensive travel insurance to all customers, including medical and conflict-related cover.
It was a bold move, designed to provide peace of mind for those determined to travel despite the previous Foreign Office warning.
‘It has been safe here, absolutely,’ says Haroon, my taxi driver from the airport. He’s lived in Dubai for ten years. ‘It’s been so quiet because everyone sees this area as the same place as Iran but the region is so big. You are here now and you would never know there had been fighting.’
Arriving late, my first meal is downtown at ‘warehouse chic’ Time Out Market, a lively food hall inside Souk Al Bahar, across the lake from the Burj Khalifa. And it is my first lesson that nothing appears to have dulled the pulse of Dubai.
Here, I struggle to find a space at the communal tables busy with diners tucking into dim sum, tacos, pad and 18-hour smoked brisket.
To cut through the humidity – sticky, even at 9.30pm – I gulp down pints of lager (which, wouldn’t you know it, cost less than in London).
That night, and throughout my visit, I cross paths with few visitors from the UK and Europe. It is, after all, the hot season with daily highs of reaching 40C (104F) and higher. The prime tourist period usually kicks in from November, when temperatures dip.
Dubai’s polished image – sparkling skyscrapers, designer boutiques and conspicuous wealth – can feel gaudy at first. There are only so many air-conditioned malls and influencers posing for the perfect shot before the sheen starts to wear thin.
Yet, if you dig around, another Dubai comes into focus, a real place beneath the gloss.
Dubai Creek is a 15-minute drive from downtown, a saltwater inlet that was for generations the city’s commercial lifeline. This was where pearl divers and merchants with Persia, East Africa and India traded.
It divides the city in two – Deira and Bur Dubai – and for one dirham (20 pence), wooden boats known as ‘abras’ ferry you between them.
On the latter side, Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood provides the clearest sense of the past. Narrow alleyways weave between wind towers and sand-coloured buildings, their shadows offering respite from the baking sunshine.
Much here was reconstructed as part of an effort to preserve what remained of ‘old Dubai’, part of a campaign championed by the then Prince Charles after his visit in 1989. Britain fostered interests in Dubai and the region from around 1820 up until the formation of the UAE in 1971, so our national connections run deep.
Dubai Creek has traditional architecture and a more humble vibe, says Ben, and leads through to the Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood
The city has plenty of quieter quarters to explore beyond the high-rise buildings too
Alserkal Avenue is Dubai’s answer to early-2000s Shoreditch, an arts and culture hub
On board an abra, the noise of the city fades and your view is mainly old warehouses and minarets. Hopping off, away from the tourist trail, I stop on a whim to get my beard trimmed. The price? £3.60 (it might be five times that back home).
A dozen miles away on the other side of town, Alserkal Avenue catches you off guard for different reasons. Within the industrial Al Quoz area, this patchwork of warehouses and former factories has over the past couple of decades morphed into Dubai’s answer to early-2000s Shoreditch.
There are street food trucks and slick gyms offering Pilates and spin classes. You can pop into slick contemporary galleries championing Gulf-based artists. Artisan gelato and pastries are for sale in little hipster cafes. Gems such as Nightjar serve potent coffee. Meanwhile, Cinema Akil is a wonderful independent picturehouse, where retro film posters on the walls give a jolt of technicolour.
Inside the many creative spaces, I loved British-born Tunji Adeniyi-Jones’s oil paintings of vibrant orange and blue in the Efie Gallery (which is also home to a very cool Seventies-style space with a collection of more than 2,000 records – groovy).
In a vintage book shop, I pick up a first edition of the original Lonely Planet guide to Dubai, published in 2000. It’s easy to forget how new tourism is to the emirate.
Dubai’s food scene offers up yet more surprises. I expected soulless celebrity-chef outposts. Instead, the city’s restaurants mirror its population: nine in ten residents were born overseas, and food is gloriously international.
For high-end dining, the exquisite Michelin-starred Orfali Bros is a must. From its two-storey open kitchen come dishes rooted in the founders’ Syrian heritage, but deftly reimagined.
An eclair with the most delicate pastry is filled with umami-rich porcini cream. The ‘corn bomb’ is another highlight: a single bite combining sweetcorn ‘custard’, Parmesan and huitlacoche (a prized Mexican delicacy), which explode in a salty-sweet burst. The tasting menus are a reasonable £60, each course optionally paired with quirky non-alcoholic drinks.
Taqueria El Primo is Ben’s top choice for Mexican food in Dubai. The modern Indian cuisine at Tresind, right, is also delicious, with an experimental play on traditional dishes
Michelin-starred Orfali Bros is a must – try the ‘corn bomb’, a dish that includes huitlacoche, a sweetcorn fungus that’s regarded as a delicacy in Mexico
At Tresind, which bills itself as ‘modern Indian’, flavours are coaxed into unfamiliar forms: a ‘cannoli’ stuffed with aloo matar (peas and potatoes), or soft wagyu beef dipped in ‘Indian chimichurri’ – much like the Argentine original but laced with coriander and cumin.
My favourite place is Taqueria El Primo, opened by Mexico-born Jonathan Colin in December. It regularly sees hour-long queues for its tacos and tostadas.
It’s laid back, loud and – above all – delicious. Try the achiote-marinated chicken tacos with onion, pineapple and avocado sauce (£5). Just make sure you save room for soft-serve ice creams, flavoured with Mexican vanilla.
If you want to get to know the city by its dishes, I recommend Frying Pan Adventures food tours. The company was started by two sisters, who lead small walking groups through the lesser-visited parts of the city. Over Iraqi kebabs and then sweet baklava, Farida (one of the founders) shared her favourite restaurants and enthused about the diverse cuisines to be found in Dubai.
Beyond hoping for tourists to return, people here aren’t overthinking geopolitics.
Dubai is very much alive – and, I can report to my grandmother, so am I.
TRAVEL FACTS
Emirates operates 140 weekly flights from the UK to Dubai; Heathrow departures from £585.
Doubles at Vida Dubai Mall, with central location, sleek modern rooms and a large pool facing the Burj Khalifa, from £142 (vidahotels.com); doubles at W Dubai – Mina Seyahi, features design-led rooms, a fun waterpark and shoreside Fish Beach Taverna among its seven restruants and bars, from £259 (marriott.com). For more information: visitdubai.com.
