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Top 10 Food Trends Taking Over Dubai’s Scene In 2026!
Look, if you haven’t updated your Instagram feed with a cheese-pull or a jiggly dessert yet, is it even 2026?
Dubai’s food scene has officially entered its “Sensory/Sustainability Era,” and everyone’s here for it
From Global Village’s latest viral stalls to DIY cheesecakes that’ll make your kitchen smell like a boutique bakery, the city is eating GOOOOD right now.
Here are the 10 absolute biggest food trends taking over the FYP and probably your appetite’s this year!
1) 2-Ingredient Viral Japanese Yoghurt Cheesecake
This is not your 5-min hacks that makes you run to the store 500 times. It ACTUALLY has two ingredients – Lotus biscoffs and greek yoghurt – and is worth the hype (tried and tested by yours truly)
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Mo Vlogs Just Challenged Will Smith For A Chance To Make A Movie With Him!TikTok has always made life easier and this time it’s giving you a viral cheesecake recipe that takes zero effort and maximum delish. The trend of the moment is lazily putting in a bunch of biscoffs/digestive bu=iscuits into Greek yogurt and leaving it in the fridge for two hours.
That’s it, now give yourself a *chefs kiss*
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2) Korea’s “Dujjonku” or THE Dubai Chewy Cookie
Pinterest got everyone hooked to the chewy cookie, and now Dubai’s bringing to you their very own version. Aand you’ll not regret it. I mean, trends catch along for a reason and in this case it’s cause it’s YUMMM.
The Dubai Chocolate introduced its Korean cousin – a thick, chewy cookie filled with a molten center of pistachio cream and butter-fried kunafa (kataifi) pastry. It’s crunchy, gooey, and absolutely elite.
Folks even started a “Dujon Cookie Map” a community-driven tool shared online that shows locations and real-time stocks in many cities. Foodie dedication level is max here.
@audreysaurusdubai chewy cookie 두바이 쫀득쿠키 🤎💭♬ เสียงต้นฉบับ – kittikmr – veesun95
3) Iraqi Ramen (The Mashup We Didn’t Know We Needed)
2026 is the year of “Cuisineless Dining,” and Dubai is leading the charge with the Iraqi-Japanese fusion. Imagine a rich Iraqi bone marrow that falls off effortlessly in a broth of your fav anime-looking ramen noodles. Ultimate comfort bowl, and such goodness, my gosh!
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4) Tokyo Custard-Filled Toast
Everyone’s moved over fancy French Toasts for this crunchy delight. Involving a massive, thick-cut slice of fluffy Japanese bread, hollowed out and filled to the brim with warm, melt-in-your-mouth vanilla custard and caramelized on top to perfection. It’s basically a crème brûlée you can hold and hype all about.
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5) “Chewy is the New Crunchy” (Mochi Everything)
Texture is king this year. Pinterest Predicts called it: we are obsessed with “mouthfeel” (Charles Boyle from Brooklyn Nine Nine said it first and he wasn’t lying). Everything is getting a mochi-fied makeover, we’re talking Mochi Donuts, Mochi Waffles, and even Mochiko fried chickens. You might have your doubts on this (but PARK IT!) ‘Cus it’s got all the bouncy, chewy, ASMR worth deliciousness.
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6) The Ribs-Croissant Pizza (Global Village MVP)
Global Village Season 30 had birthed some culinary monsters, and the Krozza is the king. It’s a croissant-pastry base, topped like a pizza with slow-cooked short ribs and truffle oil. It’s flaky, it’s meaty, and it’s all over TikTok for a reason.
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7) TUDUM-courtesy Culinary Wars favs
The Korean cooking competition show Culinary Class Wars 2 has been very popular globally on Netflix’s charts, topping the non-English TV chart and ranking in the top 10 in multiple countries, including UAE’s popular watches. The show has top chefs fighting to set their names among the culinary top-lists and they made some TOP-CLASS dishes that people have been trying to recreate. From the Venerable’s vegan pine nut sauce noodles to Chef Kang-rok’s braise-everything obsession.
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8) The “Sloppy” Paratha Bun
People lined up for this beauty. The humble paratha, upgraded to “Burger Status.” Instead of a brioche bun, people are using flaky, buttery parathas to sandwich Wagyu beef patties or spicy lamb jalfrezi. It’s messy, it’s greasy, and it’s the ultimate late-night snack, cheat-meal, or a main course altogether.
9) Fadie’s cake with a purpose
Fadie Cakes sold out every day at Sole DXB, and turned 1,500 cakes into 1,500 meals for the workers who made it all happen with a simple but impactful campaign – Buy one. Feed one.
The yum cakes that got Dubai talking, launched on the Careem app and with every order, a meal was donated to someone in need! Because cake really does bring us together.
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10) Savoury Ice Cream
Before you say “ew,” hear us out. Olive oil ice cream, balsamic strawberry, and even black pepper honey are dominating the artisanal dessert shops. It’s all about that salty-sweet balance that keeps you coming back for “just one more scoop.”
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SO which one are you trying first?
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