Dubai's hottest new nightlife

From glamorous bars to off-the-hook clubs and a spread of fashionable restaurants, Dubai, as always, has a whole host of brand new nightlife openings. So if you're planning a wild night out, a celebratory meal, or just want to revel in Dubai's unique brand of glitz during your holidays, look no further – these are the newest places to party right now.

Above

Sitting on high in the Sofitel Downtown, Above lives up to its name when it comes to most things, but demonstrably not so when looking across to the towering Burj Khalifa. This rooftop lounge is quite literally in the shadow of the world’s tallest building, and Above has decided to make a virtue of the mega-structure, enjoying a vantage point that most people will never see. This will be particularly spectacular come New Year’s Eve when the Burj is transformed into a NASA-style launching pad for one of the best firework shows anywhere in the world.
abovedxb.com

Mercury Lounge

The new Four Seasons Resort is home to the just-launched Mercury Lounge. A Tattinger champagne bar in the shape of a huge bubble sits in the middle of the huge, open space, over which impossible good-looking staff and ethereal (at least at the start of the night) punters glide. Largely an al-fresco lounge, it’s perfect for sundowners and bound to be massively popular all the way up to summer.
Fourseasons.com

Zengo

Le Royal Meridien Beach Resort is one of the more established hotels down in Dubai’s ever-evolving Marina, but it treated itself this year to a new venue in the form of Zengo. Parts bar, restaurant and lounge, like several other establishments around the city it pitches itself as somewhere you can spend your entire night without having to move on. The three bars – Mist, Fire and Smoke certainly help with that – they're the kinds of places that you can hang out if for nothing than to people watch. Here you can grab a potent cocktail and see everyone from the sublime to the ridiculous to the more ridiculous.|
zengo-dubai.com

The Scene

As the wider world begins to accept that perhaps British food isn’t all roast-dinners and fry-ups and may actually be worth trying, The Scene seems to have arrive at a good time in Dubai. This is British chef Simon Rimmer’s first project in the city, but it’s already been winning rave reviews for the quality and variety of its fare. You won’t find many other places in town serving fantastic Welsh rarebit, or whitebait. Also boasting a great location in Pier 7 in the heart of the Marina.
thescenedubai.com

CUT

Michelin-starred chef Wolfgang Puck has restaurants from LA to Singapore and this year finally expanded into the UAE with CUT. It’s unlikely to get any stars in its own right – at least until the French guide finally makes its way to Dubai – but it’s been impressing carnivores since it opened in summer. Its lavish brunch is also gaining a stellar reputation, boasting everything from grilled Japanese salmon to Austrian veal schnitzel.
Theaddress.com

District 47

The Warwick Hotel on Dubai’s main artery, Sheikh Zayed Road, officially opened in April, but many of its amenities and venues took a bit longer to get up and running. Now the focus is very much on altitude, with the very impressive District 47. Officially the “highest rooftop club in Dubai”, it has trendy hip-hop and R&B nights through the week. If you’re the sort of person who goes clubbing for the cityscape views, then this is definitely the one for you.
warwickhotels.com

The Food Truck

If you’re tired of dressing up for posh restaurants and swanky bars, you could always try and find Jake’s food truck instead. A new concept for this part of the world, the free-to-roam truck – the sort of thing you find at music festivals around the world – changes location each day, but serves fantastic food until 8pm wherever it goes. Their bagel burgers are a thing of wonder. To find their latest location, check-out their Instagram account: @thefoodtruckdubai

Coya

Riding on the Peruvian fine-dining wave, Coya, in the typically grand Four Seasons Resort in Jumeirah, is the latest of several South American restaurants to pop up around the city in the last few years. Unlike the majority of them, however, Coya brings with it a wealth of experience from its trendy London cousin and has even taken the time to employ several Peruvian staff. Expect to find a wind-range of excellent ceviche on offer but tragically, at the time of writing, there was no sign of guinea pig on the menu.
Coyarestaurant.com