Should Orfali Bros Bistro, crowned number one restaurant in MENA 50 Best for the third consecutive year, move to a hall of fame?
50 Best's response to my question, along with my musings. Plus my analysis and opinion on the record 22 UAE restaurants in the 2025 ranking. Oh and a poll!
Orfali Bros Bistro has topped the Middle East & North Africa’s 50 Best Restaurants 2025 list for the THIRD year in a trot - revealed on Tuesday evening in Abu Dhabi, the destination sponsor. I couldn’t be prouder of this homegrown Dubai gem, owned and very significantly operated by three Syrian chef brothers on the pass daily, turning out playful, modern Middle Eastern dishes.
Their diligent, day and night hustle to deliver consistency continues to pay off. Orfali is my “if you’re in Dubai for one meal only, where should you go” restaurant - and also included in my annual Dubai restaurant guide, since its opening in 2021.
BUT this triumph does beg an important question.
Firstly though, if you’re not familiar with the mechanics of this list, to avoid repetition for those who do know, here’s a bit of background from last year’s opinion piece.
The global World’s 50 Best list moves restaurants crowned number one into a ‘Best of the Best’ hall of fame category, making them ineligible for subsequent voting and number one rankings - but this strategy does not apply to the regional lists, like MENA. Here is 50 Best’s rationale on its website:
“The Best of the Best group was introduced in 2019 and is formed of those restaurants that have been named No.1 in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants since the list’s inception. These venues have more than proved their worth and are now honoured as iconic dining destinations in the Best of the Best 'hall of fame', making them ineligible to be voted in the annual World's 50 Best Restaurants ranking. The chefs and restaurateurs who have led these restaurants to the pinnacle of the list have expressed the desire to invest in the future of the sector and give back to the food world through new projects and initiatives. After a new restaurant reaches the No.1 position, it is then elevated into Best of the Best and automatically becomes ineligible for voting in future years.”
So why does 50 Best not apply the same mechanics to the regional lists? And are plans afoot to change this policy?
Below you’ll find what the head of 50 Best had to say when I posed these questions to him - along with my musings. Plus my analysis and opinion on this year’s ranking, with a record 22 restaurants in Dubai and Abu Dhabi making the cut. And a poll thrown in for good fun!