The Only Dubai Cocktail List You Need

Suteki’s Mugi Martini is a martini built around barley tea rather than brine, and it is one of the most elegant drinks on this list. Nikka Coffey Vodka infused with gardenia and lotus root is combined with umami vermouth and jasmine to create something delicate, savoury and incredibly refined.

It is not an extra-dirty martini, nor is it trying to be. The umami comes through much more subtly, with floral notes appearing as you drink it. Like so much of the food at Suteki, it feels precise, considered and completely distinctive.

Hawkerboi’s Tom Yum Margarita takes all the flavours you immediately associate with the Thai soup, heat, citrus and aromatics, and turns them into a brilliant cocktail.

It is spicy, but not to the point that it overwhelms everything else, and has just enough acidity to keep it fresh. Most importantly, it feels completely at home alongside Hawkerboi’s bold Southeast Asian dishes. This is not a cocktail that could simply be lifted and placed onto any menu; it belongs here.

I will always be tempted by something slightly unusual, so naturally, I am eternally obsessed with the Parmesan Sour at Kira.

Despite how it might sound, the Parmesan is subtle rather than overpowering, bringing a savoury depth that works surprisingly well with the freshness and acidity of a classic sour. It is clever, but still incredibly enjoyable to drink, which is not always the case with more experimental cocktails. Somehow, it just works.

Soul Kitchen’s Mezcal Milk Punch is smoky, silky and far lighter than its name might suggest. The milk-punch technique softens the intensity of the mezcal without taking away the character that makes the spirit so distinctive.

The result is beautifully smooth and incredibly easy to drink. Even if mezcal would not ordinarily be your first choice, this is the cocktail that could convert you.

It would be impossible to write about my favourite cocktails in Dubai without including the Tomatini at LPM. There is a reason it has become one of the city’s most recognisable drinks.

Fresh, savoury and slightly sweet, it captures the flavour of ripe tomato in a way that feels polished rather than gimmicky. It is distinctive, perfectly balanced and seemingly impossible to recreate in quite the same way anywhere else. For me, it remains one of Dubai’s true signature cocktails.

Sometimes, you do not want a reinvention. You simply want an excellent martini, served ice-cold and made exactly as requested.

Apollo’s Extra Dirty Martini is unapologetically briny and exactly as dirty as the name promises. There are no unnecessary ingredients or elaborate theatrics, just a properly made martini and one of my favourite ways to start an evening.

Lychee martinis can very easily become too sweet, but Nobu One Za’abeel gets the balance just right.

It is floral, fruit-forward and refreshing, with the unmistakable flavour of lychee coming through without overpowering the drink. Enjoyed high above the city, with the views from Nobu One Za’abeel as its backdrop, it feels every bit as glamorous as a lychee martini should.