Alba & Himitsu: A Japanese Dining Room With a Secret Bar on Dubai Opera Plaza

Alba describes its cooking as its own vision of Japan: the precision, seasonality and quiet beauty of Japanese cuisine, reinterpreted with global influences and a sense of creative freedom. It sits in a standalone building on Dubai Opera Plaza, a five-minute walk from the Burj Khalifa.

Alba is listed in the Gault&Millau UAE guide for 2025 and 2026, and AD Middle East has named it among the most beautiful restaurants in Dubai. It’s one house with three rooms: the dining room, a Japanese pub counter called Nomikai, and Himitsu, a hidden bar that isn’t on any sign.

Alba is designed by architect Tristan Du Plessis, and the building makes an entrance. A dramatic staircase sweeps between its two floors, glowing parasols hang from the ceilings, and stone, warm timber and soft lighting give the room a calm, design-led feel. The dining room runs across both floors, while the Nomikai counter on the ground floor keeps things loud and informal, like a Japanese pub after work.

The kitchen is guided by brand chef Vladimir Chistyakov and chef Minho Ted Shin. The menu centres on a robata grill, a sushi counter and A5 wagyu. Japanese technique leads, with Korean touches running through it, from kimchi cream on grilled eggplant to a wagyu bibimbap. Handrolls, nigiri, pressed oshizushi and gyoza make it easy to build a meal from small plates.

Himitsu, meaning “secret”, has no street entrance and no sign. Guests give their name at Alba and are walked to a hidden door. Behind it are a red curtain, a short dark corridor and a room of fifteen seats under floral murals, also by Tristan Du Plessis. It is reservation only, with no walk-ins, because there’s nowhere to stand.

There is no drinks list at Himitsu. Instead there is the Kagi, a wooden box built like a cryptex, whose turning rings compose a drink from 1,296 possible combinations, most of which will never be made twice. The signature is the Red Jacket, created by Bishnu Gauchan: order it, and you may put on the jacket that hangs on the wall. At the counter, Himitsu also runs an eight-seat omakase, with the drinks composed to match the food.