Sanbuk mark: a dhow under a pomegranate sailSanbukBook a table
A whole fish charring over charcoal and palm fronds at dusk, a cook's arm turning the grill. An illustration generated for Sanbuk, not a photograph of its own.

Gulf coastal cooking · Dubai

Three fires.
Three hours of the day.

The food of the Gulf coast and the ports its dhows traded with, cooked over charcoal, palm fronds and a clay tannour, every day of the week.

Sanbuk takes its name from the sanbuk, the dhow that carried the Gulf's pearls, dates and fish between its ports. Chef Maitha Al Ketbi cooks that coast, and Malabar, Zanzibar and Basra, in three rooms that each do one thing. All three are alcohol-free.

07:00

Oven · clay tannour

Sanbuk Oven

Daily, 07:00 to 15:00, by the canal in Business Bay. Head baker Rafiq Kunjumon runs the tannour.

A baker's paddle lifting flatbread from a clay tannour, flour in the morning light. An illustration generated for Sanbuk, not a photograph of its own.
Breads baked to order in the clay tannour. Illustration.
  • Khameerwith white cheese and date jamAED 29
  • Regagwith egg and white cheeseAED 26
  • Balaleetsaffron vermicelli under a thin omeletteAED 34
  • Karak chaiAED 12

How to get a table

No bookings: walk in. Ground Floor, Qanat House, Canal Side, Business Bay.

12:00

Shore · charcoal and palm fronds

Sanbuk Shore

Daily, 12:00 to 23:30, on the beach at JBR. Fish bought each morning at the Deira waterfront; nothing on the ice is older than a day.

  • The day's catchchosen by you, weighed and grilled whole. Usually hamour, sheri, safi or kanaad, depending on the morning's market.AED 42 per 100 g
  • Kanaad steakwith Malabar green masalaAED 145
  • Prawn machboosfor twoAED 210
  • Grilled squidwith black lime and tahiniAED 85
  • Chebabwith date syrup and cardamom creamAED 38

How to get a table

Walk-ins are welcome. Tables for six or more can be booked. Beach Row 4, JBR.

Request a Shore table

18:30

Counter · one charcoal grill · also 21:15

Sanbuk Counter

20 seats around one charcoal grill in DIFC. Tuesday to Saturday, two sittings: 18:30 and 21:15.

The Counter's charcoal grill glowing at the centre of a ring of twenty seats. An illustration generated for Sanbuk, not a photograph of its own.
The Counter's 20 seats around one charcoal grill. Illustration.
  • Nine-course set menua guestAED 485
  • Pairingjuices, teas and fermentsAED 180
  • October includesraw hamour with dried black lime; grilled prawns on regag crisp with garlic and green chilli; crab machboos smoked over date-palm wood; lamb shoulder cooked overnight in the embers with harees and bezar spice; luqaimat with date syrup and saffron cream

How to get a seat

Booking only. Tables are released 30 days ahead at 10:00, with a deposit of AED 200 a guest that comes off the bill.

On Sundays and Mondays the whole Counter, 20 seats, can be booked for a private dinner.

Unit 3, Rope Walk Arcade, Podium Level, DIFC.

Request a Counter seat

Tonight: the Counter
or the Shore.

Request a table