Dubai Food Festival (DFF) celebrations are in full swing at La Mer, the world-class beachfront destination by Meraas, under the theme ‘Love the Beach, Live the Food’ that reflects its picture-perfect setting and vibrant outdoor dining concepts.
Until 9 March, La Mer continues to host unforgettable dining experiences inside beautiful beach pergolas, inviting visitors to enjoy their favorite dishes as they take in the stunning views of the Arabian Gulf. Participating outlets include Roti Rollers, Bado Chinese,Treej Café, Motomachi, SLAB, Pomme de Pain and more.
Set up along the beachfront at La Mer North and La Mer South, the distinctive pergolas are open from 10am to 10pm every day during the festival. Visitors can pre-book the exclusive pergola experience to make the most of the pleasant weather and enjoy a private meal al fresco with friends and family.
Select restaurants, including OSH, Mealtop, Le Pain Quotidien and P.F. Chang’s, have a host of surprises in store every day throughout the festival at 4pm, 6pm and 8pm.
Diners can also explore a variety of offers across the destination’s F&B outlets, such as Miyabi and Street Style by GOSSIP.
Motomachi
Motomachi Restaurant is a unique concept, which aims to bring the taste of Japan to the desert of Dubai. Located in Dubai Festival City Mall and La Mer Jumeirah, it has both an indoor seating area as well as an outdoor seating area with views of old Dubai as well as new Dubai.
We serve the most authentic Japanese food in Dubai, cooked and served by an all Japanese Staff. Once you step into the restaurant, you will instantly feel whisked away to the charm of Japan. With our friendly staff and comfortable decor, you will feel right at home.
In place of traditional and authentic, we now see fusion restaurants adapting to the change in consumer tastes which are now in favor of more contemporary cuisine. One such restaurant is Treej Café, a new concept by Al Fanar. Through our fusion Emirati cuisine, Treej Café is able to appeal to a larger audience under our slogan “Emirati and beyond”.
Cupagahwa
The world-class café chain with an Arabian flavour complements its quality coffee, tea and cocoa beverages with a carefully selected assortment of healthy savoury foods and desserts, each with a different locally influenced twist.
London Dairy Café
Renowned for its premium ice-cream offerings crafted from only the best ingredients, the café also serves a variety of gourmet chocolates, sandwiches, pastries, specialty organic coffee roasted and brewed by world-champion baristas, and more.
Miyabi
The casual Japanese eatery with a Korean touch boasts an elaborate menu that comprises salads, light bites and snacks, as well as a wide selection of ramen, noodles, bowls and hotpots.
SLAB
With an emphasis on high-quality, organic and farm-fresh hand-selected ingredients, the artisanal restaurant offers a variety of non-vegetarian, vegetarian and vegan dishes, crafted drinks, smoothies and fresh juices.
La Mer, Dubai’s newest beachfront address is an exciting addition to the city’s urban beach cred and is quite the talk of the town. Flaunting wide open boardwalks, graffiti art murals and a breezy beachside charm, La Mer Dubai is sure to become your new favourite address to eat, play and unwind.
If you fancy top notch grub by the beach, a few hours of beachside shopping, an attempt at experimental surfing, lazing the day away with a book by the beach or some exciting waterpark fun, La Mer Dubai is your one stop destination. Read on to know more about all that you can do at La Mer Dubai!
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La Mer, Dubai
Things to do at La Mer Dubai
Top La Mer Dubai Restaurants
La Mer, Dubai
La Mer Dubai brings on a platter the best of sun, sea, entertainment and adventure. Located between Pearl Jumeirah and Jumeirah Bay, La Mer Dubai spans for a sprawling 1.24 million square meters of space and comprises of 4 zones: The Beach, The Entertainment Hub, The North Island and The South Island.
The two islands constitutes upscale residential neighborhoods including beachfront villas. The Entertainment hub houses the waterpark, surf park, trampoline park, cinema, gymnasium and 130 establishments in the form of café’s, shops, restaurants,
Flaunting wide open walkways lined with palm tree boulevards, graffiti art and cabanas, La Mer Dubai is a seamless blend of minimalist and contemporary design. While La Mer translates to ‘the sea’, the architecture is themed around the sea marine and the elements used around are said to be inspired from the rusted metal and tinted barrels that are the result of sea washing up on timber.
The design circles around the use of sustainable elements ensuring a judicious use of natural elements and an attempt to replenish the depleting ones.
Things To Do At La Mer, Dubai
Enjoy the Sun, Sand and Shore
Docked by the beach, spend your day at La Mer with the wind in your hair, sand in your toes and the balmy sun working a tan gracefully. At this eclectic beachfront, you can choose to simply lounge by the beachside cabanas with your latest read or engage in some thrilling water play and beach sports. You can book your private cabanas at Sea Breeze and unwind with uninterrupted views of the Arabian Gulf for as long as you’d like.
Cruise and Glide ’em Waves
If you’re one to love watersports, La Mer Dubai is just where you need to head. With 2 distinct beaches – The North Beach and South Beach offering a plethora of thrilling water activties and sports, La Mer has proven a promising destination for adventure enthusiasts.
Head to the North Beach for all the motorized activities like Flyboarding, Jetskiing, Wakeboarding, Wakesurfing and make your way to the South Beach for all the non motorized rental activities like Standup Paddle, Waterbike, Pedalo, Kayaking and for float rentals. Check the prices of the water sport your you’d like to do here.
Spills and Thrills at Laguna Water Park
While the Laguna Water Park is yet another addition to Dubai’s endless kitty of adventure water parks, this one beats the rest with its star attraction – the WaveOz 180. This Ultimate Surf Machine is one of the only three 180 degree surf simulator in the world and allows you to catch waves on the 187-feet wall-to-wall wave stimulator. Adding to the aura is the fact that the Surf Machine is a sea facing ride, adding all the more thrill to the experience.
That apart, the Laguna Water Park has a good collection of water slides, lazy rivers, a kids splash zone and a pool to keep you immersed in water all day long!
Read our detailed guide to the Laguna Water Park and plan your visit effortlessly. If you’re looking for discounted Laguna Water Park tickets, book them with Headout and earn 5% cashback!
Bounce at Hawa Hawa
Hawa Hawa is an exciting inflatable playground concept ideal for anyone and everyone who can’t stand still! The dune-shaped concept comes all the way from Japan and is the first-of-its-kind outside of East Asia. Each of the two dunes at Hawa Hawa are made from an all-weather double skin tensile membrane, allowing unlimited fun no matter what the weather.
This free-jumping playground consists of two dunes and seven peaks, and is great for visitors of all ages who want to engage in a low-impact, high-intensity activity. The smaller of the dunes is specifically designed for those below 6 years of age, the larger dune is for everyone, although there is a weight limit of 99kg. Personally, we think this place would be great for a game of tag.
The park is open from 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM on weekdays and 10:00 AM to Midnight on weekends.Tickets cost AED 25 for a 15-minute session, with an extra AED 5 for socks to help keep the playground hygienic. Children aged 12 and under will need to be supervised by an adult.
Discover a World of Flavour
With an alluring curation of restaurants and cafes, La Mer Dubai is a food lover’s paradise. You’ll find something to suit your palate here, everything from Belgian waffles to spicy Indian curries to Spanish Octopus.
Spanning across the North Island and South Island, there are over 50 mouth-watering gastronomic options at La Mer, leaving you spoilt for choice. Take a stroll along the waterfront and follow the flavour that pulls you in through their doors. Read on to know more about the Top La Mer Dubai Restaurants.
Shop Till You Drop
Do you penchant shopping with a view? Here’s your chance to shop till you drop and that too drop with a view! Discover delight in unraveling hidden treasures in the form of boutiques, label ready-to-wear brands and other concept stores strewn around the La Mer property.
Don’t forget to check out Hamac, a ‘beach boutique’ that sells a stylish range of swimsuits and kaftans to suit beachgoers of every description, along with fun beach accessories like the giant fruit-shaped inflatables, sun hats, towels, beach chairs and more.
Also, just in case you forgot your make up pouch at home, stock up from the new Sephora outlet here. Stroll by the beachfront boardwalk and you never know what you’ll stumble by!
Instagram Away at The Wharf!
La Mer Dubai also doubles as an urban playground with decorative art, playful murals and inspired graffiti that features everything from cars to camels to candy. La Mer integrates minimalist and contemporary design elements making it an architectural masterpiece with a vibrant sea-side character.
While all of La Mer exudes a minimalist aura, the Wharf is starkingly different. With overwhelming articles of steel, the Whard seems right straight out of a dystopian novel or the set of a 70s action movie. With rusty steels, worn-out drums, wooden barrels and beat-up trucks placed around, it gives the area a trendy industrial vibe.
Let’s face it, La Mer seems to be the most Instagrammable new spot in Dubai and if you’re looking for a trending insta photo, you know where to go!. Make sure your phone’s at a 100% and don’t forget your selfie stick.
Top La Mer Dubai Restaurants
With over 50 beachfront eateries, hitting up all of the La Mer Dubai restaurants will take you a while. However, here’s our curation of the Top 5 La Mer Dubai restaurants that you must consider for your first visit.
Motomachi brings an authentic Japanese fare to the deserts of Dubai. This Japanese restaurant and patisserie serves an exciting range of ramen, sushi and katsu curries in a setting with communal wooden tables, authentic kimonos and Japanese lanterns. Make sure to try their Gindara Saikyo Yaki and their light-as-air Japanese cheesecakes.
MASTI
Masti translates to “mischief” and this fun Indian eatery is certainly bucketloads of fun and mischief . With a quirky menu that takes a twist on traditional delicasies – think fava bean chaat, paneer lasagne and a butter chicken pizza – Masti is a cool bar, lounge and restaurant with a cherry on the top terrace space!
APRONS & HAMMERS
This popular seafood restaurant specialises in smashing crab, literally. Order a bucket of shellfish, dig in and you will need that apron. With a fresh fish loaded menu, including a lip smacking must try paella, this diner is for the hungry sea food lovers.
HQ’S 459
All you morning people, this is where you need to head for your next breakfast date. With a hearty breakfast taking the center stage here, get ready to gorge on avocado Benedict and Belgian waffles and a smoothies that will leave you rejuvenated for the day. Lunch and dinner comes in a tasty range of salads, burgers and sarnies.
HOLA
Fancy some Fruit sushi and Teppanyaki ice cream rolls? HOLA is your answer. This refreshing and healthy Latin American concept eatery aims to keep you cool at the beach. HOLA offers up an exotic selection of fruit-based delicacies – everything from popsicles to ice cream bowls to fruit salads and fruit sushi that you won’t be able to resist.
A unique concept in Dubai, Motomachi Restaurant brings the taste of Japan to the desert of Dubai. Located in Dubai Festival City Mall and La Mer Jumeirah, it has both an indoor seating area as well as an outdoor seating area with views of old Dubai as well as new Dubai.
The team serves the most authentic Japanese food in Dubai, cooked and served by an all Japanese Staff. As soon as the clients step into the restaurant, they instantly feel the theme and charm of Japan. Their staff is friendly and decor is comfortable, people feel right at home.
They serve lunch, dinner and coffee. Their services are good for groups, Take Out, Waiter Service. Motomachi is a Japanese Restaurant and Patisserie that is appreciated by Sushi lovers who rejoice the treats by this restaurant. Motomachi, an original Japanese restaurant has and entirely new concept that takes Japanese dining in Dubai to a whole new level by providing its guests with a completely authentic experience.
Diners tryout numerous sushi dishes, all of which leave them satisfied while being light and refreshing. A sampler tray of sushi can be ordered to try a couple of each. According to preference, favorite dishes can be ordered. Motomachi has managed to stay true and leaves diners more refreshed than usual.
Along with sushi, their menu serves of dishes that are delightful and worth trying. Favorites being the Gyu Don, a beef and onion mixture with rice. The onions aerved here give a caramelized taste and that combines well with the beef. Crab salad here is absolutely delicious, this restaurant offers a mix in a hint of authentic tasting Japanese wasabi giving it a subtle flavor. Diners can order it as a side or as light main course, it is also interesting to use chopsticks! The Kaisen Yakisoba is a heap full bowl of seafood stir fried noodles. This dish is very popular and is heavenly!
The restaurant is also a Japanese bakery, which sets it apart from other similar restaurants. The dessert item such as Taiyaki, which is a fish shaped pastry can be ordered; it comes filled with Nutella, custard, or even Anko (a sweet bean paste). They serve a dessert cooler that is delicious and freshly made sweet meats. These desserts are prepared daily.
Visiting Motomachi allows diners to have some delicious coffee which is supplied by The Raw Company, which is fair trade 100% organic coffee! People prefer to visit Motomachi Restaurant and will definitely stop by again to experiment more items on their menu!
The visit is a unique experience and goes perfectly well, every dish that is served is fresh, steaming hot and full of flavor. The staff is warm and do not hesitate to apologize if order takes longer to arrive. The decor is perfectly suitable for the Japanese restaurant.
Motomachi, an original Japanese restaurant is now open in Dubai Festival City! This entirely new concept takes Japanese dining in Dubai to a whole new level by providing its guests with a completely authentic experience. You will be delighted upon trying one of their numerous sushi dishes, all of which manage to leave you satisfied while being light and refreshing. We ordered a sampler tray of sushi to try a couple of each and we were blown away by how delicious their sushi is.
My personal favorite is and always will be the California Roll, and Motomachi managed to stay true to what I was accustomed to having while somehow having it leave me more refreshed than usual.
Aside from sushi, their menu is chock-full of dishes often unheard of but completely worth trying. One of my favorites was the Gyu Don, a beef and onion mixture placed atop a heaping pile of rice. The onions have a caramelized taste and that blends perfectly with the beef.
If you can manage to leave the dish untouched for a minute before eating, the juices slowly seep down into the rice bowl which further intensifies the flavor packed in each bite.
The next dish we had was their version of crab salad. The plate was absolutely delicious, I almost forgot to take a picture before digging in because of how much I look forward to having crab salad.
I love how at this restaurant they mix in a hint of authentic tasting Japanese wasabi giving it a subtle kick that is lacking in other iterations of this dish. Order it as a side or as light main course, but whatever you do, you better be using chopsticks!
Next up comes the Kaisen Yakisoba, which is a heaping bowl of seafood stir fried noodles. This dish tasted absolutely heavenly! We downed this order in a whopping two minutes because of how delicious it was. The noodles were cooked perfectly and the shrimp on top was piping hot, creating a perfect mix in my mouth. A couple of other dishes that also deserve notable mentions are the Chicken Katsu, and Kara Age. Both of these dishes are fried chicken plates but each one has its own flavor.
The Chicken Katso is a flat piece of chicken fillet fried with an egg based batter and served with Katsu sauce. The chicken, despite being fried, is so tender and practically falls apart while eating it. The Kara Age on the other hand are thick breaded pieces of chicken fried to perfection. I loved dipping them in soy sauce which gave them an extra hit of flavor.
The restaurant also doubles as a Japanese bakery, which really sets it apart from other similar restaurants. A must try dessert item is the Taiyaki, which is a fish shaped pastry that can be filled with Nutella, custard, or even Anko (a sweet bean paste).
They also have a dessert cooler full of delicious freshly made sweets. They make these desserts daily so your visit will never be ruined with stale or old desserts. Visiting Motomachi also allows you to have some delicious coffee which is supplied by The Raw Company, which is fair trade 100% organic coffee!
I loved my visit and will definitely be stopping by again to cross off more items on their menu! The visit went perfectly, every dish came out fresh and hot and full of flavor.
The staff were all incredibly kind and would constantly apologize if our order took even a second longer to arrive than they wanted it to. The decor was perfectly fitting for the restaurant and really has its way of distracting you from the outside world. I definitely wish the entire team behind Motomachi the best of luck and know they will achieve great things.
Motomachi Restaurant 