Hall pass

While the casual and hip Neighbourhood Food Hall has seen diners flock to Motor City since 2022, a slew of new outlets means there’s always something to explore. Your experience here will start with the best possible problem: too many options. Grilled cheese birria with a beef consommé is a winner from Tacos Los Hermanos, with its meat succulent and fresh with extremely balanced seasoning. You can tell the chef has really taken his time with this. Definitely try the Chinese chippy from chef Kelvin Cheung’s Jooksing. This might very well be your first time trying something like this – wok-tossed crispy gluten-free fried chicken, sitting on a bed of French fries and the signature Jooksing sauce, finished with Cheddar cheese, Parmesan and comeback sauce. Sweet, savoury, crispy – all the textures do their part. Sandwich Nerds is a brand new concept launched in December 2025, and the Cubano sandwich is one of the bestsellers – with freshly made bread and all the ingredients prepped in-house, you can tell traditional flavours are respected while adding a creative edge.

Dubai Festival City’s The Market Island is a sprawling food hall, across 70,000 square feet and able to accommodate over 3,500 guests. With multiple outlets and plenty of seating, it’s easy to while away a few hours here and still feel like you’ve got so much more to see. One of the city’s favourites, Kooya Filipino Eatery by chef JP Anglo, has a space there. The chicken inasal is still a winner, flavourful and lifted beautifully with a smoky char on the outside. Shaw Lash’s Tacos Camino delights with its smoky chipotle steak wrapped in corn tortillas – fresh, well-seasoned and utterly satisfying. If you’re a seafood fan, then John Dory, a sophisticated seafood counter, is also one not to miss. Fresh oysters are a highlight, as is a salmon sashimi. Here, the quality of the ingredients shone through. For a sweet treat, stop by Scarlet’s, a German bakery with freshly baked goods on the counter for you to choose from.

The latest food hub to open up in Dubai is 25 Jump Street in One Central. Paris and London-based smash burger brand, Junk, has made its first Middle Eastern home here and delivers a solid experience. The beef patty is well-cooked, while the cheese is perfectly melty. On the sides, the panko-crusted chicken tenders are a pleasant surprise, served with a dip that tied everything together nicely. Just across the central walkway is Pepperoni Comedy Club where Italian food reigns supreme in a fun, retro designed space. The nduja croquettes are beautifully done – crisp on the outside thanks to the potatoes, with a comforting centre of melted cheese. The pepperoni pizza is also genuinely impressive. Perfectly cooked dough, with a balanced ratio of cheese to base. It hits all the right notes; it’s the kind of pizza you remember after the last slice is gone. Meanwhile, Reif Othman’s YUBI serves up handrolls with a good balance of flavours, and our favourites include the sake + gochujang mayo roll (fresh salmon paired with a spicy-sweet sauce) and the crab + miso mayo roll.