Dubai: Eat Greek – Greek restaurant at JBR

The last night before I left Dubai, Poul and I decided to go for a walk along JBR and find a place to have dinner. There’s a lot of construction going on at The Walk JBR, so to escape the dust and noise, we went down to the new beachfront development, The Beach, instead. There are a lot of different restaurants down there, but until now I’ve only tried Shake Shack. Not that you actually need anything else than Shake Shack and their ‘Shroom Burger, but we try to keep the weekdays burger-free.

So we passed by Shake Shack and decided on the Greek restaurant, Eat Greek Kouzina, instead. There was no menu out in front of the restaurant so we went inside and asked for one. I thought it looked rather pricey considering that a lot of the food on the menu was very basic dishes with most ingredients readily available here in Dubai, and I told Poul my thoughts in Danish. I might even have uttered “probably poor quality” and “really overpriced” before the lady, who gave us the menu asked us in fluent Danish if we wanted a table. Embarrassed.com!

After I finished high school, I worked one summer as a tourist rep on the Greek island Kefalonia, and whenever I’m in a Greek restaurant I compare the quality and price level to my experiences at that time. I’m really a p.i.t.a. I know, and sometimes it’s driving Poul, who, by the way has never been to Greece, crazy.

Me: “100AED (27USD) for a moussaka, that’s outrageous!!”

Poul: “But we’re in Dubai, and it’s JBR…100AED isn’t a lot”

Me: “Yes it is, for a moussaka it IS a lot! Moussaka is like lasagna, it’s not expensive food. It shouldn’t be expensive food. When I worked in Greece *Poul rolling his eyes, thinking “here we go again”* a moussaka didn’t cost more than 5EUR..at most!

Poul: “When you worked in Greece, they didn’t even have Euros, they still had Drachma. And besides, we’re in Dubai!”

Me: “ But still…100AED for a moussaka?!? I would never pay that much for a moussaka…anywhere in the world!”

Though I ended up paying 100AED for moussaka, mostly because I was curious. It arrived all dressed up with green herbs and cheese sprinkled on top and it was a nice moussaka, although a bit dry, if you ask me. And no, it wasn’t worth 100AED.

However, we didn’t just have moussaka, we also had tzatziki, spicy feta, Greek salad and kleftiko lamb. Oh….kleftiko lamb!! Holy moly, was it good?!? Slow cooked lamb so tender it just fell off the bones, served in an intensely yummy broth. This dish was 120AED and worth every single dirham. The meze and the Greek salad were all very tasty too, and the servings so generous, we could easily have skipped one of the mains (I vote for the moussaka!) without leaving hungry.

Eat Greek offers both indoor and outdoor seating. We chose a table inside the restaurant as it’s still hot in Dubai, but I can only imagine what a splendid view you’ll have of the sunset from the terrace upstairs. The indoor seating area is large, but with the intimate feel of a traditional Greek taverna. All in all, Eat Greek is a nice place to go for a casual dinner in stylish surroundings. If you visit Dubai, you’ll be surprised to see how hard it can sometimes be to find a good restaurant in the area around Dubai Marina and JBR. Eat Greek is definitely one of the better ones around, and one of those places I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend to friends and family coming to Dubai.

Eat Greek is one of the coziest places to spend an evening on JBR. The food is nicely done versions of well-known Greek classics such as Greek salad, lamb chops and calamari, but the main reason behind Eat Greek’s success is probably the location, right in the heart of the beachfront mall The Beach.

The food at Eat Greek rarely disappoints, but it also doesn’t come cheap. I once paid 115AED for the moussaka at Eat Greek, and it was definitely not worth the money, so I would rather go for the kleftiko lamb, (135AED), which is a much better deal.

When Poul and I dine at Eat Greek, we usually just order one main dish and a couple of side dishes to share. The Eat Greek Salad is as perfect as a Greek salad can be, so even though 47AED might sound really steep, compared to what a Greek salad costs in Greece, it’s something that shouldn’t be missed.

During high season and on weekends, Eat Greek is always busy, and the popular tables on the outdoor patio overlooking the beach promenade are always full, so remember to call in advance, if you want to secure a table outside. There’s also an Eat Greek in Mall of the Emirates, but even though the food is the same, the location is not as nice.

• Eat Greek is not licensed so the restaurant doesn’t serve alcohol. Mocktails are 30AED and soft drinks cost 15AED.

•  Eat Greek also serves breakfast every day.

The mix grill is big enough for 2 or 3 persons to share

Two other nice Greek restaurants in Dubai that I really like are Mythos in JLT and Elia in Al Mankhool

Eat Greek Kouzina, The Beach JBR, Dubai