Eat Drink Stay Dubai Newsletter 112/w49

Hi Dubai friends,

Welcome to Week 49, Edition 112

Here’s your latest edition of Dubai news, deals & tips, every Friday, in 10 mins or less.

🎲 2 UAE online gambling sites launch

🤩 Emirates start fitting Starlink for free onboard WiFi

🛬 Eurowings launch ‘Premium Biz’ seats to Dubai

🛒 Dubai Shopping Festival starts

⏲️ Check (and dodge) “Popular Times” at Dubai attractions and restaurants

🍣 Nobu One Za’abeel to open in January?

🎄 Christmas and New Year in Dubai - a survival guide

🍴2 unique Dubai breakfast spots

PS. You can always email me here also.

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DUBAI NEWS

First UAE Online Gambling Platforms Launch Quietly

Whilst Wynn Al Marjan Island’s tower has ‘topped out’ to over 70% complete, aiming for a Spring 2027 opening, two UAE online gambling platforms have gone live, seemingly as a ‘soft launch’.

TrueWin, the country’s first sports betting site, and Dream Island, a slots, roulette and poker site, are both operated by Coin Technology Services. CTS appear to be a company linked to Momentum, the company behind the UAE’s official lottery, according to AGBI.

As it stands, Wynn will be the only physical/offline gaming presence, as no other projects have been confirmed to date.

Eurowings Launches Premium Biz Seats on Berlin to Dubai Flights

The German Low Cost Carrier (LCC) Eurowings* has launched its new Premium Biz seat on flights between Berlin (DXB) and Dubai Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC).

🔗 Eurowings*

‘Fireworks Season’ Starts Tonight

To celebrate Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF), nightly firework shows will start from tonight, 05 December through to 11 January 2026.

Note - these are just for DSF, there will no doubt be others as we move into the festive season.

Dubai Garden Glow is offering a ‘Two Parks, 1 Ticket’ offer for 70 AED, which includes a Dinosaur Park with over 150+ dinosaurs, and the Fantasy Park, which features floral structures and installations.

Note - Dubai Garden Glow has moved location for Season 11, and is now near Gate 3 of Zabeel Park, close to Dubai Frame.

🔗 Dubai Garden Glow

KNOW MORE ABOUT DUBAI

Following on from the recent Eid Al Etihad, celebrating 54 years of the Emirates uniting to form the UAE, here’s a short guide to the UAE’s seven Emirates.

Some of these may be a bit cliche, but there are a few useful comments too.

“10 things we’ll never understand about Dubai” (Archive page here)

ONE BIG DUBAI TIP

Christmas and New Year in Dubai: Your Survival Guide

As we move into December, the festive PR, articles, listicles, tips, announcements etc. start popping up in our feeds.

So rather than do ‘One Big Dubai Tip’ this week, instead I’m going to trail that over the next few editions until we pass the ‘Peak Weeks’ (i.e. Xmas and New Year!) I’ll be compiling what I would call a ‘Survival Guide’ that hopefully will help sail through the chaos, such as :-

• What’s on, and worth doing

• Why it’s such a big deal

• What’s Christmas like in Dubai

• What to avoid, or watch for

The aim, as always with this newsletter, is ‘opinionated aggregation’. In other words, saving you from being bombarded on social media, web and email by a deluge from everyone trying to plug their events, but rather curating the ‘best’ into one place - here.

As always, if you have any particular questions relating to Xmas and New Year in Dubai, or you’d like me to cover anything specific (and relevant!), just drop me an email.

By way of a tease, the ‘Peak Weeks’ are a fantastic time to visit Dubai, but there are a few ‘biggies’ to be aware of that can catch you out - especially if you’re a first-timer.

For instance, there are those who completely underestimate the sheer volume of folk trying to get the best NYE experience, whilst being completely aware it’s the biggest night of the year for hospitality industry to uplift prices, and it can get severely chaotic.

To be continued …

How to Check ‘Popular Times’ and Book Busy Restaurant Tables

Here are a few tips for booking tables at popular restaurants in Dubai, directly from the various chefs and management teams.

Another tip, for anywhere really - not just restaurants, or even Dubai, is to use Google Maps to check “Popular Times”

1. Go to the main ‘card’ for the venue, in this case Coya Dubai.

2. Ensure you’re on ‘Overview’.

3. Scroll down (direction of two green arrows below).

4. Keep scrolling down until you come to “Popular Times”.

5. It will show a day - in this case Friday - and a bar graph showing the times and how busy it is - longer the bar, busier it is.

6. You can also scroll left and right to change the time view, or the day to select a different day.

Following up on a recent One Big Dubai Tip about eSIMs, here’s an excellent interview with Airalo’s CEO about how they can benefit travellers, and why the Middle East is one of its key markets.

🔗 Airalo*

FOOD AND DRINK

Two Breakfast Spots to Try in Dubai for a Difference

Whilst Dubai is certainly not short of breakfast spots, here are two unique options.

If you’re ever looking to get away from the rush of the city, try The Farm at Al Barari. It’s open all day, not just for breakfast, and is very ‘Zen’ and a lush, green oasis - and most of all, quiet. It’s a bit outlying, so it’s maybe best combined with a trip to IMG Worlds of Adventure or Global Village, or even Miracle Garden.

🔗 The Farm at Al Barari

If you’re into the horses and all things equestrian, Dubai Racing Club at Meydan offer a Breakfast and Stables Tour every Wednesday 0630-1030 for 280 AED.

Note - it seems they’ve only just restarted this, and their website hasn’t caught up…

🔗 Dubai Racing Club

Playa Pacha at FIVE Lux JBR continue to line up top DJs such as Peggy Gou, Solomun and Seth Troxler.

🔗 Playa Pacha

Sea Fu, at Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach, have launched an all-new “Breakfast by the Sea” which will offer 3 “signature breakfast journeys” along with a harpist at weekends. 215 AED per person, over 16s only.

🔗 Sea Fu

🔗 Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach

Nobu One Za’abeel Slated to Open ‘January 2026’?

Dubai looks to be opening a third Nobu outlet at The Link, the cantilevered 230m concourse 24 floors high at One Za’abeel.

Nobu One Za’abeel is planned to open in ‘January 2026’.

HOTEL NEWS

Did you know the current world’s tallest hotel, Ciel Dubai Marina*, was not originally planned to be that high?

EMIRATES

Emirates have started rolling out Starlink Wi-Fi on their Boeing 777 fleet and plan to have their entire fleet enabled by mid-2027.

The service is planned to be complimentary across all cabins.

The rollout aims to fit out 14 aircraft per month, with the A380 fleet commencing in February 2026.

🔗 Official Announcement (Government of Dubai Media Office)

If you’re looking to travel on Emirates through South East Asia, they have launched the Emirates Asia Pass that could be worth considering

It allows building up a flexible itinerary for destinations in Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, and also allows travel on airline partners such as Bangkok Airways and Batik Air Malaysia.

🔗 Emirates Asia Pass

Ever wondered how little runway the Airbus A380 needs for a short takeoff or landing?

Let this Emirates A380 show you 👇️ 

ETIHAD

DUBAI DEALS

Reminder: there are still a few Black Friday/Travel Tuesday/Cyber Week* offers around.

Although some merchants offered deadlines that have passed, some have either extended the deadline/offers, or seemingly not updated their pricing back.

It’s always worth clicking on the offer links and having a clicking about; sometimes it can pay off.