Food Review: Nay in DIFC

“The taste is in the ending,” said award-winning Executive Chef Elie Lteif. He said this to me over a cup of Morrocan mint tea, after I had devoured a sea of delicious plates.

I’ll be honest, I love Lebanese food so I was excited to try a new restaurant, but I figured it would be a traditional Levant-styled menu. I was happily proven wrong.

Nay restaurant and lounge is the DIFC’s newest addition, bringing a new meaning to Lebanese fusion. From hummus with pesto to halawi cheesecake, Chef Elie will blow you away with his flavorful twists and turns. He told me that he wanted to add a twist to each dish so that it’s creative and different, but still the Lebanese food we all know and love.

“Sometimes fusion goes to far, and you can’t recognize the dish”, he told me.

I started off with a number of incredible starters: pesto hummus, hummus with pistachio, and the most delicious baba ghanough I’ve ever had. It was filled with walnut and pomegranate molasses – delicious!

I had a creative take on hummus with meat, where he twisted it into crispy pita bread making them easy, edible pieces. For a little spice, try the homemade sojouk rolls and basterma cheese rolls.

My favorite dish by far was the fatet kebab bil karaz, meatballs stuffed with cherries served with yogurt, toasted Arabic bread, eggplant and pine nuts. It’s phenomenal.

I didn’t get the chance to try the main dishes because I was so stuffed, but of course, there’s always room for dessert!

Chef Elie sent out halawi cheesecake, roses kashtaliah, and fresh watermelon. The Roses kashtaliah was cooked rose-flavored milk served with raw nuts, fig jam, and sugar syrup. Definitely not part of my diet. I usually hate rose flavored things, but I loved it. The Chef, who was originally a trained pastry chef, said he likes to change up the desserts every day.

The food was full of flavor and the staff was beyond friendly and helpful. They explained each dish as it was served and were full of suggestions.

Nay is located at the Emirates Financial Tower in DIFC. It’s an office building but has a few restaurants and shops under construction on the ground floor. Between the restaurant, the lounge area, and the outdoor seating area, there’s a place for each mood. They also serve shisha indoors, which is always a win in this Dubai heat.

Would I go again? Absolutely!