Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Average Price: $$$
Updated in September 2018
By Sean Overpeck (CFE)
**A full article and index glossary of restaurants, wines, recipes and travel for
Wine Dine and Play are in the pages section above, or by following these links:
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| The Burj Khalifa / Worlds Tallest Towers |
The Burj Khalifa is known as a mega tall skyscraper standing at 2,722 feet (830 meters) at the top of the world and was opened to the public in 2010 after six years of construction. For now, it stands in the Guinness Book Of World Records as the tallest building in the world, however in 2021 it will become #2 as the Kingdom or Jeddah tower takes its place at 3,281 feet tall in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. By 2020, other projects will be in competition to take the spot and be in the top 5 to include China, followed by Korea and the UAE will try again to become #1 with The Tower set to be one kilometer high at the Dubai Creek. This may be as high or a little higher than the Jeddah Tower when it opens.
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| Burj Khalifa / Model of the Dubai Creek Tower opening 2021 |
Dubai and its sister city Abu Dhabi are far from the pictures you have seen of places like Baghdad, Damascus, or Kabul. Forty years ago this was an area with a few mud huts sitting next to some of the most pristine beach shores in all of the Persian Gulf. Over time that started to change, and in the early 1990s, the ruling family of the United Arab Emirates received news that no Middle Eastern Country wants to hear. That news: In 2017 the oil wells will start to dry up. No oil, no money. The Royal family took a radical step that made their fellow neighbors in Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iran, and others take notice. The family opened their doors to the west and using talent from their culture, and lots of money, they built a city that would become a mecca for business and industry. They became the dreaded Capitalists that everyone talks so badly about, and they have prospered as a result. It is amazing with all the wealth from oil, what a city or country can do with it if they really wanted to.
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| Burj-Dubai (Khalifa) / under construction - August 2009 |
After business came to Dubai the tourism followed. They designed the city to cater to the rich of the world and built extravagant hotels, houses, office buildings, Islands shaped like palm trees, and countries of the world. They have the largest indoor malls in the world, the largest inland lagoon, connected to a theme park that has its own space camp. A 7 Diamond Hotel, the Burj Al Arab, that sits on the Gulf and looks like a sailboat. The cheapest room is 1,600.00 Euros per night.
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| The Burj Khalifa / Food in Dubai |
Then came the Burj Khalifa renamed in 2010 from Burj-Dubai since the city went broke as a result of the 2008 global meltdown, and they had to sell the building to a neighboring Emirate. The building has 160 Floors, with 57 Elevators, that will take you from the ground floor to the viewing platform on the observation deck located on level 124 in 45 seconds. The Deck, known as “At the Top” opened on the fourth Anniversary of the ascension of Sheikh Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, on January 4, 2010, and let me tell you it is one hell of a view. Two floors below the observation deck are the Restaurant At.mosphere, which I visited in March of 2013, and had an excellent meal. Nearer to the ground level is the Armani Hotel where there are several more excellent restaurants including the Armani / Amal Indian restaurant.
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| The Burj Khalifa / Observation Deck on the 124th floor |
Hollywood has also taken advantage of this skyscraper by filming the 4th Mission impossible movie and having a stuntman pretending to be Tom Cruise climb the outside of the tower. There are many varieties of hotels in all price ranges, and thousands of Restaurants featuring cuisine from all over the world. You can easily spend one week in Dubai seeing all it has to offer and visiting the white sandy beaches.
Behind the Scene video of Burj Khalifa filming
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| The Burj Khalifa / Tom Cruise sits at the way-way top |
Though thanks to the recession of 2008-09 they have started to slow down, and yet still they offer many things that will make people from Europe, Asia or America’s add Dubai to their vacation plans. That is until November of 2012 when a British Tourist was raped, and the police arrested her because she had been drinking alcohol and having intercourse out of wedlock. This angered the United Kingdom, and it slowed tourism down greatly until more tourism police became available.
The currency used is the Arab Emirate Dirham (AED) which was introduced in 1973 to replace the Dubai Riyal. The observation deck has a waiting list so book your tickets before you travel, and be ready to pay over $100 American Dollars per person to visit. The entrance to the observation deck elevator is through the Dubai Mall.
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| The Burj Khalifa / UAE Currency |
The average temperatures for this region are 24°C (75°f) in the winter and 48-52°C (118-125°f) in the summer. Also since the city sits right next to the Persian Gulf, expect high amounts of humidity, and an occasional sandstorm.
This video is of the fountains at the base of the Burj Khalifa Tower
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Other Dubai restaurants and articles on Wine Dine and Play:
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“Mastic” Ice-cream
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Authentic churrascaria-style dining
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Contemporary Middle Eastern and Levant buffet
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Authentic Emirati Cuisine
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Traditional British seafood spot
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Arabic and Emirati blended buffet at DXB
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See the whole list by visiting “The Wine Dine and Play Article Glossary by country”
Observatory Prices
(excludes, alcohol, taxes & 20% gratuity’s)
$£€¥ - Under 50.00 (inexpensive)
$£€¥ x 2 - 51.00- 99.00 (moderate)
$£€¥ x 3 - Over 100.00 (pricy)
$£€¥ x 4 - Over 200.00 (expensive)
$£€¥ x 5 - Over 400.00 (very expensive)
**Currencies reflect the world’s major travelers, restaurant, or wine connoisseur’s**
Currency:
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Price
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Arab Emirate Dirham (AED)
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د.إ
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United States Dollar (USD)
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$$$
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Great Britain Pound Sterling (GBP)
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£££
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Canadian Dollar (CAN)
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$$$$
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Chinese Yuan (CNY)
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¥¥¥¥¥
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European Union (EUR)
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€€€
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At The Top:
Sheikh Zayed Road
The Burj Khalifa
1 Mohammed Bin Rashid Boulevard
Downtown Dubai
Dubai, UAE
Contact Information:
Burj Khalifa website:
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+971 4 366 1688
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Email Contact:
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Social Media
and
Accolades for The Burj Khalifa:
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The worlds best restaurants is a subjective list of who is writing it and changes on a regular basis. The Wine Dine and Play’s best experiences list is based on my highest rated stared restaurants, meaning that the visit was an outstanding or extraordinary experience. From cafés, chains, mom + pops, hole in the walls, to fine dining including a few Michelin spots. Visit the Top 100 page to see the entire list.
A few to tease you with…
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Impeccably prepared French fine dining
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High-end steakhouse chain with aged prime cuts
Akron, Ohio, USA
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High-end bistro with modern New Zealand cuisine
Christchurch, New Zealand
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Southwestern-inspired New American fare
San Antonio
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Refined eatery with Lowcountry fare and Southern Brunch
Charleston, South Carolina, USA
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Highly creative new American molecular gastronomy tasting menus
Chicago, Illinois, USA
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Other pictures and videos:
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| The Burj Khalifa / The picture was taken from Restaurant At.mosphere, 122nd floor |
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| The Burj Khalifa / The picture was taken from Restaurant At.mosphere, 122nd floor |
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| The Burj Khalifa / City views |
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| The Burj Khalifa / Dubai city views |
Video from the 2015 New Years Eve Celebration:
“Culinary perfection consists not in doing extraordinary things,
But in doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.”
-Angelique Arnauld (1591-1661)
Who is John Galt?
TTFN
