Bu Qtair is an inspirational story we can all learn from. Before we get to the story, let’s tell you a little about this legendary Dubai restaurant. Bu Qtair is a fish restaurant that has an extremely simple menu: fried fish or prawns with a side or paratha or rice and curry sauce. That’s it. It is as simple as that, but the crowds it attracts shows the quality if not anything else. And when I say crowd, I’m referring to Indian expats, Emirati high flyers and Western tourists including the infamous Anthony Bourdain. I mean even those residing at the nearby Burj Al Arab come here to sample what they refer to as the best fish they’ve ever had. All flock to this once humble fish shack to dine on the aforementioned dishes.
From Failure: Karak Chai and Paratha
Let’s rewind back to the 1980s. Matar Al Tayer identified a gap in the market: as Dubai was developing, there was an increasing number of South Asian expats flooding to the Emirates. This sudden influx meant that the Emirate wasn’t ready to welcome them in terms of catering for their culinary needs. Al Tayer realised this gap and decided to pounce. He opened up a small shop serving karak chai and paratha and he felt this would fill the gap that was a cafe or restaurant specifically for Indian expats / fishermen (as at that time none existed). Unfortunately, this didn’t work and he failed to get many customers in four years! The fishermen preferred to make their own food as opposed to spend money on it. This was the end of Al Tayer’s legacy before his real legacy.
To Success: Fish, Prawns and Paratha
One day he asked his chef to cook a meal using the fresh catch of the day for his family’s fishermen. And this gave birth to what is known as one of the best eateries in Dubai! Bu Qtair. The news of this wonderful meal reached Indian expats and fishermen’s ears and eventually to Dubai residents too. One thing led to another and the humble word of mouth did wonders for this humble eatery. Overlooking the world famous Jumeirah Beach, this humble eatery landed and established itself well before what we now know as the glitz and glamour of the area. Now, you’ll see luxuriously exclusive hotels, extravagant landmarks, the one and only Burj Al Arab, and expensive yachts all lined up within vision of the restaurant. Talk about fancy neighbours… The restaurant is regularly packed with little room to sit and the people who come to dine here are Indian expats, Emirati high flyers, Western tourists and foodies, and even the famous Anthony Bourdain has featured this spot in one of his shows.
Our experience
We went in the evening and it was as advertised: very busy. The tables outside were all taken and understandably so because it was a nice cool December night. The tables inside were also somewhat taken, but it seemed a little unorganised inside. There was a queue inside though that stretched right to the back of the restaurant. It took about twenty minutes to order. There was no menu from what I recall, but the options are simple and limited anyway as explained earlier. So, unless it’s your first time, there shouldn’t be much confusion. You choose either fish or prawns and then the amount. Either by weight or Dirhams. They then smother it with their secret sauce and fry it. You also choose whether you want any sides with it (paratha, rice and or curry sauce). We got the prawns and no sides. They took about half an hour to prepare it, if not a little longer. Now, I don’t know if that’s because they cook it fresh as you order or because it was so busy. It came with some simple salad. We decided to take it back to our hotel to try it. How did it taste? One word: delicious! I can certainly see the hype. The prawns were cooked to perfection, there was a good amount of spice and the Indian flavours were prominent, which I loved! So good! Would I wait in the queue and then for my order for over an hour for this? Probably not. But it is definitely worth trying at least once. It is busy and frequented by the locals for good reason.
What does Bu Qtair mean I hear you ask? It means sweet water and that is referring to the place where fishermen would seek refuge and wash themselves after a tiring day of diving. Aptly named I think. This is where you stop after your day of exploring Jumeirah for a nice wholesome and super flavourful meal. I love the name, I love the concept and mostly I love the story. It is a story of vision of inspiration of not giving up of perseverance. Something we can all learn from. In this city of glitz, glamour, fancy cars and sky scrapers, I love how this humble eatery sits amongst it all and proudly so.
Getting there:
Google Maps Location link: click here.
