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2022’s Best Meals and Restaurants: The Year That Was
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2022’s Best Meals and Restaurants: The Year That Was
Each year, EatGoSee assembles the Best Meals and Restaurants of the Year. It's about the food and the experience. The exceptional one-offs and the consistent stalwarts that I cannot do without. 2022's list took us to Bahrain, Dubai, Italy, Slovenia and Sri Lanka with collabs and cuisines from Germany, India, the Levant, Serbia, Mexico, Persia/Pakistan and Thailand.
Written by Liam Collens // See other reviews here.
The Highs
The Lows
The Highs
The Lows
2022’s Best Meals and Restaurants: The Year That Was
2022 was a transitional year for me. I turn 40. We bought a house in Italy and, as I write this, we are completing on a house in Dubai. I picked up two awards in my legal career. I shed EatGoSee on social media (see why here). As with life’s changes, I ate along the way. Comfort eating, celebration eating, review eating. Eating with old friends, new friends, colleagues, chefs and family. Eating to forget, eating to hold onto the best of times.
I landed on Italian soil twice this year. Piemonte will become the home away from home (Dubai) as Mrs EatGoSee and I purchased a house in Monferrato kicking off a three to five-year restoration project of an old Italian villa. We toured Langhe, Monferrato, Alba, Barolo and more. Ein Prosit in Udine will forever live in my mind as one of my favourite culinary eating events. We nipped over to Slovenia for lunch (as you do). I pressed my feet into Sri Lanka’s beaches and slurped butter out of the sweetest crab just as Sri Lanka’s latest woes came to the forefront. South Ari Atoll in the Maldives proved as breathlessly beautiful as I hoped.
We watched the inaugural MENA 50 Best Awards come to Abu Dhabi, where I proudly attended in person admiring chefs and restaurants that I know and love collecting their much-deserved awards. For one night, they basked in the appreciation and recognition of their peers and friends. The UAE would host not just one but two Michelin Guides; the only Michelin Guides in the Middle East and North Africa – so far. You sense that more Guides are just around the corner (but where? Tel Aviv, maybe?).
With all this, I present a balanced list of my most memorable meals together with the places I return to time and time again. An alloy of 2022’s highs and the most frequented across five countries. Note: each restaurant appears in alphabetical order, not in order of preference.
I landed on Italian soil twice this year. Piemonte will become the home away from home (Dubai) as Mrs EatGoSee and I purchased a house in Monferrato kicking off a three to five-year restoration project of an old Italian villa. We toured Langhe, Monferrato, Alba, Barolo and more. Ein Prosit in Udine will forever live in my mind as one of my favourite culinary eating events. We nipped over to Slovenia for lunch (as you do). I pressed my feet into Sri Lanka’s beaches and slurped butter out of the sweetest crab just as Sri Lanka’s latest woes came to the forefront. South Ari Atoll in the Maldives proved as breathlessly beautiful as I hoped.
We watched the inaugural MENA 50 Best Awards come to Abu Dhabi, where I proudly attended in person admiring chefs and restaurants that I know and love collecting their much-deserved awards. For one night, they basked in the appreciation and recognition of their peers and friends. The UAE would host not just one but two Michelin Guides; the only Michelin Guides in the Middle East and North Africa – so far. You sense that more Guides are just around the corner (but where? Tel Aviv, maybe?).
With all this, I present a balanced list of my most memorable meals together with the places I return to time and time again. An alloy of 2022’s highs and the most frequented across five countries. Note: each restaurant appears in alphabetical order, not in order of preference.
2022’s Best Meals and Restaurants: Dubai, the United Arab Emirates
Avatara. Chef Rahul Rana steps into his own spotlight opening Dubai’s only fine-dining Indian vegetarian restaurant. Bang on trend as the world becomes more plant-based. Avatara’s light touch across a glut of courses at a more accessible price point vs some of its peers. Think cucumber granita with beetroot sorbet in a light buttermilk broth, passion fruit palate cleansers and a latticed dal vada with mouth-puckering lime pickle. Impeccable plating, naturally. Accolades came swiftly, including a Michelin recommendation within months of opening. I sent countless friends to Avatara who came back singing its praises. Reservations are essential. You can read a more detailed review about Avatara here.

Lowe. Lucky for me, Lowe is only down the road. Lucky to have such accomplished cooking within reach. Lucky to know it exists, as Lowe is decidedly off the beaten track. I come to Lowe on my own, with Mrs EatGoSee, with out-of-towners, friends and work colleagues. People who leave it to me. Lowe’s woodfire cooking pre-dates the rash of Dubai restaurants catching onto the global trend. Lowe’s cuisine is hard to pin down but contemporary and outward-looking it is both accurate and opaque in equal measure. The woodfire sesame flatbread with aubergine, seaweed and zaatar dip sounds straight out of Dr Seuss. So much of this bread was consumed in 2022, it’s become my new blood type together with their soft cheese gelato and other dishes that rotated off the current menu. MENA 50 Best awards and a Michelin Green star followed. People are catching onto Lowe’s casual but calculated cooking. Reservations are advisable. You can read a more detailed review about Lowe here.

Ossiano. Ossiano would be a homage to tourist trap restaurants in the wrong hands. A seafood restaurant inside a totemic resort designed to emulate the lost city of Atlantis. The same restaurant is placed inside an aquarium on Palm Jumeirah. However, the Ossiano team (headed, again, by Gregoire Berger) innovates, stays service-focused and produces sublime cooking, earning Ossiano one of Dubai’s Michelin Stars (arguably should be two?) and Sommelier of the Year. Honestly, I am rarely excited about French cooking. Yet, 2022’s Metanoia menu featured produced some provocative, standout dishes such as the Brittany brown crab (which I am still trying to decipher months later), the jellyfish with dill oil, a plump rabe de Brest scallop and a bouncy langoustine with clay-coated potatoes that danced the line between cooked and raw. Ossiano hosted standout collaborations with Frantzen, Paco Morales, Odette and Pujol. Reservations are essential. You can read a more detailed review about Ossiano here.

Tacos Los Hermanos / Neighbourhood Food Hall. It’s not all fine dining. There are weekends when I sneak off to Neighbourhood Food Hall to eat what I believe are the best tacos in town. Tacos Los Hermanos is owned by brothers who make fresh corn tortillas: some carne asada, birria tacos and more. The guacamole is so rich and creamy that, when applied to the face twice a day, it restores a youthful glow. There are other outlets in Neighbourhood Food Hall that equally deserve your attention (The Meating Point, Authentic Ceylon), but Tacos Los Hermanos is my favourite place to start (and end). No reservations, just roll up. In sweats. You can read a more detailed review here about Tacos Los Hermanos and Neighbourhood Food Hall.

Three by Eva. Dubai is saturated with Levantine restaurants dolling out glossy mounds of fattoush, boulders of falafel and slick stacks of grapevine leaves. Some great, some good. Three by Eva pulls off a trick of serving delicious homestyle dishes cooked with flair in a modern, casual space. I am not the only one coming here. The ground floor and outside terrace heave with locals and residents alike ordering fresh bread, fried cauliflower drizzled with tahini and trembling bowls of shakshuka. Come for the grilled sea bass and make sure you leave with a loaf of their fresh-baked house bread. Reservations are advisable. You can read a more detailed review here about Three by Eva.

Tresind Studio. Long-time followers would expect nothing less. Tresind Studio continues to churn out some of Dubai’s best dishes. Tresind Studio pioneers modern Indian cuisine in both the Middle East and globally. One of barely a dozen Indian restaurants in the world with a Michelin star. Let that sink in. The Tasting India menu stood out for its framing and exploration of regional Indian cuisine – a model that sets them up for deeper excavations of regional cuisine going forward. Yours truly also wrote the forward on the menu (in full disclosure). Awards came calling in 2022: #4 MENA’s 50 Best, 1 Michelin Star (when it should be two), #57 in Worlds 50 Best and #66 Top Best Chefs. The world now knows what we’ve enjoyed for years. Tresind Studio could retire now, but you sense that the best is yet to come from chef Himanshu Saini and his team. Reservations essential. You can read a more detailed review here about Tresind Studio here.

21 grams. The success of a modern Balkan restaurant in Dubai seems too tenuous to be true. Unlicensed, no major marketing campaign, no major hotel backing, a (challenging) relocation and the small matter of a pandemic that should have put 21 grams into past tense quite some time back. Yet, 21 grams endures and perseveres for multiple reasons but not least of all because it nails the essentials. Honest food, sincere service and the ability to capture lightning in a bottle. Or in a burek, or flaky honey, goat’s cheese phyllo pie. Even chilled cherry juice. Plates of wagyu cevapi kebabs buttressed with blush pickled onions, sarma cabbage rolls brimming and rich liver pate all served by a team who bring dishes and leave kindness. 21 grams is to be adored as Dubai’s standout soul kitchen. Just roll up. You can read a more detailed review here about 21 grams.
Lowe. Lucky for me, Lowe is only down the road. Lucky to have such accomplished cooking within reach. Lucky to know it exists, as Lowe is decidedly off the beaten track. I come to Lowe on my own, with Mrs EatGoSee, with out-of-towners, friends and work colleagues. People who leave it to me. Lowe’s woodfire cooking pre-dates the rash of Dubai restaurants catching onto the global trend. Lowe’s cuisine is hard to pin down but contemporary and outward-looking it is both accurate and opaque in equal measure. The woodfire sesame flatbread with aubergine, seaweed and zaatar dip sounds straight out of Dr Seuss. So much of this bread was consumed in 2022, it’s become my new blood type together with their soft cheese gelato and other dishes that rotated off the current menu. MENA 50 Best awards and a Michelin Green star followed. People are catching onto Lowe’s casual but calculated cooking. Reservations are advisable. You can read a more detailed review about Lowe here.
Ossiano. Ossiano would be a homage to tourist trap restaurants in the wrong hands. A seafood restaurant inside a totemic resort designed to emulate the lost city of Atlantis. The same restaurant is placed inside an aquarium on Palm Jumeirah. However, the Ossiano team (headed, again, by Gregoire Berger) innovates, stays service-focused and produces sublime cooking, earning Ossiano one of Dubai’s Michelin Stars (arguably should be two?) and Sommelier of the Year. Honestly, I am rarely excited about French cooking. Yet, 2022’s Metanoia menu featured produced some provocative, standout dishes such as the Brittany brown crab (which I am still trying to decipher months later), the jellyfish with dill oil, a plump rabe de Brest scallop and a bouncy langoustine with clay-coated potatoes that danced the line between cooked and raw. Ossiano hosted standout collaborations with Frantzen, Paco Morales, Odette and Pujol. Reservations are essential. You can read a more detailed review about Ossiano here.
Tacos Los Hermanos / Neighbourhood Food Hall. It’s not all fine dining. There are weekends when I sneak off to Neighbourhood Food Hall to eat what I believe are the best tacos in town. Tacos Los Hermanos is owned by brothers who make fresh corn tortillas: some carne asada, birria tacos and more. The guacamole is so rich and creamy that, when applied to the face twice a day, it restores a youthful glow. There are other outlets in Neighbourhood Food Hall that equally deserve your attention (The Meating Point, Authentic Ceylon), but Tacos Los Hermanos is my favourite place to start (and end). No reservations, just roll up. In sweats. You can read a more detailed review here about Tacos Los Hermanos and Neighbourhood Food Hall.
Three by Eva. Dubai is saturated with Levantine restaurants dolling out glossy mounds of fattoush, boulders of falafel and slick stacks of grapevine leaves. Some great, some good. Three by Eva pulls off a trick of serving delicious homestyle dishes cooked with flair in a modern, casual space. I am not the only one coming here. The ground floor and outside terrace heave with locals and residents alike ordering fresh bread, fried cauliflower drizzled with tahini and trembling bowls of shakshuka. Come for the grilled sea bass and make sure you leave with a loaf of their fresh-baked house bread. Reservations are advisable. You can read a more detailed review here about Three by Eva.
Tresind Studio. Long-time followers would expect nothing less. Tresind Studio continues to churn out some of Dubai’s best dishes. Tresind Studio pioneers modern Indian cuisine in both the Middle East and globally. One of barely a dozen Indian restaurants in the world with a Michelin star. Let that sink in. The Tasting India menu stood out for its framing and exploration of regional Indian cuisine – a model that sets them up for deeper excavations of regional cuisine going forward. Yours truly also wrote the forward on the menu (in full disclosure). Awards came calling in 2022: #4 MENA’s 50 Best, 1 Michelin Star (when it should be two), #57 in Worlds 50 Best and #66 Top Best Chefs. The world now knows what we’ve enjoyed for years. Tresind Studio could retire now, but you sense that the best is yet to come from chef Himanshu Saini and his team. Reservations essential. You can read a more detailed review here about Tresind Studio here.
21 grams. The success of a modern Balkan restaurant in Dubai seems too tenuous to be true. Unlicensed, no major marketing campaign, no major hotel backing, a (challenging) relocation and the small matter of a pandemic that should have put 21 grams into past tense quite some time back. Yet, 21 grams endures and perseveres for multiple reasons but not least of all because it nails the essentials. Honest food, sincere service and the ability to capture lightning in a bottle. Or in a burek, or flaky honey, goat’s cheese phyllo pie. Even chilled cherry juice. Plates of wagyu cevapi kebabs buttressed with blush pickled onions, sarma cabbage rolls brimming and rich liver pate all served by a team who bring dishes and leave kindness. 21 grams is to be adored as Dubai’s standout soul kitchen. Just roll up. You can read a more detailed review here about 21 grams.
With their powers combined, this collab was always going to be on this list. Pitfire is Dubai’s best pizza and I’m remorseless in throwing that down. Moreish by K is a flavour-forward alchemist born of supper clubs but whose roots and branches know no bounds.
2022’s Best Meals and Restaurants: International
Hisa Franko, Slovenia. What struck me most about Hisa Franko is the pivot from the heavier menu I enjoyed in 2020. It could be due to the seasons; it could be Leonardo Fonseca’s influence. Either way, overlooking the Slovenian countryside, slurping Slovenian wine (superb by the way, where can we get some in Dubai?!) and settling into Hisa Franko’s Reincarnations menu was one of 2022’s loftiest highlights. Ana Ros toured us around the Hisa Franko property: wine cellars, gardens and even a private trout tank, such is their love for local produce. Deft touches amplified by a funky wine pairing, but do not sleep on the juice pairing with mouth-puckering fermentations. Reservations are essential. You can see more about Hisa Franko here.

L’Orto, Bahrain. I came to Bahrain looking for something memorable and I found it tearing into plump culurgiones and chilled Fiano. L’Orto by Susy Massetti is a modern Italian restaurant with an eye to seasonality and regionality but also modernising classics. The end result is special. The locally-sourced ingredients from a farm 20 minutes away means the separate seasonal menu is where you should focus your gaze (but check out L’Orto’s a la carte menu). The service team are approachable and there’s plenty of wine available by the glass (including by coravin). Susy’s energy is infectious and you can’t help but want to come back here. Reservations are advisable. You can read a more detailed review here about L’Orto here.

La Braja, Italy. To eat at La Braja is to step back in time. A father-son duo run the floor of L Braja’s spacious and somewhat antiquated restaurant. La Braja turns out accomplished cooking mostly focusing on Piemontesi classics: vitello tonnato, bright yellow tajarin with rabbit ragu and supple grilled lamb chops. The cheese trolley is wheeled out with great ceremony that stretches a smile across your face. La Braja charms with its twee decor and classic Italian charisma. I feel very lucky to have this restaurant near our Italian home. Reservations are advisable.

Lido 84, Italy. Last year’s lunch at Lido 84 was one of 2021’s best meals without a shadow of a doubt. Dinner would be no different. Green tomato and pistachio-stained fusilloni, hearty oxtail agnolotti in chanterelles consommé and pressed veal kidneys lovely prepared. The service is impeccable. Inexplicably, Lido 84 is a modern Italian restaurant remarkably only 1 Michelin star, which says more about Michelin if you ask me. It was the World’s 50 Best’s One to Watch and, at this time of hitting publish, no 8 in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants. Reservations essential. You can read a more detailed review about Ristorante Lido 84 here.

Ministry of Crab, Sri Lanka. The Ministry of Crab eluded me during my first visit to Colombo but not the second time. Remarkably low-key, almost canteen-style dining but smartened up with some glossy woods and oversized design choices. Ministry of Crab infamously churns out prehistoric-sized crabs judiciously cooked and seasoned in coronary-inducing levels of butter. What’s not to like? Eat enormous prawns, zesty oyster shows and enjoy brisk bottles of sparkling Italian Ferrari. You can read a more detailed review about the Ministry of Crab here.
L’Orto, Bahrain. I came to Bahrain looking for something memorable and I found it tearing into plump culurgiones and chilled Fiano. L’Orto by Susy Massetti is a modern Italian restaurant with an eye to seasonality and regionality but also modernising classics. The end result is special. The locally-sourced ingredients from a farm 20 minutes away means the separate seasonal menu is where you should focus your gaze (but check out L’Orto’s a la carte menu). The service team are approachable and there’s plenty of wine available by the glass (including by coravin). Susy’s energy is infectious and you can’t help but want to come back here. Reservations are advisable. You can read a more detailed review here about L’Orto here.
La Braja, Italy. To eat at La Braja is to step back in time. A father-son duo run the floor of L Braja’s spacious and somewhat antiquated restaurant. La Braja turns out accomplished cooking mostly focusing on Piemontesi classics: vitello tonnato, bright yellow tajarin with rabbit ragu and supple grilled lamb chops. The cheese trolley is wheeled out with great ceremony that stretches a smile across your face. La Braja charms with its twee decor and classic Italian charisma. I feel very lucky to have this restaurant near our Italian home. Reservations are advisable.
Lido 84, Italy. Last year’s lunch at Lido 84 was one of 2021’s best meals without a shadow of a doubt. Dinner would be no different. Green tomato and pistachio-stained fusilloni, hearty oxtail agnolotti in chanterelles consommé and pressed veal kidneys lovely prepared. The service is impeccable. Inexplicably, Lido 84 is a modern Italian restaurant remarkably only 1 Michelin star, which says more about Michelin if you ask me. It was the World’s 50 Best’s One to Watch and, at this time of hitting publish, no 8 in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants. Reservations essential. You can read a more detailed review about Ristorante Lido 84 here.
Ministry of Crab, Sri Lanka. The Ministry of Crab eluded me during my first visit to Colombo but not the second time. Remarkably low-key, almost canteen-style dining but smartened up with some glossy woods and oversized design choices. Ministry of Crab infamously churns out prehistoric-sized crabs judiciously cooked and seasoned in coronary-inducing levels of butter. What’s not to like? Eat enormous prawns, zesty oyster shows and enjoy brisk bottles of sparkling Italian Ferrari. You can read a more detailed review about the Ministry of Crab here.
2022’s Best Meals and Restaurants: Collabs
Agli Amici / Osteria Gucci / Le Calandre. For a week, Agli Amici on the outskirts of Udine, Italy hosted a series of collaborations including none other than the global Osteria Gucci team by Massimo Bottura (most with 1 Michelin Star) and a separate four hands with Le Calandre, three Michelin stars. Agli Amici’s service is second to none with sublime cooking and one of the best plates of pasta to ever pass these lips. Osteria Gucci impressed with the ever-bombastic Massimo Bottura swirling between tables. Massimiliano Alajmo’s team at Le Calandre served impactful dishes such as saffron liquorice risotto and a cow’s shine bone of beef marrow that would make Fred Flintstone weep. The collaborations with Osteria Gucci and Le Calandre were seamless with a clear identity of the other kitchens and warm comradery. You can read a more detailed review about Agli Amici here.

Ossiano x Pujol collab. I am accepting accusations of recency bias as this collab is still ongoing as hit publish. Elite-level collabs come together like a zip’s teeth where up close scrutiny cannot distinguish one chef from the other. Dust this with some fun and an Alsacean Riesling Grand Cru that Mrs EatGoSee and I woke up talking about this morning. Ossiano’s tender and rich smoked octopus with seaweed mole stood out. Pujol’s smoked tuna which, in a blind tasting, you could convince me was crispy pancetta. A trio of amuse-bouche snacks culminating in glazed baby corn lacquered with mole and studded with ants. Yes, ants. A grand way to see out 2022 after a strong year of collabs at Ossiano.

Pitfire x Moreish by K collab. With their powers combined, this collab was always going to be on this list. Pitfire is Dubai’s best pizza and I’m remorseless in throwing that down. Moreish by K is a flavour-forward alchemist born of supper clubs but whose roots and branches know no bounds. Pulled beef, goat’s cheese and acacia honey samosas paved the way for the Allota Burrata pizza with Pitfire’s signature sturdy blistered base. Milky burrata with toasted almonds, sauteed onions and more. The Kinky Keema pizza layered meaty lamb mince with ground pistachios, ricotta and candied orange peel as a homage to Eid al Adha taking place at that time. The Pitfire team may well be reading this so I will take this as an opportunity to remind them that these pizzas should make a reappearance, soon.

Tresind Studio x Suhring collab. One December in 2019, I travelled to Bangkok hoping to get a table at Suhring and, alas unsurprisingly, it was full. COVID passed and I hoped that, when Thailand re-opened, I would return to finish what I started. Luckily, Suhring came to Dubai hosted by the ever-excellent Tresind Studio. Suhring presented a standout wild turbot with courgette, mussels and osteria caviar (wow!) and aalsülze, smoked eel gelee and pike roe (among other dishes). Tresind Studio met the tone with a Dibba oyster and raw mango pani puri with green curry kombucha (fresh, delicious) and red shrimp with homemade sambal chilli, applewood chutney and finger lime as my favourite dishes. You can read a more detailed review about Tresind Studio here.
Ossiano x Pujol collab. I am accepting accusations of recency bias as this collab is still ongoing as hit publish. Elite-level collabs come together like a zip’s teeth where up close scrutiny cannot distinguish one chef from the other. Dust this with some fun and an Alsacean Riesling Grand Cru that Mrs EatGoSee and I woke up talking about this morning. Ossiano’s tender and rich smoked octopus with seaweed mole stood out. Pujol’s smoked tuna which, in a blind tasting, you could convince me was crispy pancetta. A trio of amuse-bouche snacks culminating in glazed baby corn lacquered with mole and studded with ants. Yes, ants. A grand way to see out 2022 after a strong year of collabs at Ossiano.
Pitfire x Moreish by K collab. With their powers combined, this collab was always going to be on this list. Pitfire is Dubai’s best pizza and I’m remorseless in throwing that down. Moreish by K is a flavour-forward alchemist born of supper clubs but whose roots and branches know no bounds. Pulled beef, goat’s cheese and acacia honey samosas paved the way for the Allota Burrata pizza with Pitfire’s signature sturdy blistered base. Milky burrata with toasted almonds, sauteed onions and more. The Kinky Keema pizza layered meaty lamb mince with ground pistachios, ricotta and candied orange peel as a homage to Eid al Adha taking place at that time. The Pitfire team may well be reading this so I will take this as an opportunity to remind them that these pizzas should make a reappearance, soon.
Tresind Studio x Suhring collab. One December in 2019, I travelled to Bangkok hoping to get a table at Suhring and, alas unsurprisingly, it was full. COVID passed and I hoped that, when Thailand re-opened, I would return to finish what I started. Luckily, Suhring came to Dubai hosted by the ever-excellent Tresind Studio. Suhring presented a standout wild turbot with courgette, mussels and osteria caviar (wow!) and aalsülze, smoked eel gelee and pike roe (among other dishes). Tresind Studio met the tone with a Dibba oyster and raw mango pani puri with green curry kombucha (fresh, delicious) and red shrimp with homemade sambal chilli, applewood chutney and finger lime as my favourite dishes. You can read a more detailed review about Tresind Studio here.
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