It’s a wrap: The 2017 JLT Restaurant Awards - #JLTdiningAwards2017

The inaugural JLT Restaurant Awards are over and we would like to thank all our partners, sponsors, and participating restaurants for helping us to make this event phenomenally successful!

We created the JLT Restaurant Awards to showcase the variety and quality of the eateries in this Dubai neighbourhood – nowhere else can you find this many different restaurants in one area. We wanted to recognize the passion, sweat, and efforts put in by the many independent restaurants in JLT and let them get the recognition they deserve.

Of course, we were also curious to see which restaurants were most popular among JLTians – residents, office workers, and visitors in JLT, the DMCC regulated free zone in the heart of new Dubai.

2017 JLT Restaurant Awards facts:

• There were 16 publicly voted categories in the 2017 JLT Restaurant Awards. JLT-based restaurants, bars, and cafes nominated themselves for one or several categories during September 2017. Public online voting took place from 1st – 31st October 2017. In total, we received 74 nominations, which attracted 7,894 public online votes. Online voting was supervised by our legal partner, Bird & Bird.
• There were also three additional categories, which were awarded by our expert panel of chefs and restaurant industry experts: Best Overall, Best Newcomer, and Most Unique Concept. You can find out more about our panel of judges on our blog.
• Following the close of online voting, we announced the top three restaurants in each category on our blog. Our expert judges then scrutinized all shortlisted restaurants to determine the winner and runner-up for each category.
• The inaugural JLT Restaurant Awards were open to all restaurants, cafes, and bars located in JLT, with the exception of international fast food franchises. We don’t like plastic food.

Best Overall	Best Newcomer	Most Unique Concept
Winner: Bait Maryam	Winner: Le Petit Belge	Winner: Bait Maryam
Runner-Up: Mythos	Runner-Up: Wolf & Friend Lounge	Runner-Up: Café Funkie Town

Publicly-voted categories

Best Brunch	Best Service	Best Bar
Winner: Little Lahore	Winner: La Cantina Cafe	Winner: McGettigan’s JLT
Runner-Up: McGettigan’s JLT	Runner-Up: Ayubowan	Runner-Up: Couqley French Bistro and Bar

Best Café	Best Chinese	Best European (Licensed)
Winner: Own Cafe	Winner: Blue Sapphire	Winner: Couqley French Bistro and Bar
Runner-Up: Public Cafe	Runner-Up: Wokyo	Runner-Up: Mythos

Best European (Unlicensed)	Best Healthy	Best Middle Eastern
Winner: Labbys The Hellenic House	Winner: Richy’s	Winner: Bait Maryam
Runner-Up: Pizzaro	Runner-Up: Mambo Gourmet Pizza	Runner-Up: Own Cafe

Best North Indian	Best American-style Pizza	Best Italian-style Pizza
Winner: Chawlas2	Winner: Pitfire Pizza Dubai	Winner: Mambo Gourmet Pizza
Runner-Up: 800Thali	Runner-Up: Wolf & Friends Lounge	Runner-Up: Pitfire Pizza Dubai

Best South East Asian	Best Street Food	Best Sweet Tooth	Best Other
Winner: Betawi Cafe	Winner: Ayubowan	Winner: The Cake Lab	Winner: Ayubowan
Runner-Up: Wokyo	Runner-Up: Wokyo	Runner-Up: Il Donaccino	Runner-Up: Wolf & Friends Lounge

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