My hunt for good Levantine cuisine took me to the doorsteps of Bait Maryam. Located in the foodie hub of JLT in Dubai, Bait Maryam is chef Salam Dakkak’s tribute to her late mother’s cooking. It is a family-run restaurant where the mother is the chef.
Named after chef Salam’s mother, Bait Maryam in Arabic means ‘Maryam’s home’. The restaurant has a home-like vibe and home style food. The personal attention given by chef and her children to each and every guest, completely won us over.
The minute we entered the venue, we didn’t feel like we were in a restaurant, we felt like we were in someone’s living/dining room. The interiors are thoughtfully and tastefully done. Everything from menu cover to tableware and furniture looks inviting.
As soon as we sat down, we were offered Rose Water as our welcome drink along with Olives and fresh Bread right out of the oven. We also ordered Orange Juice and Green Apple Juice to drink.
Bait Maryam’s menu features breakfast items as well as salads, cold and hot mezze, manakeesh, grill, fatat, mains and desserts. As a vegetarian I was pleased with the many veg options in their menu.
Some of the dishes that we had:
- As always we started our meal with a salad and this time we tried the refreshing Maryam Salad. It had rocca, beetroot mixed with yogurt and lemon juice.
- Potato Harra is a simple dish and you cannot go wrong with it.
- Spinach Fatayer was crisp and tasty.
- Hummus was fresh, simple and delicious.
- Zaatar & Cheese Manakeesh was Baked to perfection.
- I’ve always tried Fatet Eggplant, at Bait Maryam for the first time I tried the utterly delightful Fatet Vegetables. It had a medley of veggies topped with yogurt, garlic and fried bread. Absolutely loved the dish.
- Another amazing and comforting dish was lentil based Horaa Osbaoo.
- If you love cauliflower then their Cauliflower with Tahina is worth ordering. The combo of fried cauliflower mixed with creamy tahina sauce was outstanding.
- Their dessert menu offers many sweet delicacies, but we were already full and wanted to have something light. So we had their dessert of the day which was a light and moist Vanilla Cake with strawberries.
- We ended our lunch with a pot of Black Tea.
Overall, we had a fantastic dining experience. It was one of the best Levantine meal we’ve had in Dubai. The food made with fresh produce and high quality ingredients was excellent. The atmosphere, the service and the hospitality was great too. Bait Maryam is a foodie gem which is worth visiting.
Phone: 04 526 9165
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