I dined at Manao 24 hours before they won their first Michelin star. I’m not saying that had anything to do with it, but I’m not saying it didn’t either.

Manao is the love child of Chefs Abhiraj Khatwani and Mohammed Orfali – an unlikely duo, tackling an even more unlikely cuisine.

This is an Indian chef, partnering with a Syrian chef, to deliver Michelin standard Thai cusine. Only in Dubai.

Truth be told, Abhiraj has been cooking Thai since his Yellow Monkey days, and he’s grown since then. His cooking is much more refined, considered.

The dishes always had confidence and great flavour, but in Manao, with Orfali’s input, there is more refinement and sophistication.

For the few that aren’t familiar with Manao, they serve a Thai inspired set menu of 11 courses.

The Serb and I arrived for a midweek date and the first bite, took the Serb’s breath away. Quite literally.

I’d forgotten her ‘delicate’ Balkan palate, so the sour relish on the charred cabbage miang took her by surprise.

She recovered - in time for the dessert.

We opted for the drinks pairing as well – best decision of the night. House drinks like jackfruit Kvass and roasted barley and coffee tepache elevated the menu.

But my favourite was the banana kombucha. Even though staff had warned it was an off-menu experiment, the Serb kept looking at the menu trying to find it.

As politely as possible, I reminded her it wasn’t there. For the third time. She fixed me with a Slavic stare and gently said, “I don’t like your attitude.”

My Kombucha froze almost instantly.

The rest of the dishes went by in a delicious blur of flavours, textures and stories.

Shout out to the coconut short rib for the amazing textures, the sour curry for its…sourness and the thai banoffee bite for everything else.

It is an exceptionally good menu. Quantity, pacing, flavours - they were all on point.

Special shout out to the poor server who patiently listened to my story of why Thai cuisine punches above its weight on the world stage; his encourgaing nods were perfectly timed.

Congrats to the entire team for their well deserved Michelin star - that I had nothing to do with. Less