A newly built heritage waterfront on the Creek that is honest about being new, and rather good in the evening.
Al Seef opened in 2017 along 1.8 kilometres of the Bur Dubai bank of the Creek, and it is a piece of designed heritage: coral-effect render, wind towers, narrow shaded lanes and antiqued doors, built from scratch on reclaimed frontage.
It is not a restoration and nobody involved claims otherwise. Ten minutes upstream, Al Fahidi is the genuine article, and comparing the two is instructive — the real quarter is scruffier, quieter, hotter and considerably more interesting.
Taken as what it is, Al Seef works. The lanes are shaded, the waterfront is walkable, and on a winter evening with the dhows going past it is one of the pleasanter places in the city to spend two hours.
The two halves
The heritage section at the northern end is the wind-tower quarter — lanes, courtyards, small shops, Emirati and Levantine restaurants, and a few craft stalls.
The contemporary section to the south is a modern promenade of glass and steel with international chains, a floating market on barges, and a hotel.
Eating
A long run of restaurants along the water, mostly regional: Lebanese, Emirati, Iranian, Turkish, plus the usual international names. Prices are mid-range and the terraces face the Creek.
Arabian Tea House has a branch here. Al Fanar does Emirati cooking — machboos, harees, luqaimat — in a reconstructed 1960s setting, and is a reasonable introduction to a cuisine that is otherwise hard to find in restaurants.
Getting there
The abra stops at Al Seef, which is much the best arrival. The walk from Al Fahidi metro is about ten minutes, unshaded in parts.
What it tells you
Al Seef is worth thinking about rather than just walking through. Dubai demolished most of its old fabric during the boom, saved Al Fahidi by a narrow margin in 1989, and has since built several developments in the style of what it knocked down.
Whether that is cynical, sentimental or simply pragmatic is an open question. The city itself is fairly relaxed about it: the past here is a design choice among others, and Al Seef does not pretend to be a survival.
