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Bait Maryam

Dubai

A cosy home away from home

On the Pass

Salam Dakkak

Origin story: Salam Dakkak opened Bait Maryam in Dubai’s residential Jumeirah Lakes Towers district in 2017. Bait means home in Arabic and Maryam is a tribute to the chef’s mother and inspiration behind the restaurant. Touches of home are everywhere from the wooden tables, vintage crockery and traditional ceramic tiles to the warm, familial service and of course, the food. 

Tribute to regional cuisine: Bait Maryam offers dishes that pull from the shared Levantine culinary traditions that mothers and grandmothers have been placing on dining tables of homes across Lebanon, Syria and Jordan for generations.

A twist on tradition: Along with classic regional dishes in their original form, diners at Bait Maryam will be greeted with Dakkaks interpretations of traditional dishes, creating signatures including her renowned fattet musakhan, a dish of chicken, sumac and onions bathed in garlic-infused yoghurt and topped with crispy shards of fried Arabic bread; and Maryam fukhara made with quenelles of spiced ground meat, onions, bulgur wheat and pine nuts that are cooked in a thick tamarind-based sauce.

A taste of home: In a market that is populated by expats who are often separated from their families, Dakkak has created a sanctuary of sorts where diners who long for a taste of home and comfort can come and feel welcome, irrespective of where they come from.

Palestine on a plate: Fiercely proud of her heritage, Dakkak says her biggest achievements are that Bait Maryam is being recognised as a Palestinian restaurant and that she is helping to introduce Palestinian cuisine to the world.

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