Whether it’s eye-balls replacing ice cubes in your drink, a vampire costume replacing your elegant tux, or a murder mystery replacing movie night, there’s something out there for everyone to enjoy Halloween.
Halloween is right around the corner, and since you’re probably over the age of 11, you’re probably not going to go trick or treating so we’ve got together our top picks of grown up ways to celebrate the spooky holiday.
Hi Five Restaurant & Lounge
Holiday Inn Express, Dubai Internet City
Described as the “Working week retreat” the rooftop bar Hi Five is a top choice for those of us dashing out the office and taking the edge off the week. With its international food and laid back atmosphere, it’s the perfect place for a Halloween celebration that isn’t too intense.
The bar is Halloween-ifying its menu with a host of spooky brunch offerings and inventive cocktails. Drinks such as Grave Digger (made with elderflower syrup, blackberries, rosemary syrup and lemon juice) the Black Widow punch (made with lemon juice, blackberries, rosemary syrup, honey, bitter orange and soda), Black Magic (made with chocolate syrup and expresso) and a bloody Shirley Temple.
Priced at AED 169 per person, the Thursday night brunch features black chicken wings, bloody finger hot dogs, black bun beef burgers and more. The brunch is made up of unlimited food and drink and runs from 6:30-9:30pm or 7:30-10:30pm.
The bar, which boasts views of uptown Dubai and The Palm, will be redecorated accordingly for the scary season, and there will also be ‘Halloween entertainment’ of house music. There’s also a fancy-dress competition giving a chance to bag a free brunch.
Check out the website here.
Black Tap
Jumeirah Al Naseem, Rixos Premium Dubai JBR and InterContinental Dubai Festival City
NYC-inspired Black Tap is a bar with a focus on big burgers that are impossible to finish with an intact white t-shirt. However, the chain’s milkshake selection is just as grand and ridiculous, in fact they’re named ‘CrazyShakes’ rather than milkshakes.
In honour of the spooky season, Black Tap is giving you an excuse to skip trick or treating entirely has this milkshake is loaded with more candy than any Halloween haul. The Halloween CrazyShake is a chocolate milkshake with a vanilla frosted rim, finished with candy corn, a chocolate spider web cupcake, orange rock candy, whipped cream, sprinkles, chocolate sauce, and an orange twisty pop.
Priced at AED 69, it’s far cheaper than any social media agent to give your Instagram account a massive boost.
Check out the website here.
The Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) hotel
Port Rashid Marina
QE2 is offering up a Halloween-themed brunch, which is family-orientated, and a ‘Haunted Tour’ which is very much not.
The QE2 Halloween Brunch will offer a host of themed foods, including jelly spiders, smoking dishes, grisly fingers, eyeballs, pumpkin carvings and more. The crew and live band will also be dressed up for the occasion, and there’s a ‘haunted ghost hall’ aimed at children.
For AED 295 per person, you can enjoy this brunch as well as house beverages. At 225 these become soft beverages. For an additional AED 55, children can take part in the tour below decks while adults can enjoy free-flowing drinks.
There are also deals for both couples and families to combine a night’s stay in a standard room, breakfast, the Halloween brunch and the haunted tour. This is priced at AED 699 and 999 respectively.
The Project Rising Star tour is an interactive Halloween experience below decks. Lasting from October 17 to November 2, the hotel is offering up a mystery tour experience under the hotel, with a different level of horror depending on the level you pick.
The brunch takes place on Friday 1 November, 1pm – 4pm GST.
Check out the website here.
The Smash Room
Umm Suqeim St
If you’re looking to release some pent up anger this Halloween, look no further than The Smash Room, one of the few spaces you’ll be praised for smashing things to pieces.
From October 20 to November 2, The Smash Room is offering the Halloween Package, priced at just AED 197, it will include protective shoes, glasses and clothing to wear, and give you the chance to bash up some old electronics with a choice of weapons. Participants are allowed to destroy things like old TVs but also can bring in some of their own items to get turned into a pulp.
As part of the spooky season too, if you turn up to the venue in a scary costume, you’ll be entered into the #SpookySmash competition on Instagram, giving participants with the best Halloween costume an opportunity to win a voucher worth AED 500 to be spent at The Smash Room.
Check out the website here.
UFC Gym
JBR, Business Bay
If the majority of Halloween celebrations are a bit too indulgent for your liking, why not head over to the UFC Gym for some frightening fitness?
Members and non-members alike are encouraged to head down to the gym in their best Halloween costume on October 30 for a chance to win some prizes. Prizes for the best dressed fitness freak include a free membership for a month and 20% discounts on six and 12-month memberships.
The event is open to both adults and children, with timings varying on which location you pop into.
UFC’s JBR spot will run the adult session at 7pm and the youth at 5:30pm. UFC’s Business Bay location will run the adult session at 7:30pm and the youth at 5:30pm.
Check out the website here.
LAH LAH, and Social Company
Zabeel House by Jumeirah
Social Company
From October 31 to November 2, both of these super trendy venues will be kitted out in true Halloween fashion, with a complete spooky overhaul.
Both venues will be offering Halloween-inspired food and drink including the Zombie, Melted Witch Martini and Monster Mash Margarita. There will also be deserts such as pumpkin pie, Witch’s Fondant Cauldron and Devil’s Bloodbath.
LAH LAH will be offering up a Friday brunch which will consist of cocktails, cupcakes and themed decor. Social Company on the other hand has a children’s play area, along with prizes for kids in the best Halloween costume. That being said, adults alike are encouraged to wear their best costumes at either venue.
LAH LAH
LAH LAH offers edgy pan-Asian vibes in its bar and kitchen, with minimalist furniture and colours. Social Company is a more hip dining experience, think bold pattern, comfy chairs, sofas to sink into, and more open spaces to lay back and relax. Both venues offer a very much welcomed air of relaxation, it’s not a stuffy enivronment as a lot of nice hotels can be, it’s laid-back and easy to settle in to.
Social Company’s menu consists of things like sandwiches, burgers, wraps, pasta and fish and chips. It’s a bit more rustic and tradtional than LAH LAH’s flashy affair. The pan-Asian option offers the likes of phad thai, gyoza, BBQ ribs and peking duck.
Check out the website here.
Perry & Blackwelder’s
Souk Madinat Jumeirah
One of the first culinary establishments in Dubai, Perry & Blackwelder’s is Dubai’s trailblazing smokehouse and BBQ joint. In Halloweeen spirit, the soulfull Southern spot will be dressing both its staff and restaurant in suitable festive attire. Kids that turn up in Halloween costumes will also receive a free mini burger and face painintg on arrival.
From October 31 to the following day, the Dubai staple will offer a themed-menu featuring a variety of tongue-in-cheek dishes. For AED 99, you can get chili scream fries, Texas Chainsaw nachos, P&B witches wings, P&B mozzarella broom sticks and black bun beef burger sliders. For AED 120 you can add on shrimp bloody poppers and mozzarella broom sticks. Finally for AED 150 you can add a selection of BBQ meat, popcorn bites and crackling.
There’s also a selection of cocktails such as the Screwed Up Screw Driver, Lychee Eyeball Martini and the Witch’s Heart, all priced at AED 49.
The venue will also bring in the three-piece band Limited Edition to play some accoustic pop, classic rock, soul, reggae, R&B and hip-hop.
Check out the website here.
A.E.R.
Emirates Financial Tower
A.E.R. – also known as ‘An Experience to Remember’ – is one of the newest openings here in Dubai, swinging open its doors to customers only this late-September. It’s a seriously luxurious bar and lounge, with a keen focus on offering sublime international cuisine and crazy cocktails. It features an uber chic and modern interior, with plush furniture and glitzy decor. It’s also the longest bar in Dubai at a whopping 100 ft.
As part of Halloween, the newly-opened bar is offering both a business lunch and dinner party. The lunch will take place on Thursdays from 12pm to 4pm, priced at AED 129 without beverages and AED 199 with beverages. The dinner runs from 9pm till 12am and offers unlimited food and drink for just AED 299.
The menu has everything from gold-leaf sushi, to posh pasta, to steak tartare and burgers. There’s even a dedicated ‘shisha artist’!
Check out the website here.
Texas de Brazil
Mall of Emirates
Texas de Brazil is an international franchise, and for good reason because the food is top notch. Offering up generous helpings of American-Brazilian grub, you can go to Texas de Brazil to get some at-the-table service like having a massive bit of meat sliced up front in front of your eyes. The speciality of this place is undeniably its selections of meats, from filet mignon, to sausage, to steaks, to flame-grilled chickens. If however you need something lighter so you can slip into your Halloween costume, there’s a range of salads.
The steakhouse is encouraging guests to get creative with their Halloween attire on Thursday, 31st October 2019 between the hours of 1 PM to 5 PM at both the Mall of Emirates and YAS Mall locations. The best dressed family get the chance to win a table with complimentary food and drinks and a 25 percent off voucher to use on their next visit to Texas de Brazil.
Check out the website here.
