Updated 9 November 2026
Book Gymkhana Dubai in DIFC if you want dinner built around tandoor dishes, curries and biryani. Choose 99 Sushi Bar at its new Creek Harbour address if you want a late table with a published tasting-menu cutoff. Try Keanu’s in Jumeirah 2 if you want sourdough pizza and can take a chance on a walk-in table. These three restaurants opened or moved in 2026. Choose based on whether you need a reservation, a particular menu or room to decide on the night. Gymkhana’s DIFC listing · 99 Sushi Bar Dubai · Visit Dubai’s Keanu’s listing
| Dinner plan | New address | Late booking detail |
|---|---|---|
| Indian mains, bread and rice | Gymkhana Dubai, Gate Village 7, DIFC | Dinner to 1 am. A covered terrace table showed at 11:30 pm for two on 7 Nov. Confirm the menu. |
| Sushi à la carte or a tasting menu | 99 Sushi Bar, Address Creek Harbour | Tasting last order 10:45 pm. A table for two showed at 11:30 pm for à la carte on 7 Nov. |
| Walk-in sourdough pizza | Keanu’s, Al Wasl Road, Jumeirah 2 | Venue profile lists Tuesday to Saturday from 5 pm until late. Call for the last pizza order. |
Gymkhana Dubai for dinner as the main event
The Dubai restaurant is at Gate Village Building 7, DIFC. DIFC announced a 1 September 2026 opening and confirmed the restaurant was operating in its 7 September update. The restaurant lists dinner until 1 am. Its own page gives a 6 pm start, while DIFC’s listing gives 6:30 pm. On 7 November, the public reservation page showed an 11:30 pm Covered Terrace option for two. That showed a possible seating time for that date. Ask what you can order at that hour and how long the host will hold the table if you’re coming from another event. Call +971 4 575 4974 or use the Dubai booking page. Make sure you’re on the Dubai menu before comparing dishes or booking. The Dubai branch’s Instagram preview shows warm picture lighting against ribbed wood and arched glass. DIFC opening announcement · DIFC’s current restaurant listing · Gymkhana’s Dubai hours · Gymkhana Dubai reservations · Gymkhana’s interior preview
The à la carte menu makes sense if each person has one or two things they want to try. Ask about imli black cod with peanut chutney for a fish main with a tamarind note, or goat shank nihari if you want something to eat with bread. Jackfruit ghee roast is another Dubai addition, and Makhmali king crab gives a seafood table a second direction. The wider menu includes chaat, regional curries, tandoor dishes and biryani. For two people, start with one starter and agree whether to share a main and rice before adding several larger plates. If peanuts or other allergens matter, tell the kitchen when booking and again before ordering. Gymkhana Dubai menus · DIFC restaurant listing
If you’re choosing a dish from the London menu and one from the Dubai kitchen, Visit Dubai identifies tandoori masala lamb chops and chicken butter masala as familiar signatures. Dubai additions include Chettinad duck dosa and a rasmalai with Emirati qishta. That gives a group two ways to build dinner. Share a tandoor dish alongside a Dubai main, or make the local additions the focus and ask what bread or rice works with the sauces. If dessert matters, check how late you can order it, especially when reserving the last tables of the evening. Visit Dubai’s Gymkhana dining details
If you want the tasting menu, ask for its latest seating specifically. A restaurant open until 1 am can stop starting longer meals earlier. If your evening starts elsewhere and you won’t arrive until late, check when the kitchen takes its last à la carte order and how long the host will hold the table.
Gymkhana spans two floors and has a terrace. DIFC lists a private dining space for up to 14 seated guests. If you’re booking a celebration, ask whether your dinner is a standard table or a private booking, and check which menu applies. For two people booking late, ask for the last à la carte seating first and choose the dining section once you know you can order. DIFC restaurant and private dining details · Gymkhana reservations
99 Sushi Bar for dinner in its new Creek Harbour room
99 Sushi Bar moved from Downtown to Address Creek Harbour in autumn 2026. The group announced the new restaurant for October. Use the Creek Harbour hotel and Al Kheeran First when you share the address. The UAE account’s late-October reel names the new hotel and shows the dining room with shaded table lamps and a deep red banquette. If you want a particular view, ask the host which tables are in the dining room and which are on the terrace. A reservation for the restaurant gives you a location for the meal. The section you request determines where you’ll spend it. Operator’s October announcement · Dubai location and timetable · Official Creek Harbour reel
Pick the menu before you pick the time
The Aki seasonal tasting menu lists 10:45 pm as its last order. The food menu is AED 1,399 net per couple, including VAT, municipality fee and service. The sequence includes hotate maki with king crab, the 99 Flag gunkan with toro, caviar and uni, and Atlantic blue lobster with shichimi. Calamansi and peach kakigori finishes the menu. It suits two people who want to make the meal the centre of the evening. If you’re coming from a show that ends around 10:30 pm, make dinner the earlier booking or ask about an à la carte table after the show. Even a short journey leaves little margin for a tasting order at 10:45. 99 Sushi’s official Aki menu and cutoff
The restaurant lists midnight closing Sunday to Thursday and 1 am Friday and Saturday. On Saturday, 7 November, the booking screen for two showed 10:45 pm for both tasting and à la carte. It then showed à la carte options at 11 pm, 11:15 pm and 11:30 pm. Use the category name when you book. Those times were visible for one date and party size. If the late slots work on your date, ask when you’ll need to place the food order, especially if the group will arrive separately. 99 Sushi’s Dubai hours · Exact Creek Harbour reservations
For an à la carte dinner, the yellowtail carpaccio at AED 155 has 12 cuts with jalapeño and ponzu. Pair it with wagyu gyozas at AED 110, Temptsuyu maki at AED 110 for six pieces and scallop flambé nigiri at AED 70 for two pieces. That gives two people a mix of raw fish, warm dumplings, a roll and a piece of nigiri each. The listed food subtotal is AED 445. The menu includes VAT and municipality fee in its listed prices and adds 10% service, giving AED 489.50 for these dishes with service. For a slower dinner, you could order another course once the first plates arrive. At a late table, ask how soon the kitchen needs the entire order. 99 Sushi’s Dubai à la carte menu
Keanu’s for a walk-in pizza in Jumeirah 2
Keanu’s Neighborhood Pizzeria opened next door to Three by Eva in 2026, at 23B Villa 7, Al Wasl Road, Jumeirah 2. This is the one to try if the evening can accommodate a walk-in. The venue’s own profile lists Tuesday to Saturday from 5 pm until late. That gives you a day and a start time. For a late visit, call +971 50 382 8528 and ask when they stop taking pizza orders and whether there’s a queue. If someone in the group is coming only for the pizza, make that call before you ask them to cross town. Keanu’s official hours · Visit Dubai’s address and walk-in details
Start with the sourdough. Visit Dubai describes a three-day fermentation and names La Clandestina, a marinara with San Marzano tomato sauce and rose petals, and Polpetta Romana, which takes its cue from meatball parmigiana. For two people sharing, those pizzas give you a tomato-led pie and a meatball pie without ordering variations of the same topping. If you’re hungry enough to start immediately, see whether the daily bruschetta or burrata is available. For dessert, ask about the house tiramisu before committing to a second pizza. The public sources give the dishes, and you can check the current menu prices when you arrive. Visit Dubai’s food and venue guide
The official reel by the pizzeria and Lilian Rihani shows scissors over a pizza with a blistered edge. Its caption calls that pizza Cecina and says it sits outside the regular lineup. If the video sends you there for that pie, ask for it by name. For a group with a short evening, choose something from the current menu first and treat a special as an extra if it’s available. That keeps dinner viable when the oven is nearing its last orders. Keanu’s and Lilian Rihani’s Cecina reel
Decide how much of a wait the group can use
For two people already in Jumeirah 2, walking over makes sense when dinner time is flexible. A group arriving from different districts has more to coordinate. Visit Dubai describes indoor seating and one outdoor communal table. If you need seats together or a quieter place to talk, ask what’s free before asking everyone to join the queue. If you have to be somewhere by a fixed time, tell the host when you need to leave and ask about both the table wait and the time from ordering to the first pizza. Visit Dubai’s seating and walk-in information
The pizzeria also has DJs on select evenings. Ask which dates have music if that is part of the plan. Share Keanu’s, Villa 7 as the meeting point. Three by Eva is next door, so a map pin alone can send a late arrival to the neighbouring restaurant. Keanu’s location and evening format
Make the dinner booking fit the rest of your night
If you’re coming after a performance, allow for the time it takes to leave the hall, meet your ride and get to the restaurant. If it brings you to 99 Sushi after 10:45 pm, check the later à la carte bookings. For a late Gymkhana table, check whether you can still order the tandoor dishes or biryani that prompted the visit. Give the host your expected arrival time when you ask about the kitchen. A table booked for 11:30 pm is useful only if the food you came for is still available.
If friends will arrive in two waves, decide whether the first arrivals will start eating or wait. For a tasting menu, tell the restaurant about the split before booking and ask what happens if somebody misses the cutoff. If everyone would rather share a pizza when they finally meet, try Keanu’s once the last arrival can reach Jumeirah 2 while the kitchen is taking orders. If you need a confirmed table, look for a reservation at Gymkhana or an available à la carte slot at 99 Sushi and confirm the actual food window. 99 Sushi’s booking options · Keanu’s walk-in details
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