Kabab Erbil: 23 Years on Al Muraqqabat Street
Mohammed Azad · July 28, 2026
Mohammed Azad · July 28, 2026
In 2003, Al Muraqqabat Street looked nothing like it does now. Fewer towers, fewer signs, and far fewer restaurants. That's the year Azad Omar opened Kabab Erbil.
He'd come from northern Iraq — Erbil and Kirkuk — and what he brought with him wasn't a business plan so much as a way of cooking.
Kabab Erbil isn't only a brand. It's a dish.
In northern Iraq, kebab is made differently from the Turkish and Levantine versions most people in the Gulf know. The lamb is minced coarsely rather than to a paste. Nothing is added to bind it — no breadcrumb, no egg. It holds together on the skewer through hand-pressing and the correct ratio of fat, and nothing else. You can taste the difference in our charcoal grills.
Naming the restaurant after the city was a statement about method, not marketing.
Somewhere in the last two decades, most grill kitchens in Dubai moved to gas. It's cleaner, faster, cheaper to staff, and the difference is invisible on a menu.
We didn't.
The grill still runs on charcoal, and masgouf is still cooked beside an open wood fire for two to three hours. It means someone stands at the fire through the entire service. It means the kitchen is hotter and the prep is longer.
Charcoal produces a crust and a smoke that gas cannot reproduce. That's the whole argument, and it's the reason the decision has never seriously been revisited.
The restaurant is run today by Mohammed Azad, Azad's son.
What changed: two branches instead of one, a Sharjah kitchen on Al Taawun Street, delivery across most of Dubai, and online ordering.
What didn't: the grill, the wood fire, the fact that the lamb is minced in-house every morning, and the recipes. You can read more about the food in our guide to Iraqi food in Dubai.
Al Muraqqabat has changed around us. The Metro arrived. The buildings went up. The neighbourhood filled with restaurants, most of which have opened and closed in the time we've been here. We wrote a whole guide to eating in Al Muraqqabat if you want to explore it.
There's a particular kind of customer who has been coming since the early years — Iraqi families who arrived in Dubai around the same time we did. Some of them now bring children who weren't born when we opened.
That's the part you can't build with marketing.
Deira: 10 Al Muraqqabat Street, near Union Metro · +971 4 272 0843 — branch details
Sharjah: Al Taawun Street, Al Khalidiya · +971 6 565 8255 — branch details
Daily 9:00 AM – 3:00 AM · 100% halal, no alcohol.
See the full story, browse the menu or order online.
Further reading: UNESCO — Erbil Citadel World Heritage listing.