Two years after its inception, the Dubai chocolate trend is showing no signs of slowing down.
Characterized by a mixture of pistachio, chocolate and crispy kataifi (finely shredded phyllo dough), the combination first went viral in December 2023 when Dubai-based food influencer Maria Vehera reviewed a Fix Dessert Chocolatier chocolate bar on TikTok. The under-two-minute video has amassed 7.5 million likes and created a food trend that continues today.
On Nov. 6, BJ’s Restaurant launched its Dubai chocolate Pizookie for a limited time. The dessert is made with Ghirardelli chocolate chunks, vanilla bean ice cream topped with a crackable chocolate shell, pistachio sauce and toasted kataifi. It also debuted its Dubai chocolate espresso martini, made with vodka, pistachio syrup and nitro-infused espresso served in a chilled martini glass drizzled with pistachio sauce and rimmed with chocolate fudge and kataifi.
It’s not just BJ’s jumping on the Dubai chocolate trend this month; Baskin-Robbins is too. The ice cream chain announced that its November flavor of the month is its pistachio chocolate bar ice cream, a mix of pistachio and chocolate ice creams with pistachio pieces and chocolate crunch swirls.
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Enjoy it by the scoop, or incorporated into Baskin-Robbins’ Dubai chocolate sundae (three scoops layered with hot fudge and kataifi, topped with pistachio sauce, whipped cream, fudge drizzle and kataifi) or Dubai chocolate shake (pistachio chocolate bar ice cream blended with milk and pistachio sauce in a cup drizzled with chocolate and topped with whipped cream, pistachio sauce and kataifi).
Even coffee chains have recently joined the Dubai chocolate craze. Peet’s Coffee launched its Dubai style chocolate matcha on Nov. 6 as part of its holiday collection. The matcha latte is made with pistachio flavor and housemade chocolate sauce and topped with a matcha foam cream top and crunch salted caramel crunch.
Most recently, cookie chain Crumbl launched its Dubai chocolate cheesecake on Nov. 10, after the success of its Dubai chocolate brownie, which dropped Aug. 18. The newer item, which is currently available, features a chocolate cheesecake on a chocolate graham crust, topped with kataifi and pistachio filling, a drizzle of pistachio cream and a dollop of whipped cream.
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Over the summer, chains such as Shake Shack, Paris Baguette and Nick the Greek all launched limited-time Dubai chocolate menu items.
