Dubai Chocolate: Where to Find the Real Thing in the City That Started It All

May 24
3 min read

Updated: May 25

A rich chocolate dessert — The viral "Dubai chocolate" turned a local bar into a global obsession. (Representative image.)

The most famous chocolate bar on the planet was invented right here in Dubai. You’ve seen it a thousand times on your feed — the dramatic snap, the river of green pistachio, the shattering crunch. What a lot of people outside the UAE don’t realise is that the whole craze started in our city.

So let’s settle it once and for all: what “Dubai chocolate” actually is, how to get the original, and where to find a very good dupe when the real thing sells out (it always sells out).

What exactly is “Dubai chocolate”?

Close-up of chocolate — A thick chocolate shell hiding pistachio cream and crispy kataifi. (Representative image.)

At its heart it’s simple: a thick milk-chocolate shell filled with sweet pistachio cream and crispy kataifi — the fine, shredded pastry used to make knafeh — usually loosened with a little tahini. Bite in and you get smooth, nutty and shatteringly crunchy all at once. It’s a love letter to a classic Middle Eastern dessert, dressed up as a chocolate bar.

The original: FIX Dessert Chocolatier

Pistachios, the star ingredient — Pistachio is the soul of the bar — and the reason it sells out in minutes. (Representative image.)

The bar that started it all is the playfully named “Can’t Get Knafeh of It” from FIX Dessert Chocolatier, the Dubai brand founded by Sarah Hamouda. It launched quietly back in 2022 and then, in 2023–24, exploded across social media into a worldwide phenomenon.

Getting one is half the fun and half the frustration. FIX sells through timed daily drops on a delivery app (at the time of writing, via Careem), with order windows going live in the early afternoon and evening — and selling out fast. As of May 2026, a mixed box runs to a few hundred dirhams and smaller boxes start lower, but prices and the ordering app change often, so check before you buy.

Half the magic of the original is the chase — set an alarm, open the app, and may the fastest thumbs win.

The knafeh roots — taste the real thing too

Traditional kunafa dessert — Before the chocolate bar, there was knafeh — sticky, cheesy and crowned with kataifi.

The bar is a tribute, so it’s worth tasting its inspiration. Traditional knafeh — warm, stretchy cheese under a crown of golden kataifi soaked in sugar syrup — is on menus all over the city. Wander the Arabic dessert spots around Al Seef and Global Village (in season) and you’ll see where the whole idea began.

Can’t get a drop? The best dupes

The good news: the craze spread so fast that you no longer need to win the app lottery to taste it. Across Dubai you’ll now find:

Supermarket bars — big chocolate brands released their own pistachio-kataifi versions you can grab off the shelf.
Café & chocolatier riffs — dozens of local spots now do a “Dubai-style” bar, slice or even a latte.
Budget in-store versions — smaller shops sell a pistachio-knafeh bar for just a few dirhams.
Make it at home — kataifi, pistachio cream and a bar of good chocolate is all it takes.

Are they identical to the original? No. Are most of them genuinely delicious? Absolutely.

Why it’s a little bit special that it’s ours

Here’s the part I love: a homegrown Dubai brand, started by an entrepreneur in this city, created something the whole world now copies. That’s Dubai’s food scene in a nutshell — fearless, global, and always a step ahead. The next viral bite is probably being dreamed up in a kitchen here right now.

Hungry for more? See my guide to the buzziest new Dubai restaurant openings and the best things to do in Dubai this weekend.

Set your alarm, open the app, and good luck. — Angel

Images are CC-licensed and representative of the dessert, not photographs of any specific brand’s product. This article is not affiliated with FIX Dessert Chocolatier; prices and ordering details are accurate as of May 2026 and change frequently — always check the official source.

Cover photo: Dubai chocolate with its pistachio-kunafa filling — Ionenlaser (CC BY 4.0) via Wikimedia Commons. Last updated: 25 May 2026 — refreshed with a new, on-subject cover image.