Standout mansaf
Mansaf is repeatedly praised, with one diner calling it “the best in town” after trying it elsewhere.
Khbz & zaad
The Sustainable City
Khbz & Zaad is a Levantine restaurant in The Sustainable City, known for Palestinian and Jordanian dishes alongside breakfast and baked goods. Reviews particularly highlight the mansaf, maklouba and generous breakfast tray, with a relaxed setting that suits families and weekend meals.
Reputation Score
4.2
★★★★☆
230 ratings
Source: Google Maps
The Good Stuff
Breakfast tray
The breakfast tray includes bottomless freshly baked bread, with the eggs, falafel, hummus and other items all praised in one review.
Excellent maklouba
One customer described the maklouba as the best they had ever eaten and said they did not want the dish to end.
Fresh baking
The pastries and baked goods are described as delicious and unusually soft, making them appealing for takeaway too.
Quiet seating
Outdoor seating has been described as especially quiet, even when the food was drawing strong praise.
Family friendly
A reviewer found the location and seating well suited to families eating with younger children.
Flexible kitchen
The chef has been praised for welcoming suggestions and special requests, which can help when ordering for a group.
What to Eat at Khbz & zaad How we choose these items We use AI to find praise and criticism of specific foods and drinks in a selection of Google reviews. For Khbz & zaad, this list is based on 50 reviews, not every review of the restaurant. The score is positive reviews minus negative reviews. For example, two positive reviews and one negative review give +1. Each review counts once per item; neutral comments do not change the score. A zero score is not a positive recommendation. “Only neutral feedback” means there are no positive or negative votes. “Mixed feedback” means equal numbers of positive and negative votes. The quotes are examples of what people said, not every comment we counted. We use different reviews where we can. We normally show up to 10 foods and 5 drinks with non-negative scores. Items with the same score stay together. If a tied group would go past the limit, that group and the lower non-negative scores go into Honorable mentions. If an overflowing positive top tie would leave the list empty, we show up to 10 items from that tie and keep the rest in Honorable mentions. Foods and drinks with a negative score are under What to Avoid. Use this as a guide to what reviewers liked, not a guarantee that you will like it too.
Foods and drinks mentioned in reviews of Khbz & zaad, ranked by positive reviews minus negative reviews. Zero-score items have no net positive feedback; their labels distinguish neutral-only from mixed feedback.
Food 10
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Boneless chicken Net +1
“The boneless chicken is incredible, the zaatar manakeesh wonderful, humous, tabouleh and moutabel - all great. Grilled halloumi also very good.”
Positive 1Negative 0
Review excerpts
“The boneless chicken is incredible, the zaatar manakeesh wonderful, humous, tabouleh and moutabel - all great. Grilled halloumi also very good.”November 2019
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Breakfast tray Net +1
“We went in the morning and ordered the breakfast tray. It came with bottomless, freshly baked fluffy bread. *Every* single thing on that tray was excellent- the fried eggs, falafel, hummus, halloumi, labneh, foul, and perhaps the best halawa we’ve ever had. All washed down with a delicious pot of tea. The service from the waiting staff was excellent too- as soon as we were done with one plate, it was taken away. What a winner!”
Positive 1Negative 0
Review excerpts
“We went in the morning and ordered the breakfast tray. It came with bottomless, freshly baked fluffy bread. *Every* single thing on that tray was excellent- the fried eggs, falafel, hummus, halloumi, labneh, foul, and perhaps the best halawa we’ve ever had. All washed down with a delicious pot of tea. The service from the waiting staff was excellent too- as soon as we were done with one plate, it was taken away. What a winner!”January 2025
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Butter chicken Net +1
“The rice and lamb was very nice as was the butter chicken and assortment of salads and mezzes. The choice of main courses was limited but tasty non the less.”
Positive 1Negative 0
Review excerpts
“The rice and lamb was very nice as was the butter chicken and assortment of salads and mezzes. The choice of main courses was limited but tasty non the less.”May 2019
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Chicken liver Net +1
“The chicken liver was served slightly cold, and the bread was very soft.”
Positive 1Negative 0
Review excerpts
“The chicken liver was served slightly cold, and the bread was very soft.”June 2021
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Chicken shawarma platter Net +1
“We ordered a chicken shawarma platter, kibbeh, tabbouleh and stuffed grape vine leaves. Overall the quality of the food is good and, in fact it is better than a lot of the middle eastern food I have had outside of the Middle East. That’s good praise for a local community restaurant. But it is not the best Lebanese food I’ve had in Dubai.”
Positive 1Negative 0
Review excerpts
“We ordered a chicken shawarma platter, kibbeh, tabbouleh and stuffed grape vine leaves. Overall the quality of the food is good and, in fact it is better than a lot of the middle eastern food I have had outside of the Middle East. That’s good praise for a local community restaurant. But it is not the best Lebanese food I’ve had in Dubai.”March 2019
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Egg and cheese manakeesh Net +1
“Amazing food, I tried the egg and cheese manakeesh and for 12 dhs it was on a whole another level. I expected that they would charge way more. Better than the one I always go to.”
Positive 1Negative 0
Review excerpts
“Amazing food, I tried the egg and cheese manakeesh and for 12 dhs it was on a whole another level. I expected that they would charge way more. Better than the one I always go to.”December 2018
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Fatteh hummus Net +1
“We always come here for the amazing fatteh hummus and today we decided to try the fig salad and falafel and we were very happy.”
Positive 1Negative 0
Review excerpts
“We always come here for the amazing fatteh hummus and today we decided to try the fig salad and falafel and we were very happy.”February 2023
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Fig salad Net +1
“We always come here for the amazing fatteh hummus and today we decided to try the fig salad and falafel and we were very happy.”
Positive 1Negative 0
Review excerpts
“We always come here for the amazing fatteh hummus and today we decided to try the fig salad and falafel and we were very happy.”February 2023
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Grilled halloumi Net +1
“The boneless chicken is incredible, the zaatar manakeesh wonderful, humous, tabouleh and moutabel - all great. Grilled halloumi also very good.”
Positive 1Negative 0
Review excerpts
“The boneless chicken is incredible, the zaatar manakeesh wonderful, humous, tabouleh and moutabel - all great. Grilled halloumi also very good.”November 2019
-
Humous Net +1
“The boneless chicken is incredible, the zaatar manakeesh wonderful, humous, tabouleh and moutabel - all great. Grilled halloumi also very good.”
Positive 1Negative 0
Review excerpts
“The boneless chicken is incredible, the zaatar manakeesh wonderful, humous, tabouleh and moutabel - all great. Grilled halloumi also very good.”November 2019
Honorable mentions (17)
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Jabna mannaish Net +1
“We love to go there friendly staff and tasty food. Jossiel is so wonderful greeting us all the time whether we are dinning or just passing by, my kids love the Jabna Mannaish we come every weekend to get it, I hope they just do it like before with jabna nabulsi.”
Positive 1Negative 0
Review excerpts
“We love to go there friendly staff and tasty food. Jossiel is so wonderful greeting us all the time whether we are dinning or just passing by, my kids love the Jabna Mannaish we come every weekend to get it, I hope they just do it like before with jabna nabulsi.”February 2023
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Lentil soup Net +1
“Ad lentil soup is very authentic and tasty as well.”
Positive 1Negative 0
Review excerpts
“Ad lentil soup is very authentic and tasty as well.”February 2023
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Maklouba Net +1
“OH MY GOD ! Hands down the best best maklouba I had in my entire life !! It is so perfectly done you never want your dish to finish 🤤❤️. Must try !”
Positive 1Negative 0
Review excerpts
“OH MY GOD ! Hands down the best best maklouba I had in my entire life !! It is so perfectly done you never want your dish to finish 🤤❤️. Must try !”November 2023
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Manakeesh Net +1
“The manakeesh are always really good.”
Positive 1Negative 0
Review excerpts
“The manakeesh are always really good.”February 2023
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Mansif Net +1
“Also we tried today Mansif and mussakhen, I wasn’t sure if I will like it but it was tasty and have a feeling of home cook.”
Positive 1Negative 0
Review excerpts
“Also we tried today Mansif and mussakhen, I wasn’t sure if I will like it but it was tasty and have a feeling of home cook.”February 2023
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Moutabel Net +1
“The boneless chicken is incredible, the zaatar manakeesh wonderful, humous, tabouleh and moutabel - all great. Grilled halloumi also very good.”
Positive 1Negative 0
Review excerpts
“The boneless chicken is incredible, the zaatar manakeesh wonderful, humous, tabouleh and moutabel - all great. Grilled halloumi also very good.”November 2019
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Musakhan Net +1
“We ordered the musakhan and shish tawook and they were both super delicious!”
Positive 1Negative 0
Review excerpts
“We ordered the musakhan and shish tawook and they were both super delicious!”January 2023
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Mussakhen Net +1
“Also we tried today Mansif and mussakhen, I wasn’t sure if I will like it but it was tasty and have a feeling of home cook.”
Positive 1Negative 0
Review excerpts
“Also we tried today Mansif and mussakhen, I wasn’t sure if I will like it but it was tasty and have a feeling of home cook.”February 2023
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Rice and lamb Net +1
“The rice and lamb was very nice as was the butter chicken and assortment of salads and mezzes. The choice of main courses was limited but tasty non the less.”
Positive 1Negative 0
Review excerpts
“The rice and lamb was very nice as was the butter chicken and assortment of salads and mezzes. The choice of main courses was limited but tasty non the less.”May 2019
-
Rocca salad Net +1
“The rocca salad was excellent, and the portion was generous.”
Positive 1Negative 0
Review excerpts
“The rocca salad was excellent, and the portion was generous.”June 2021
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Shawarma Net +1
“It changed places (by about 20m) and is now more or less "merged" with Bagels & More (the old place is now Shawarma me). Although there was a noticeable decrease in quality when the previous chef left, it's still good value for money. It offers much more choice than Shawarma Me, I don't know why they took over, we preferred when they had the shawarma themselves so we could order some along with Bagels and other Lebanese things.”
Positive 1Negative 0
Review excerpts
“It changed places (by about 20m) and is now more or less "merged" with Bagels & More (the old place is now Shawarma me). Although there was a noticeable decrease in quality when the previous chef left, it's still good value for money. It offers much more choice than Shawarma Me, I don't know why they took over, we preferred when they had the shawarma themselves so we could order some along with Bagels and other Lebanese things.”February 2023
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Shish tawook Net +1
“We ordered the musakhan and shish tawook and they were both super delicious!”
Positive 1Negative 0
Review excerpts
“We ordered the musakhan and shish tawook and they were both super delicious!”January 2023
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Tabbouleh Net +1
“The tabbouleh salad is crunchy and sings with that signature grassy flavour that comes from a parsley salad. And I do however think something was missing here and I would encourage them to add a little bit more of chopped cucumber or pomegranate seeds to bring a little extra crunch and texture to the dish.”
Positive 1Negative 0
Review excerpts
“The tabbouleh salad is crunchy and sings with that signature grassy flavour that comes from a parsley salad. And I do however think something was missing here and I would encourage them to add a little bit more of chopped cucumber or pomegranate seeds to bring a little extra crunch and texture to the dish.”March 2019
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Tabouleh Net +1
“The boneless chicken is incredible, the zaatar manakeesh wonderful, humous, tabouleh and moutabel - all great. Grilled halloumi also very good.”
Positive 1Negative 0
Review excerpts
“The boneless chicken is incredible, the zaatar manakeesh wonderful, humous, tabouleh and moutabel - all great. Grilled halloumi also very good.”November 2019
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Welcome bread Net +1
“The welcome bread was good with the zaatar on the side. But the meat shawarma was horrible, and the French fries smelled like recycled oil,, won't go again.”
Positive 1Negative 0
Review excerpts
“The welcome bread was good with the zaatar on the side. But the meat shawarma was horrible, and the French fries smelled like recycled oil,, won't go again.”January 2019
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Zaatar manakeesh Net +1
“The boneless chicken is incredible, the zaatar manakeesh wonderful, humous, tabouleh and moutabel - all great. Grilled halloumi also very good.”
Positive 1Negative 0
Review excerpts
“The boneless chicken is incredible, the zaatar manakeesh wonderful, humous, tabouleh and moutabel - all great. Grilled halloumi also very good.”November 2019
-
Zataar and cheese Net 0
Only neutral feedback
“The zataar and cheese was average, it was slightly dry.”
Positive 0Negative 0Neutral 1
What to Avoid (9)
Food 9
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Cold fries Net −1
“I have ordered from there today. As much as the food would have a potential to be good but they ruined it with their stale falafel, cold fries and lamp sandwich. All cold even thou the trip is 5 mins trip from the restaurant to my house.”
Positive 0Negative 1
Critical review excerpts
“I have ordered from there today. As much as the food would have a potential to be good but they ruined it with their stale falafel, cold fries and lamp sandwich. All cold even thou the trip is 5 mins trip from the restaurant to my house.”March 2022
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Fish and rice Net −1
“I ordered the fish and rice, it was extremely oily, it tasted bad, and the quantity was not proportional to the price (thankfully because I had to throw some of the food, couldn’t finish it)!!! it also gave me Severe stomach pain later that day.”
Positive 0Negative 1
Critical review excerpts
“I ordered the fish and rice, it was extremely oily, it tasted bad, and the quantity was not proportional to the price (thankfully because I had to throw some of the food, couldn’t finish it)!!! it also gave me Severe stomach pain later that day.”February 2024
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French fries Net −1
“The welcome bread was good with the zaatar on the side. But the meat shawarma was horrible, and the French fries smelled like recycled oil,, won't go again.”
Positive 0Negative 1
Critical review excerpts
“The welcome bread was good with the zaatar on the side. But the meat shawarma was horrible, and the French fries smelled like recycled oil,, won't go again.”January 2019
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Lamp sandwich Net −1
“I have ordered from there today. As much as the food would have a potential to be good but they ruined it with their stale falafel, cold fries and lamp sandwich. All cold even thou the trip is 5 mins trip from the restaurant to my house.”
Positive 0Negative 1
Critical review excerpts
“I have ordered from there today. As much as the food would have a potential to be good but they ruined it with their stale falafel, cold fries and lamp sandwich. All cold even thou the trip is 5 mins trip from the restaurant to my house.”March 2022
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Meat shawarma Net −1
“The welcome bread was good with the zaatar on the side. But the meat shawarma was horrible, and the French fries smelled like recycled oil,, won't go again.”
Positive 0Negative 1
Critical review excerpts
“The welcome bread was good with the zaatar on the side. But the meat shawarma was horrible, and the French fries smelled like recycled oil,, won't go again.”January 2019
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Mfarkeh egg Net −1
“Food came after more than 90 minutes hot but so dry. 60% of Shakshoka was onion, mfarkeh egg was extremely dry and toasted.”
Positive 0Negative 1
Critical review excerpts
“Food came after more than 90 minutes hot but so dry. 60% of Shakshoka was onion, mfarkeh egg was extremely dry and toasted.”June 2022
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Mixed grill Net −1
“The mixed grill isn't great, i really hope they improve on it. Same with the kibbeh. I also wish they had Shawarma...”
Positive 0Negative 1
Critical review excerpts
“The mixed grill isn't great, i really hope they improve on it. Same with the kibbeh. I also wish they had Shawarma...”November 2019
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Shakshoka Net −1
“Food came after more than 90 minutes hot but so dry. 60% of Shakshoka was onion, mfarkeh egg was extremely dry and toasted.”
Positive 0Negative 1
Critical review excerpts
“Food came after more than 90 minutes hot but so dry. 60% of Shakshoka was onion, mfarkeh egg was extremely dry and toasted.”June 2022
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Stale falafel Net −1
“I have ordered from there today. As much as the food would have a potential to be good but they ruined it with their stale falafel, cold fries and lamp sandwich. All cold even thou the trip is 5 mins trip from the restaurant to my house.”
Positive 0Negative 1
Critical review excerpts
“I have ordered from there today. As much as the food would have a potential to be good but they ruined it with their stale falafel, cold fries and lamp sandwich. All cold even thou the trip is 5 mins trip from the restaurant to my house.”March 2022
Tips for a Better Visit
Confirm dining. If you want to eat in, confirm the current dine-in setup before reserving; one guest arrived to find takeaway only.
Check bills. Review every line of the bill before paying, particularly for larger meals or group orders.
Avoid peak times. Allow extra time during busy periods, or visit outside peak hours, since one order took more than 90 minutes.
Try breakfast. For a morning visit, consider the breakfast tray: it came with bottomless freshly baked bread and a well-liked spread of dishes.
Inspect delivery. Check takeaway food on arrival, as one five-minute delivery was reported to arrive cold.
Plan the visit
Practical details
Wadi Al Safa 7 - The Sustainable City - Dubai
Wadi Al Safa 7 - The Sustainable City, Dubai
| Mon | 7:00 AM – 10:00 PM |
| Tue | 7:00 AM – 10:00 PM |
| Wed | 7:00 AM – 10:00 PM |
| Thu | 7:00 AM – 10:00 PM |
| Fri | 7:00 AM – 10:00 PM |
| Sat | 7:00 AM – 8:00 PM |
| Sun | 7:00 AM – 10:00 PM |
Common Concerns
Billing errors
One customer said the bill was more than AED 1,000 too high and took 20 minutes to correct while the manager argued.
Inconsistent cooking
Fish was reported as extremely dry, then raw on a second attempt; another review described chicken as pink.
Long delays
Service has occasionally been very slow, including a breakfast order that arrived after more than 90 minutes.
Booking confusion
A diner made a reservation but was told on arrival that the branch was takeaway only.
Delivery problems
A short delivery was reported to arrive with cold fries, stale falafel and a cold sandwich.
DXB
LOCAL
LOCAL
The Bottom Line
Khbz & Zaad is a Levantine restaurant in The Sustainable City where breakfast, baked goods and traditional Palestinian and Jordanian food are the main draw. The reviews give the mansaf, maklouba and manakeesh the strongest endorsements, while the breakfast tray stands out for its bottomless freshly baked bread and broad selection of breakfast staples. The setting is described as cozy, bright and family-friendly, with outdoor seating that can be quiet and a location that works well for younger children.
Regulars also mention kind, attentive service, and one review says the chef is open to suggestions or special requests. That makes the restaurant a practical choice for family breakfasts or larger meals when things run smoothly. There are some important inconsistencies.
Several diners found the food fresh and excellent, but others reported dry or raw dishes, oily fish and rice, or cold delivery food. Service has also occasionally taken a long time, especially during busy periods. Confirm that dine-in is available before making a reservation, as one guest was told on arrival that the branch was takeaway only.
Finally, check the bill carefully before paying. One customer said an overcharge of more than AED 1,000 took 20 minutes to resolve. The only clearly reported dish price in these reviews is AED 12 for an egg and cheese manakeesh, so treat older price comments as historical rather than a current menu.