★★★ Michelin · Progressive Indian Tasting Menu · St. Regis Gardens, Palm Jumeirah
By Monty Khas, Anonymous Critic. Pays every bill.
In May 2025, something happened that Indian food lovers had been waiting decades for. Trèsind Studio, chef Himanshu Saini's tasting-menu restaurant in Dubai, became the first Indian restaurant anywhere in the world to earn three Michelin stars. In the 2026 guide it held on to all three. If you've ever wondered what Indian cooking looks like when it's given the full fine-dining treatment, this is the place.
The room
Trèsind Studio sits in the hanging gardens of the St. Regis at the top of Palm Jumeirah's trunk. It's intimate: only a handful of tables face an open kitchen and pass, so you watch every plate come together. Before dinner, guests gather at the Papadom Botanic Bar for a drink and a first bite.
The menu
There's no à la carte here, and no printed menu up front. Dinner is a surprise tasting menu of many small courses that travels through four regions of India. Before each chapter, a map arrives at the table to show where you're headed next. It's a clever way to tell the story of a country whose food changes every few hundred miles.
The dishes are playful and precise. Crab cooked in ghee and spices arrives on a piece of cinnamon bark, perfuming the table. Lobster is served in an Alleppey curry, the coconut-rich style of Kerala's backwaters. One of the most memorable moments is a tribute to the sadya, the vegetarian harvest feast Keralites serve on a banana leaf, reimagined as a fine-dining course. There's theater too, including dry-ice flourishes, but the flavors stay unmistakably Indian.
Vegetarians are well looked after: a fully vegetarian menu is available, and the kitchen can lean the standard menu heavily vegetarian on request.
Before you go
Trèsind Studio serves dinner Monday through Saturday in two seatings and is closed on Sundays. Bookings go directly through the restaurant, and tables are scarce, so plan well ahead.
Why it matters
For years, Indian food was underrated at the very top of global fine dining. Trèsind Studio changed that for good. It's a celebration of regional Indian cooking, delivered with confidence, wit and technique that stands with the best restaurants in the world. If you're going to splurge on one meal in Dubai, make it this one.
The Quick Fix
What to order: The full surprise tasting menu; the vegetarian menu if you prefer; a pre-dinner drink at the Papadom Botanic Bar
Pricing: Top-tier splurge. This is a once-in-a-while, plan-the-trip-around-it dinner.
Best for: Milestone celebrations, bucket-list eaters, serious food travelers and anyone who wants to see Indian cooking at its most ambitious
How it compares: The most acclaimed Indian restaurant in the world right now; more theatrical than Jamavar; more expansive than Avatara's all-vegetarian menu
See where Trèsind Studio ranks: The Best Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi Restaurants in Dubai: Our Top 10 for 2026
The food was always this good. We're just paying attention.