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FoodDubai

by Dara Morgan

Eat the Fish. Save the Planet. Shop a Bit While You Are There

21 Jul 2025

There are many things one expects to find in a shopping mall. Dubai chocolate. Labubu. Possibly a rogue child screaming about Lego. What one doesn't usually expect is a full-blown, head-to-tail sustainable seafood ecosystem.
And yet, here we are.
John Dory Seafood Market, now open at The Market Island in Dubai Festival City Mall, isn't just a place to eat. It is a place to contemplate your relationship with mackerel, to appreciate the subtlety of French oysters selected through blind tastings, and to leave clutching a beautifully packaged fish pâté you never knew you needed.
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What is there, exactly?

The concept is simple: use the whole fish, waste nothing, and make it look fabulous. Naturally, it involves dry-ageing, flame-grilling, ethical sourcing, and a dedicated craft zone (yes, really). You could be forgiven for thinking you had wandered into an art gallery curated by Poseidon and a very stylish nutritionist.
Founded by Arseni Tsiutsiunnik and Eugene Halavach, who began this fishy tale in a garage in Eastern Europe (because all good modern empires begin in garages), John Dory has grown into something Dubai has apparently been crying out for: a luxury seafood experience with a conscience and kombucha on tap.
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At the heart of the business is a set of deeply earnest beliefs: traceability, flavour, transparency, and not binning the fish heads. Fish are sourced from suppliers so pristine and specific they probably have their own therapist. The tuna comes from the Seychelles. The oysters from France. The sea bass and sea bream are Greek, naturally. Every scale, fin and tail is accounted for, which is more than one can say about your average brunch buffet.

From open flame to fridge shelf

The menu at John Dory Seafood Bar reads like a love letter to the ocean, translated by a very fashionable chef. There is Galician-style octopus, dry-aged tuna steaks, and king crab croquettes that may prompt you to re-evaluate your life choices. All cooked over an open flame, because seafood deserves a bit of drama too.
Meanwhile, John Dory Street Food offers up a menu for those in a hurry — perhaps en route to Sephora — but who still wish to be ethically nourished. The tuna cheeseburger is unsettlingly good. The octopus hot dog is a conversation starter. The bouillabaisse is French, portable, and oddly reassuring.
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But the real sleeper hit here is the John Dory Seafood Store, a place where you may, quite unexpectedly, find yourself spending 40 AED on smoked trout because it looks chic in the fridge. This is seafood retail as lifestyle aspiration. There is salmon wellington for the oven, shepherd’s fish pie, and canned delicacies in tins you will definitely pretend to have brought back from a French coastal village.
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The future of seafood

So, if you are tired of pretending your sea bass knows where it came from, or if you are simply in the market for a fish pie that tells a story, John Dory may be your new spiritual home. Just don't call it a restaurant. It is an ecosystem, thank you very much.
And frankly, if the world is going to end in a sea of rising temperatures and microplastics, we may as well go out with a spoonful of smoked pâté and a biodynamic kombucha in hand.