Bar of the month: La Mezcaleria

This cool rooftop bar is one to keep your eye on…

Walking into La Mezcaleria at The Oberoi in Business Bay is a strange sensation. You zoom up to the 27th floor in a lift and walk into the bar and you feel like you’re inside. But then, seconds later, you get a whiff of fresh air and you feel like you’re outside. The glass walls go up and then simply end, leaving the roof open, but still enabling the heaters to keep you warm in winter (or fans to keep you cool in summer, we presume). It’s a clever trick to pull off at this fantastic rooftop bar with a view of the Burj Khalifa.

The crowd inside this chic Mexican-inspired bar from Beirut is glam, gorgeous and well-dressed, but they want to have fun, as well as be seen. It was jammed the Tuesday night we dropped in, so grab a seat where you can and get friendly with the people next to you.

The music was fun, particularly a Spanish version of Bob Marley’s One Love with a dance groove underneath. The restaurant is named after mezcal – a Mexican distilled drink made from agave – and many of the signature cocktails serves variations of standard drinks using mezcal as its base.

Elegant platters of Mexican food were far more than just bar nibbles, with the sweet guacamole with mango and grapefruit (Dhs65), and lobster taco with tempura crisps and Asian coleslaw (Dhs130) all standing out. But the pacha-mama quesadillas (Dhs95), a blue corn truffle with mushrooms, zucchini blossoms and roasted poblano were perhaps the best quesadillas we’ve ever had in Dubai. So tasty, in fact, that we ordered another portion immediately after.

La Mezcaleria, The Oberoi, Business Bay, Sun to Thur and Sat 5pm to 3am, Fri 1pm to 3am. Tel: (050) 4234044. @lamezcaleriadxb