(Bloomberg) -- Orfali Bros. Bistro, a homegrown restaurant in Dubai opened by three Syrian brothers, was named the best restaurant in the Middle East and North Africa Monday by the World’s 50 Best organization.

It’s the second year that the group has published rankings for the region. Once again, Dubai took the most spots on the list with 15, followed by Tel Aviv with six and Amman, Jordan, with five.

“We opened the restaurant not to be No. 1,” Orfali Bros Chef Mohammad Orfali said during the ceremony in Abu Dhabi, thanking the voters. “We opened it just for fun.”

Dubai’s culinary scene is on a hot streak. Once seen as a place where chefs would copy-and-paste successful concepts from other cities, the emirate’s homegrown concepts are finding success — and investors to back them. The city’s tourism agency sponsored its first Michelin star awards last year and published a gastronomy report boasting about its 13,000 food and beverage outlets.

The regional 50 Best accolades are yet another way for chefs to get attention. The restaurants that make the 50 Best lists are often more progressive than those that receive Michelin stars, and there’s not a lot of overlap between the two groups.

The list has been heavy on Asian and other non-Arabic restaurants, something that chefs said they’d like to see change.

“I don’t know what's enough Arabic restaurants,” said Qais Malhas, an owner of Shams El Balad, a restaurant, shop and grocery in Jordan that took No. 29. “Is it 50?”

The brothers behind Orfali Bros. — Omar, Mohammed and Wassim — are from Aleppo, Syria, but they hesitate to classify their food under any particular label. “We represent the new Dubai cuisine,” Mohammed Orfali said in an interview with Bloomberg just after the ceremony.

Like some of the best restaurants in Dubai, Orfali Bros. isn’t licensed to serve alcohol. Orfali said he was inspired by Noma, the famous Copenhagen restaurant, in working on a juice pairing.

Only three restaurants from Lebanon made the list, down from five last year, perhaps a reflection of the economic crisis in the country. Anissa Helou, a food writer, says that the privileged few are acting as if nothing has happened even as some butchers run short of essentials such as lamb. “I was there two or three months ago, and the people who have money have not changed their way of life, it's incredible.” said Helou, who won an icon award on Monday. “But what’s interesting is that the quality is dropping noticeably everywhere.

The World’s 50 Best platform has continued to expand since it started in the UK in 2002, adding lists of regional restaurants and best bars. Next year, the organization will publish a list of the world’s best hotels.

A group of 250 food writers, chefs, foodie influencers and restaurateurs across the Middle East and North Africa region vote for the winners. The voters — who are meant to be anonymous — pick seven restaurants, including at least two outside their own country. Among the rules: They can’t vote for a restaurant in which they have a financial interest. This year, about 35% of regional voters are different than last year’s panel, said William Drew, director of content for World’s 50 Best.

Opa, a restaurant in Tel Aviv, was named “One to Watch.”

Chefs and owners say they experience a boom in business after making one of these lists. 

Here is the full list of 2023 winners:

  1. Orfali Bros Bistro, Dubai, UAE
  2. Trèsind Studio, Dubai, UAE
  3. Fusions by Tala, Manama, Bahrain
  4. Ossiano, Dubai, UAE
  5. 3 Fils, Dubai, UAE
  6. George & John, Tel Aviv, Israel
  7. Kinoya, Dubai, UAE
  8. Fakhreldin, Amman, Jordan
  9. Zooba (Zamalek), Cairo, Egypt
  10. Moonrise, Dubai, UAE
  11. Reif Kushiyaki, Dubai, UAE
  12. Kazoku, Cairo, Egypt
  13. Zuma, Dubai, UAE
  14. OCD Restaurant, Tel Aviv, Israel
  15. Lowe, Dubai, UAE
  16. Baron, Beirut, Lebanon
  17. Gaia, Dubai, UAE
  18. Myazu, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
  19. Tawlet Mar Mikhael, Beirut, Lebanon
  20. Em Sherif, Beirut, Lebanon
  21. LPM Dubai, Dubai, UAE
  22. Sachi Giza, Giza, Egypt
  23. Marble, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
  24. a, Tel Aviv, Israel
  25. Cut by Wolfgang Puck, Manama, Bahrain
  26. Hoseki, Dubai, UAE
  27. La Grande Table Marocaine, Marrakech, Morocco
  28. Coya Dubai, Dubai, UAE
  29. Shams El Balad, Amman, Jordan
  30. Sachi, Cairo, Egypt
  31. Masso, Manama, Bahrain
  32. Animar, Tel Aviv, Israel
  33. Coya Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE
  34. La Closerie, Tunis, Tunisia
  35. 11 Woodfire, Dubai, UAE
  36. Sufra, Amman, Jordan
  37. Iloli, Casablanca, Morocco
  38. LPM Riyadh, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
  39. Sesamo, Marrakech, Morocco
  40. Milgo & Milbar, Tel Aviv, Israel
  41. Alee, Amman, Jordan
  42. White Robata, Kuwait City, Kuwait
  43. Zuma Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, UAE
  44. Jun's, Dubai, UAE
  45. Reif Kushiyaki, Cairo, Egypt
  46. +61, Marrakech, Morocco
  47. 13C Bar in the Back, Amman, Jordan
  48. HaBasta, Tel Aviv, Israel
  49. Hakkasan, Abu Dhabi, UAE
  50. Bonjiri, Salmiya, Kuwait

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