MICHELIN Guide Doha 2025: You Have to Start Somewhere

It was an evening of surprises at the inaugural MICHELIN Guide Doha 2025, and here are all the details, analysis and behind-the-scenes info you need...

The MICHELIN Guide Doha 2025 was unveiled last night and, as predicted it was a night of sequins, confused influencers, some good food and yes, true surprises.

The great and the good of Qatar’s food scene, and some ring-ins gathered at Katara Hall at the Raffles Doha for the event we have been waiting for. I even put on hard shoes for the event, so you know this was actually serious.

In the last month, amid the F1 and other events, this night and its results is all anyone has wanted to talk about - for good reason. The “results” are game changing. As you can imagine, I have some thoughts.

So, Who Got What?

Two restaurants in this inaugural edition received their first One MICHELIN Star:

• Jamavar

• IDAM by Alain Ducasse

No surprises for these two - always consistent, Jamavar is especially a quiet achiever and every visit I’m always impressed with the depth of flavors and thoughtful takes on Indian regional classics. IDAM meanwhile has blossomed under Chef Fabrice, with its pivot back to mainly French cooking. Both should flourish in 2025.

The Bib Gourmand is a MICHELIN distinction awarded to restaurants offering high-quality food at moderate prices. Four restaurants received a Bib Gourmand in this edition:

• Isaan

• Jiwan

• Argan

• Hoppers

Some nice, true surprises here but maybe not for avowed foodies. Argan is the outlier in that group and clearly one to watch in 2025 as is Hoppers. I see what the inspectors did here. We can see diversity and a mirror to Doha’s food scene - we have Qatari, North African, Asian and South Asian. Jiwan is a popular choice and deserves recognition, same for Isaan.

But, I feel list abridged list just scratches the surface of what this part of the market has to offer in Qatar and I feel could have gone further.

While MICHELIN stars focus solely on rating the quality of food, and Bib Gourmand is an award in its own right, MICHELIN Recommended means a restaurant has been recognized by the MICHELIN Guide for serving food to a high level but hasn’t yet been awarded.

A total of 33 restaurants are recommended/selected in this first edition of the MICHELIN Guide Doha including favorites Curiosa by Jean Georges, MURU, Hakkasan, Curiosa, Nobu, Kai’s Songbird, La Mediteranee Robuchon, BiBO, LPM Doha, and Liang.

There were also some surprises in this list - bolters like SAWA by Sanad and Dalchini too me by surprise. Overall, this robust list mostly tracks with my own recommendations for the best food in the city right now. Although, I was surprised not to see a couple of additional stars handed out on the night - the field is deeper than I believe has been recognized. And critically on the wider list, at least two restaurants lost their star power association in the last few months.

I was especially pleased to see Sirijan Saelee from Isaan at the Grand Hyatt Doha honored with the inaugural young Chef Award - what a breath of fresh air.

The Reaction

Not taking away from those who were honored, the response on the night was, speaking honestly, somewhat muted. Over the past couple of weeks, there was a collective expectation that there would be a handful stars, specifically in the one star category.

But, it was not to be.

A number of factors are at play here. To put this into global context, there are essentially two types of MICHELIN Guides. The so called “legacy” guides in places like Paris, who have been around for a long time and considered the arbiter of the best of the best. Then, we have the guides from newer territories, like Abu Dhabi, Doha and Miami. These are part of the MICHELIN Guide’s expansion into new territories, fuelled by food tourism and yes, funded by the tourism boards and authorities in these cities.

MICHELIN Guide may have been around since the 1900s, but it is still a business.

There is a certain amount of cynicism about these new territories, the insinuation that perhaps the standards are lower because they are usually supported by local entities. That, as a result, these aren’t on par with Paris etc. And, in some cases this can be stood up.

However, we can look at Dubai, which just had its third MICHELIN Guide earlier this year - the scene has thrived since it was introduced, with some of the best restaurants and chefs in the world setting up shop there and a vibrant locally grown food scene. You can read a great analysis of this year’s ceremony here.

Doha Things

So, what does this mean for Doha? It means that despite some rampant speculation, it’s clear the MICHELIN Guide did not adjust its standards for this inaugural edition. In fact, speaking after the ceremony Gwendal Poullennec, International Director of the MICHELIN Guides was at pains to underscore that the inspectors are required to use the same rigorous standards across all cities.

The inspectors use the same five criteria in all territories: the quality of the ingredients; mastery of cooking techniques; the harmony of the flavours; expression of the chef’s personality in the cuisine; and consistency, both over time and across the entire menu.

You can view the Doha edition as this as MICHELIN Guide sending a very clear message to critics that the organization applies its standards with equity.

Also, and this is a tough pill to swallow right now given how far we have come. But it perhaps indicates that the industry here still needs some time to develop, as we have seen in other cities - specifically with service levels.

What next?

I can assure you every single chef and hospitality professional in that room last night - star, recommended or Bib - is waking up today with a renewed purpose (and maybe a headache after the “extended after party!).

Whether that be to retain or go up a level to a star or even a second one. Game on.

For diners, I don’t think, as has been expressed to me by my community, that prices will go up as a result of inclusion in the Guide. We can thank global supply chains and inflation for that!

Rather, the next 12 months will be an incredible time for foodies - new menus, service standards elevated, new concepts and more.

You have to start somewhere and for Doha, this is just the beginning.

Before you go - BTS Ceremony Highlights

• Meeting Chef Eric Vildegaard from Jordnaer in Denmark. Kind, humble and VERY keen to explore opening a restaurant in Doha. He also had the best canape for the evening - caviar FTW.

• The Service Award going to Paulo Bastos and the team at Morimoto. Well deserved.

• Robi Ratan from IDAM by Alain Ducasse was also recognised for his Exceptional Cocktails. Robi leads the team responsible for creating their imaginative and mocktails. If you’ve been to IDAM you know their mocktails are next level and this is the man behind them.

• Nespresso, my true love, and the coffee-based mocktails on offer. This folks, is how you do a collab - creative, clever and delicious.

• Working with my sidekick and content queen for the evening, Ayen. Can we do this more often?

• The actual lack of understanding what MICHELIN is and means continues to astound me, especially among the invitees. Like, you didn’t even Google or use Wikipedia?

• MC Mr. Q, the irrepressible Khalifa Haroon. Couldn’t think of a better person for the job!

• Seeing all of the the best people of the Qatar food scene in one room - chefs, front of house, GMs, small businesspeople, marketing, customer service, founders and owners - it’s the community moment we needed.

• Yes, there was a goodie bag - I’m enamored with the Nespresso to-go cup and of course, as a writer I never say no to a cute red notebook.

• The afterparty postmortem - always the best part of the evening. What a view from the Raffles rooftop.

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