Dubai chocolate is a chocolate (typically a bar), which is made with incredibly cheap ingredients, but then sold for an outrageous amount to TikTokers and soccer moms. It contains nothing exclusive to Dubai, including the chocolate itself.
Dubai’s viral Kunafa chocolate, launched by FIX Chocolatier in 2021, has become a global sensation, thanks to a TikTok video that garnered over 120 million views in December 2023.
The green portion is actually rich pistachio cream, while the little crisp noodle-like bits are shredded pieces of phyllo dough, which goes by multiple names like kataifi or kadayif, depending on what region it’s being used in.
A delightful crunch comes from kataifi, which is a shredded phyllo pastry. This is layered with a smooth pistachio cream, and it is all drenched with a rich blanket of chocolate. The result is a multisensory experience that is unlike any other chocolate bar.
What’s inside the Dubai chocolate bar?
The candy bar is inspired by knafeh: a Middle Eastern dessert made with kataifi (a shredded phyllo pastry), attar (a sweet, sugary syrup) and then layers of cheese, pistachio, cream or other fillings.
Fix’s creation channels the pistachio version of this dessert, giving us all a gorgeous view of green gooeyness that, admittedly, looks a lot like a Reptar Bar from “Rugrats.”
The filling is a mixture of crispy knafeh bits, pistachio and tahini paste. Outside is a milk chocolate shell that’s been hand-splatter-painted yellow and green.
As a journalist, life-long chocolate lover and a person with Middle Eastern blood (and taste buds), my whole being was itching to give this a try. But, I didn’t attempt to track down any of the U.S.-made dupes — I needed the the original.
The original is a candy bar cleverly called “Can’t Get Knafeh of It” from Dubai-based Fix Dessert Chocolatier (Fix stands for “freakin’ incredible ‘xperience”). The bar features crispy kataifi, pistachio and tahini paste, all wrapped up in a casing of milk chocolate.
What does the Dubai chocolate bar taste like?
In preparation for the launch of their newly redesigned suite at the U.S. Open Tennis Championships, the team at UAE airline Emirates flew to New York from Dubai with a suitcase full of Fix chocolate bars to share with their guests. (An airline representative confirmed to TODAY.com they were procured directly from Fix.) So, I took my appetite to Queens.
This bar tasted exactly the way I imagined, and if you’ve ever eaten Middle Eastern sweets before, you’ve probably got a good sense of it, too. Though, if you haven’t, and you think the inside looks like avocado as the nice man standing next to me did, you might be surprised by what’s in store.
The bar features crispy kataifi, pistachio and tahini paste, all wrapped up in a casing of milk chocolate. Individual bars cost 68.25 UAD (United Arab Emirates Dirham; around $18.50) and a box of six costs 385.50 UAD (around $105),