MaskoofEST. 1999
The Maskoof team in front of the restaurant on Al Wasl Road, Dubai
Company Profile · ملف الشركةThe First Iraqi Restaurant in Dubai

Maskoof

المسكوف العراقي · منذ ١٩٩٩

Born in Dubai.
Ready for the World.

Established

1999 — Dubai

Presence

Dubai · Abu Dhabi · Sharjah · London

Introduction

من دبي إلى العالم

From Dubai to the World.

Maskoof is a Dubai-born Iraqi restaurant, established in 1999 and built over twenty-six years on a single philosophy: simple food, exceptional quality. What began as one of the first Iraqi kitchens in the city has grown — without advertising — into a destination chosen by guests from more than eighty nationalities.

Contents · المحتويات
Khattab Omar at Maskoof, Al Wasl Road, Dubai
Khattab Omar — FounderAl Wasl Road, Dubai
Chapter I · Letter From The Founder · رسالة من المؤسس

Nothing here happened overnight.

Twenty-six years ago, our family started with one simple dream: to introduce authentic Iraqi food to Dubai. We had no investors and no blueprint — one kitchen, and a cuisine we believed in.

Today, thousands of people walk through our doors every month. Guests from more than eighty nationalities choose Maskoof — not because of advertising, but because of the experience we have built over the years.

We are proud of where we started. We are even more excited about where we are going. Our goal is simple: to make Iraqi cuisine one of the world’s most respected restaurant concepts.

Welcome to Maskoof.

Khattab OmarFounder · المؤسس
II
Our Story · قصتنا

A place people remember.

Maskoof was born in 1999 — one of the first Iraqi restaurants in Dubai. We never wanted to become another trendy restaurant. We wanted to become a place people remember: where families gather, that guests recommend, that people always come back to.

“Success isn’t measured by the first visit. It’s measured by the second.”

Evening service in the Maskoof courtyard
The courtyard, evening serviceEst. 1999
III
We Don’t Follow Trends · لا نتبع الرائج

Simplicity wins.

Every restaurant can create a viral dish. We don’t. We create dishes people still order years later. Good ingredients, honest cooking, consistent quality — that is what built Maskoof.

01

Good Ingredients

We buy better. Every single day.

02

Honest Cooking

No shortcuts. No theatre. No gimmicks.

03

Consistent Quality

The same dish, the same standard, for 26 years.

04

Time

Trust is the one thing that cannot be bought.

Chapter IV · The World Inspires Us · يلهمنا العالم

Japan. France.
Italy. London.

Every year we travel — not to copy restaurants, but to learn. To understand hospitality. To discover techniques. Then we bring those ideas home and give them an Iraqi soul.

Every dish starts somewhere. Every Maskoof dish finishes as Iraqi.

“I told you I’d come back with a few dishes.”

Khattab Omar · On returning from Japan

Khattab Omar at Shibuya Crossing, Tokyo
Tokyo, Japan — research tripShibuya Crossing
V
The First · Signature Dishes · الأول

We don’t copy. We create.

Maskoof introduced the bone-marrow direction that moved the Iraqi dining market — others followed, the clearest measure of a first. These are dishes you won’t find anywhere else: each one created here, each one with a story to tell.

Est. 1999 · التواقيع
01

Wagyu Short Ribs — Iraqi Style

Premium wagyu short ribs, slow-rendered and finished over fire the Iraqi way. Marrow-rich, char-edged, unmistakably ours.

The Signature
02

Wagyu Beef Cheek

An idea discovered in Japan, brought home and twisted into an Iraqi dish — tender enough to fall apart at the touch of bread.

Born in Japan · Made Iraqi
03

Lamb & Bone

The old ritual of lamb and marrow bone, held to today's standard. Heritage on a plate, nothing hidden.

Heritage
04

Chops & Marrow

Fire-kissed chops crowned with roasted bone marrow — the pairing that became a house classic.

House Classic
05

Iraqi Steak Samoona — Bone Marrow

The first Iraqi steak sandwich with bone marrow: charred steak and molten marrow inside fresh samoon bread. Created here. Found nowhere else.

The First — Worldwide

Innovation isn’t changing who we are — it’s respecting tradition while creating what no one has tasted before.

Dubai · Abu Dhabi · Sharjah · London

VI
Quality Before Everything · الجودة قبل كل شيء

People ask for the secret recipe. There isn’t one.

The secret is the quality. We buy better meat, better ingredients, better products — not sometimes, but every single day. Anyone can copy a recipe. Very few are willing to invest in quality at this level, daily, for twenty-six years.

Premium vacuum-sealed wagyu cuts laid out at Maskoof
The morning delivery — premium cutsEvery day
Khattab Omar inspecting the day's meat order
Inspected by the founder himselfNo exceptions

The recipe isn’t the secret. The quality is.

VII
Built Without Advertising · بلا إعلانات

The audience found us.

422,000+Instagram Followers
157.8MOrganic Views · Last 30 Days
78.4MAccounts Reached
98.4%Views From Non-Followers
0%Paid Advertising — Ever

Ninety-eight percent of views come from people who don’t yet follow Maskoof — proof the demand is real, not bought.

Source: Instagram insights, 9 Jun – 8 Jul

Vogue Arabia2024
Winning over hearts — and palates — across the globe for over two decades.Best Iraqi Restaurants in Dubai
Time Out Dubai2025
Featured among the best restaurants in Jumeirah — from the bread baskets to the iconic dishes.Three separate features
Guinness World Records2013
The world’s largest button mosaic — 392.5 m² — achieved in association with Al Maskoof Iraqi Restaurant.Officially Amazing
▶“Nothing here happened overnight.”Watch on Instagram ↗▶The signatures, up closeWatch on Instagram ↗▶Why the city keeps coming backWatch on Instagram ↗
The weekend queue outside Maskoof at night
People Don’t Wait For Trends · الثقة

Every weekend, they wait outside.

Not because we ask them to — because they believe the experience is worth waiting for. This isn’t marketing. It’s trust: one guest tells another, families return, friends bring friends. That is how Maskoof has grown since 1999.

Khattab Omar with guests and team under the lanterns
Guests & team, under the lanternsAl Wasl Road
Celebrities & Community · لا طاولات مميزة

No VIP tables.

Footballers, artists, content creators, chefs and business leaders have all eaten here. But inside Maskoof there are no VIP tables. Every guest receives the same hospitality — because every guest matters.

FootballersArtistsCreatorsChefsBusiness Leaders80+ Nationalities
The Small Details · التفاصيل

Quality lives in the details.

01

The mark

Our name, hand-drawn in Arabic calligraphy — shaped into the masgouf fish itself. One symbol carrying the whole story.

02

The uniform

Olive aprons and crisp whites, printed with the calligraphy. The team wears the brand the way the kitchen cooks it — with care.

03

The table

Menus, napkins, sleeves, packaging — every touchpoint designed to the same standard as the food it carries.

The Maskoof calligraphy fish mark

Arabic calligraphy, drawn as the masgouf — the fish that gave Maskoof its name.

The Maskoof uniform — olive aprons printed with calligraphy
The uniform — designed in-houseIdentity, 2022
VIII
The Next Chapter · الفصل القادم

A second Dubai restaurant. Then the world.

The next chapter starts where the first one did. We open our second restaurant in Dubai before expanding internationally — because we believe Iraqi cuisine deserves a place beside the world’s greatest restaurant brands. Maskoof isn’t only building restaurants. We’re building a global Iraqi brand.

26

Years of Heritage

Tested by a full generation of Dubai diners.

157M+

Monthly Organic Views

An audience that arrives before the doors open.

80+

Nationalities Served

Proven with the exact audience a global destination attracts.

1

Empty Category

Iraqi cuisine has no global flagship. It should.

Why a destination like Dubai Mall

Dubai Mall is one of the world’s most iconic destinations, welcoming guests from every continent, every day. Maskoof shares the same ambition: to bring authentic Iraqi cuisine to an international audience through quality, hospitality and innovation.

With twenty-six years of heritage, a powerful organic digital presence, loyal guests and proven demand — Maskoof is ready to become part of the world’s great dining destinations. Proven, not promising.

Our Promise · وعدنا

We don’t promise to be the biggest. We promise this —

Never to compromise on quality.

To protect Iraqi cuisine.

To keep innovating.

And that every guest leaves with a reason to come back.