“The hottest chocolate in town is from Dubai”, said The Telegraph. The “doorstep-sized slab”, packed with “an oozing mixture” of sticky, green pistachios, tahini and crispy, shredded filo pastry, is the “star of countless TikTok clips”.
Sarah Hamouda, a British-Egyptian engineer living in Dubai, came up with the idea for the original bar back in 2021, when she began to crave the flavours of her mother’s knafeh (a traditional Middle Eastern dessert made with shredded filo, soft cheese and syrup) during her pregnancy with her second child. The following year, she developed the chocolate with the help of a trained pastry chef and launched the “Can’t Get Knefah Of It” bar, under her Fix Dessert Chocolatier brand.
It wasn’t until she began sending the bar out to local influencers that the business took off. A Tiktok video of food influencer Maria Vehera tasting the chocolate in her car went viral in December 2023 and has been liked millions of times. Hamouda told The New York Times her company received 30,000 orders within days of the video appearing online.
Chocolate and pistachio is nothing new when it comes to flavour combinations, said the BBC. The “real standout element” with this chocolate is the crispy texture of the filling. And, from the “attractive” orange and green spots on top to the “crunch” sound it makes when you snap off a piece, Hamouda’s bar is “made for social media”.
Undoubtedly, much of its “appeal” also lies in its “exclusivity”. The original Fix Dessert Chocolatier bars can only be ordered in Dubai or Abu Dhabi through the Deliveroo app. It costs around £15 per bar, must be bought during “specific hours” of the day and sells out “within minutes”.
Countless imitation bars – both upmarket and budget – have now appeared in UK supermarkets and corner shops. Nicknamed “Dubai chocolate”, these bars have become so popular, Waitrose had to implement a two-bars-per-customer limit after it launched Lindt’s version in March.
The “craze” has meant tracking down these copycat bars can be quite tricky, said Emine Saner The Guardian. After trawling the local shops, I eventually found a small bar “wrapped in gold foil” at a garage, and felt like “Charlie Bucket winning a golden ticket.” The “creamy-meets-crunchy texture” is “new and delightful”.
Some brands are charging “a pretty penny” to try the sweet treat, said The Mirror. Rifai’s £21 bar is “likely to be the cream of the crop”. Beautifully marbled and wrapped in gold foil, it’s a “taste sensation”.
Also at the pricier end of the spectrum is Dubai Chocolate’s £20 “socking great bar” which is handmade in Essex, said The Telegraph. Weighing in at over 500g, it’s “decent value” and doesn’t stray from the original recipe; it contains just chocolate, pistachios, kataifi and sesame paste.
Look out, too, for Lindt’s “cult-favourite”, said London’s The Standard. Priced at £10 a bar, “melt-in-your-mouth” Swiss chocolate meets a “delectable” filling, crafted with the “finest pistachio paste”. Delicious.