These Persian Milkshakes Are a Must-Try in Dubai

Of all the diverse and delicious food you can track down in Dubai, there’s one that’s bound to satisfy any sweet toothed travelers: an ice cream shop called Dynamite Shake in Umm Suqeim, a bustling area of Dubai located along the Jumeirah Beach coast.

Dynamite Shake borrowed the secret ingredient behind its signature milkshakes from another Middle Eastern dessert: Persian ice cream. The shop’s Persian-style shakes are made with almost a dozen different ingredients — including coffee, cinnamon, banana, walnuts, dates, sesame seeds, shredded coconut, and pistachios — that are blended together to create a deliciously rich and sweet milkshake. Beyond using many ingredients that are common to both Persian and Emirati cuisine, Dynamite Shake’s base ingredient of traditional Persian ice cream gives these milkshakes their creamy, thick, almost stretchy consistency.

@foodwtf @dynamite.shake in #Dubai takes milkshakes to a whole new level @justfooddxb #dubaifoodie #foodie #foodtravel ♬ Jooni Joonom – Leila Forouhar

How is Persian ice cream different from other ice cream?

Persian ice cream, also known as bastani, shares the same core ingredients with something like Italian gelato or American ice cream: milk, cream, sugar, and eggs (Italian gelato often skips the egg yolks used to make American ice cream and uses a higher ratio of milk to cream). However, Persian ice cream often incorporates frozen bits of clotted cream and sometimes adds salep, a type of flour made from starchy tubers in the orchid family.

Early ancestors of bastani can be traced back to around 2,000 years ago, which makes Persian ice cream one of the oldest ice cream styles in the world. And now, thanks to the team at Dynamite Shake, you can taste all different flavors of Persian ice cream milkshakes, including pineapple or chocolate and hazelnut. You just might have to wait in line first.

Where: Jumeirah, Umm Suqeim 2, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

More like thisFood + Drink6 Decadent Middle Eastern Desserts That Are Nutty, Floral, and Oh so Sweet