The best indoor things to do in Dubai when the heat is winning

Right. The heat is winning, the rooftops list is on hold until October, and the question is what to do indoors that is not the Dubai Mall fountain show.

Here are the eight indoor Dubai things I would actually do in summer. Some are restaurants, some are hotel-pool drop-ins, two are cultural, and one is the most underrated indoor venue in the city.

I keep my saved summer venues on Rifio so I can spot when one of them runs a special — the Dubai events page catches most of them.

1. Time Out Market lunch

Souk Al Bahar, opposite Dubai Mall. Air conditioning, fifteen counters, no booking, walk in. The summer move is to arrive at 12:30, pick three small plates from three different counters, sit at a communal table, and stay for two hours.

The ramen counter is the order. The wood-fired pizza is a strong second. The Levantine counter does a knafeh worth the calories. AED 150 a head feeds you well.

2. Zuma DIFC late lunch

The 1:30pm Saturday set lunch at Zuma DIFC, indoors, in the calm half of the room. AED 350 a head for a four-course tasting that is, by Zuma standards, a quiet bargain.

This is the most civilised way to spend a 42-degree afternoon. The room stays cool, the food is properly paced, and the bill is honest. Stay until 4, walk thirty steps to the parking, drive home.

3. Cinema Akil at Alserkal

The independent cinema in Alserkal Avenue. Two screens, a curated programme that leans European art-house and regional documentary, and AED 50 a ticket.

The summer programme is consistently the strongest of the year because the cinema knows the daytime crowd is at home with the AC on and the evening crowd needs somewhere to go. Pair with a pre-screening coffee at A4 Space, post-screening dinner at Akiba Dori or Last Exit.

4. Sushisamba dinner (indoors)

The Sushisamba rooftop is summer-impossible — between June and September, the upper deck is closed for evening service except on the rare cooler night. The indoor floor at the same restaurant is genuinely excellent.

Tuesday is still the right night. AED 250 set, AED 350 omakase. The 7:30pm slot.

5. Soho Garden indoor floor

The basement at Soho Garden, Meydan, is air-conditioned, runs the full Friday and Saturday line-up, and is half the price of the rooftop bottle service. The crowd is the same as the upstairs winter crowd, just compressed indoors.

AED 150 on the door, AED 600 a bottle if you want a table. Save the rooftop for October.

6. Five Palm hotel day pool

The drop-in pool day at Five Palm Jumeirah is the right summer indulgence. AED 200 to AED 400 depending on the day, includes pool access, an indoor cabana option, and a food-and-drink credit you will hit easily.

The water is properly cooled. The pool is shaded for half the day. The food is fine, the drinks are correctly chilled, and you can spend a full ten hours there for the cost of a single decent dinner.

7. Mohammed Bin Rashid Library

The architectural showpiece library, Al Jaddaf. Free to enter, beautifully cooled, the English language section is genuinely strong, and the building itself is one of the best 21st-century pieces of architecture in the city.

Closed Sundays. The reading room with the city view is the move. Bring a laptop, work for three hours, leave in time for dinner. Wallah this is the most underrated indoor venue in Dubai.

8. BB Social DIFC long lunch

The Saturday afternoon long lunch indoors at BB Social. Asian small plates, a calm room, a sensible volume. AED 220 a head with food, AED 250-300 with two drinks.

The right summer pace is to arrive at 1:30, eat slowly, finish at 4, walk to the next thing if you must, otherwise drive home. The room does not warm up the way the rooftops do, the food is honest, and the bill is reasonable.

A few honest summer notes.

On hotel pool days. Five Palm is the choice on this list, but Bvlgari Resort, the Four Seasons Jumeirah Beach and the Bulgari indoor pool all do strong day passes. Five is the best value-to-quality ratio. Bvlgari is the most beautiful. Four Seasons is the busiest.

On cinemas. Cinema Akil is the only proper art-house in the country and it is the right summer indoor activity. The mainstream cinemas at the Dubai Mall and Mall of the Emirates are perfectly fine for blockbusters, but for an actual summer programme, Akil is the answer.

On working remotely. The Mohammed Bin Rashid Library is genuinely the best place in the city to work for a few hours that is not a paid coworking space. The reading rooms are quiet, the wifi works, and the air conditioning is the right temperature. Better than most cafés.

On the malls. I have been hard on them, fairly. The Dubai Mall is a 90-minute curiosity and the underwater zoo is good for visitors. The Mall of the Emirates has Ski Dubai, which is gimmicky but seperate to the surrounding heat in a way that earns its place once a summer. City Walk is air-conditioned and pleasant for an evening walk-through. None of these compete with the eight on the list above.

On dress. Indoor venues run cold in Dubai summer. Bring a layer. Linen is the move. Trainers fine, shorts mostly fine, hoodies useful indoors despite the season.

I will be at Cinema Akil for the next decent screening and at the MBR Library on the next quiet weekday afternoon. The next rooftops list will be in October.

Save the venues you fancy on Rifio so you can find them again — the Dubai events page catches the special nights and pop-ups at most of these.