Dubai happy hours where the cheap drinks are actually good

Dubai has a reputation for AED 95 cocktails and bottle-service nonsense at 2am. Both of those things exist, wallah. But there's a parallel scene where every weeknight from 4 to 8pm, the same bars are flogging the same cocktails for half. Locals know. Tourists rarely figure it out because the hotel concierge isn't about to recommend the cheap option.

This is the proper happy-hour list. AED 50 cocktails or less, places I'd send a friend without warning them about the bill.

The DIFC corridor

After 5pm on a Sunday or Monday, the DIFC strip is genuinely cheap if you know where to go. COYA's Pisco Hour is the headline. AED 49 Pisco Sours — half the standard — between 5 and 7pm every day. The bar gets full by 6 so go early.

Two minutes away, Zuma does a less-publicised happy hour on certain weeknights, and the Capital Club has a member-but-walk-in-friendly thing where guests pay AED 60 cocktails Sunday to Tuesday.

The rooftops

Cé La Vi is the rooftop happy hour to beat. 5 to 8pm Sunday through Wednesday, two-for-one on the cocktail menu. Sunset over the Burj Khalifa with a properly made Negroni for effectively AED 45 each is good value by any city's standards, never mind Dubai.

Treehouse at the Taj does a more grown-up version. AED 49 signatures from 6 to 9pm. Quieter, less Instagram, the Burj sits right outside.

BLU Sky at the Conrad is the under-the-radar one. Two-for-one cocktails plus half-price bar bites, weekdays only. The crowd is more business-dinner than rooftop-party but on a Tuesday at 6pm that's exactly what you want.

The pub tier

Lock Stock in Barsha Heights is the closest thing Dubai has to a proper after-work pub. Beers from AED 25, house pours AED 30, daily 4 to 8pm. No view, no concept, just cold drinks and a TV showing the football. Sometimes that's the whole point.

Reform in The Lakes does the same thing with better food. Two-for-one on house drinks, half-price small plates, weekdays. The Sunday roast (Friday Sunday roast, the new working week) is one of the best in the city.

Soho Garden and the JBR strip

Soho Garden in Meydan does a proper weekday programme — AED 35 spirits and mixers Sunday to Tuesday until 9pm. JBR is a tourist trap mostly but Q's Bar at Caesars Bluewaters is the exception. Quincy Jones jazz bar, live music almost nightly, daily 5-7pm with AED 55 wine and cocktails.

What I'm leaving off

The hotel chain bars that do "happy hour" with a 15% discount on a AED 90 cocktail. That's not a happy hour, that's an insult. Anywhere with bottle service at the same time as happy hour, because the staff will be looking through you. Anywhere on Sheikh Zayed Road that requires you to sit at a table to get the deal — defeats the purpose.

Tracking what's on

Dubai's happy hour scene shifts a fair bit. New venues launch with limited-time deals, existing places change their hours when the weather turns. Rifio's Dubai listings catch a lot of the new openings and ladies' night announcements faster than the local mags. Worth checking on a Sunday afternoon if you don't have plans.

The general rule: weeknights, before 8pm, away from the Marina strip, and you'll do alot better than the people paying AED 95 for a Negroni at 11pm on a Friday.