Top things to do in Dubai — week of 20 April

The heat has properly arrived. The walking-loop calendar is on borrowed time and the smart move this week is to stack indoors-after-sundown picks. Here is what I am actually doing.

I keep a running shortlist on Rifio so I am not refreshing five ticketing platforms every morning — the Dubai this-week page updates daily.

Monday: Skip it, mostly

Monday in late April is a wash. The exception this week is a small founder dinner at Reform Social in The Lakes — AED 180, twelve seats, a YC alum is hosting. RSVP via Luma. Otherwise stay in and prep.

Tuesday: Zuma DIFC bar

Tuesday at Zuma is the night the regulars come in, deliberately. The room is half-full, the bar staff have time to talk, the kitchen takes longer on the robata.

One drink at the bar, watch the room from 7 to 8:30, decide if you want food. AED 100+ depending on your drink. The most underrated networking room in DIFC, full stop.

Wednesday: Penrose AI Founders Dinner

This is the headline event of the week. Penrose runs a quarterly founders dinner — twenty seats, no investors on stage, AED 350 a head including drinks. RSVP closes Tuesday, the list fills with substance.

The Anthropic London office crowd has been showing up to these when in town, the Mistral people have started attending too. Worth the AED 350 just for the room.

Thursday: Alserkal late opening

Concrete is hosting a late opening — film screening at 8pm, drinks after, Q&A at 9. Free RSVP, 80 seats, fills the night before. The screening this week is one of the better documentaries doing the regional festival circuit.

If the Alserkal walk does not appeal: COYA's resident Thursday DJ does an early set 8-10 that is the most civilised version of a Dubai Thursday you can have.

Friday: Soho Garden if you have legs, otherwise Cé La Vi

Soho Garden's line-up is solid this week, AED 150 door, doors at 11pm, you will not be home before 4. If that is not the energy: Cé La Vi sunset set on the 54th floor of Address Sky View, AED 200 minimum spend, in bed by midnight.

The Cé La Vi option is the grown-up move and I will be there.

Saturday: Trèsind Studio re-launch menu

The spring menu drops this Saturday. AED 850, 14 courses, two sittings (1pm and 8pm). Trèsind Studio is the only AED 800+ brunch in the city worth the money — every other AED 700 brunch you will be tempted by is photo-bait.

Book three weeks ahead in normal weeks, this week the launch slots will be gone by Wednesday.

Sunday: Recovery the right way

Long lunch at BB Social DIFC, indoors. AED 295, Asian small plates, no DJ, no station, just food. The grown-up Sunday.

If you want an event: the MBR Library Sunday talk is on, English language, sound speakers, finishes at 5. Free RSVP.

Twelve picks total counting the smaller pieces. I will be at the Penrose Wednesday and Trèsind Saturday — wallah, doing nothing Friday, the weekend is a marathon and I am not running it twice.

Save the ones you fancy on Rifio. The Dubai networking events filter is the simplest way to scan the founder-heavy weeks.