Folly by Nick and Scott fills the top level of Souk Madinat Jumeirah with an open kitchen and two outdoor terrace bars that look out over the Madinat waterways toward the Burj Al Arab. It is the kind of room that started as a restaurant and quietly became a place people come to for the bar alone.
The venue is the work of chefs Nick Alvis and Scott Price, two former Gordon Ramsay proteges who built their reputation in Dubai before opening under their own name. The result spreads across multiple levels, with an intimate dining area, an open pass and the pair of waterside terraces that give the place its draw.
The look leans relaxed rather than formal: neutral shades, soft lighting and an interior that lets the view and the kitchen do the talking. The two outdoor bars are the centrepiece, perched over the canal so the evening breeze and the lantern light off the Souk become part of the experience.
Order from the bar first, then graze. The drinks list runs to inventive, ingredient-led cocktails that echo the kitchen's approach, and the food arrives as modern sharing plates built to pair with a round rather than to anchor a long sit-down. The format rewards a group that wants to drink well and eat across the table, and it carries an upper-mid price tier that sits below the city's rooftop splurges. Time Out Dubai has handed the venue its Best European restaurant title more than once, which tells you the kitchen behind the bar is doing real work.
The reopening matters to the story. Folly closed its original Souk Madinat home, then returned to the same complex with a refreshed look and the same kitchen DNA, which is rare staying power in a city where restaurants turn over fast. Alvis and Price keep the menu seasonal and produce-led, so the sharing plates shift through the year rather than sitting static. The drinks team works in step, building cocktails that lean on the same fresh ingredients the kitchen orders, which is why a round here tastes considered rather than pulled off a standard hotel list. It is a venue that has earned its regulars.
Souk Madinat Jumeirah sits in Al Sufouh, a short ride from Mall of the Emirates metro, with parking at the Madinat and abra boats threading the waterways below. The bar runs into the evening through to around 1am, so a sunset arrival lets you catch the Burj Al Arab lighting up before the terraces fill. Booking a terrace table ahead is the practical note on weekends.
The crowd is a smart, mixed scene of couples, after-work groups and visitors staying in the Madinat resorts. It works for a date that wants conversation and a view, a celebration dinner that drifts into drinks, or an evening that starts here and moves on through the Souk. Best time to go is golden hour on a weekday, when the terrace is calm and the light is at its best.
Folly earns its place by being a serious kitchen with a bar worth visiting on its own terms, set over one of the prettiest stretches of water in the city. It is a reminder that some of Dubai's best drinking happens at addresses that read as restaurants first.
For more of the city's cocktail rooms, see our guide to the best cocktail bars in Dubai and the wider Dubai cocktail round-up. For a different register, pair it with Reform Social & Grill in The Lakes or skyline The 44, both on the full Dubai bar guide.
