It started with one chocolate bar and turned into a global obsession. Dubai chocolate in Amsterdam is now everywhere and nowhere at once: the real, freshly made stuff is harder to find than the hype suggests, and a lot of what is sold under the name is a let-down. This guide cuts through it: what Dubai chocolate actually is, where to get it in Amsterdam, and the pistachio treats we think are worth your money instead.
We are Ruma (formerly De Beste Lekkernij), a Mediterranean bakery in the Nine Streets, and pistachio is our home turf, so we have strong opinions here. Let us walk through it.
What is Dubai chocolate?
The original is a thick milk chocolate bar filled with pistachio cream and crispy kataifi, the shredded filo pastry you also find in knafeh. The magic is the contrast: smooth, nutty pistachio against the crackle of toasted kataifi, wrapped in chocolate. It blew up on social media because the snap-and-pull shot is irresistible, and because, done well, it genuinely tastes great. Done badly, it is a greasy, oversweet brick.
Where to find Dubai chocolate in Amsterdam
Dedicated dessert and chocolate spots
A handful of central shops carry the viral bar, including Sweet Tree on the Paleisstraat, which keeps a rich pistachio-and-kataifi version. Availability moves fast and stock sells out, so it is worth checking ahead before you make a special trip.
Supermarkets
Dutch supermarkets such as Jumbo have run their own Dubai-style bars at a fraction of the boutique price. They are a fine, cheap way to try the flavour, though they rarely match the freshly made versions on texture.
The airport
If you are flying out of Schiphol, you will spot the pistachio knafeh bars on sale there too, handy for a last-minute edible souvenir.
Online delivery
Several Netherlands-based sellers ship the viral bar to your door. Because the kataifi can soften and the chocolate can bloom in heat, the better sellers ship early in the week and tell you to store it cool.
The Dubai-style treats we would order instead
Honestly? The bar is fun once, but the flavour is even better in a fresh pastry. Our take is the Dubai-style cannoli: a crisp, rolled shell filled to order with smooth green pistachio cream, kept clean and simple rather than buried in toppings. The shell gives you the crunch the kataifi is going for, and the cream is the good part front and centre. We also run pistachio through our trilece, so you can get the flavour in cake form. The pistachio trend sits in a long Mediterranean tradition, which we cover in our best Turkish desserts in Amsterdam guide.
Is Dubai chocolate worth the hype?
The flavour, yes. The inflated boutique prices, often not. Pistachio and kataifi is a genuinely brilliant combination with deep roots in Middle Eastern and Turkish sweets, so it was always going to be more than a passing fad. Our advice: try the bar once if you are curious, then chase the flavour in something freshly made, where the texture is at its best. For the wider picture, see our trending desserts in Amsterdam and viral desserts guides.
Where to find us
Ruma is in the Nine Streets (De 9 Straatjes) at Herenstraat 24A, a short walk from Amsterdam Centraal, Dam Square and the Anne Frank House. We make our Dubai-style cannoli and pistachio trilece fresh, daily.
Why Dubai chocolate went viral
It is worth understanding the phenomenon, because it explains a lot about modern dessert culture. The original bar was created by a small chocolate maker in Dubai, inspired by knafeh, the Middle Eastern cheese-and-kataifi dessert. A single influencer video showing the snap and the oozing pistachio centre racked up tens of millions of views, and within months the bar was being copied and queued for around the world. It is a textbook case of a dessert that combines a genuinely great flavour idea with a perfect on-camera moment. The crunch you can almost hear, the thick green filling, the chocolate snap: it was engineered, intentionally or not, for the scroll.
How to tell good Dubai chocolate from bad
Now that everyone makes a version, quality varies wildly. A good one has a generous, genuinely pistachio-tasting filling, kataifi that is still crisp rather than soggy, and chocolate that is not waxy. A bad one is mostly sugar and palm oil with a thin smear of green filling and limp pastry. Freshness matters enormously, because the kataifi loses its crunch over time, which is the whole reason a freshly made pastry version often beats a mass-produced bar that has been sitting in a warm shop window for weeks.
The pistachio trend beyond the bar
Dubai chocolate was really the gateway to a much bigger pistachio moment. The flavour is now in lattes, croissants, spreads, ice cream and cakes across the city. If you love it, you have options well beyond the bar: our pistachio trilece puts that nutty green flavour into a cold milk cake, and pistachio baklava is the traditional, time-tested version of the same idea. Both are made fresh daily. For the wider movement, see our trending desserts in Amsterdam guide and our best Turkish desserts in Amsterdam guide, where pistachio has been the star for centuries.
Come try the pistachio
Crisp shell, green pistachio cream, no clutter. Find us in the Nine Streets, see the menu, or order across Amsterdam. New to the whole scene? Start with our best desserts in Amsterdam guide.