FIRE AND FLAVOUR: RODEO DRIVE IBN BATTUTA GATE TEASES THE LAUNCH ITS NEW FOOD MENU
A menu shaped by open flame, bold flavours and a chef with “American comfort food” flowing in his veins
Dubai, UAE, July 2026: Rodeo Drive, Ibn Battuta Gate is set to launch its revamped food menu that reenvisions that homely, authentic All American grill house feeling. Brought to life by a chef whose cooking draws on decades spent across Mexico, Texas and Dubai.
Built around the restaurant’s centrepiece Asado Grill, especially imported from the U.S.A., to cook over open flame, flawlessly seasoned meats and seafood. A new introduction to Rodeo Drive’s kitchen is its succulent, slow-cooked smoked meats prepared painstakingly inhouse by our chefs.
The new menu offerings trades predictability for something more authentic, a menu that reads like a road trip along America’s Deep South to its border with Mexico. Alongside familiar favourites such as it’s Cowboy Tomahawk Steak, 1.3kg’s of mouth-watering Black Angus meat perfectly catered to be shared amongst friends, Rodeo Drive’s new menu journey starts with smoke and flames.
The Rodeo Drive Mix Grill Plater is a generous assortment of tender meats such as 1kg of tender 15 hour slow-cooked brisket, 7 day cured Pastrami meats, delectable sausage and juicy Blackened Half Chicken served with home-made BBQ sauce and two sides of your choice. The new menu’s range stretches beyond red meat too, with a Whole Blackened Seabream and Cajun Tiger Prawns bringing a coastal, herbaceous counterpart seasoned lightly enough to let the fire do most of the talking.
That same instinct carries through the smaller plates. The Nashville Hot Chicken Burger offers butter-milked fried chicken, dressed with Nashville hot glaze sauce, tangy coleslaw, melted cheddar cheese and served in brioche buns. A sure-fire favourite being introduced is the Roasted Heirloom Tomatoes and Burrata Skillet, a dish with a sensory assortment of textures and flavours with blistered roasted tomatoes, fermented spicy honey, rich and creamy burrata cheese drizzled with chilly basil oil and served with toasted grilled sourdough bread.
Nothing on the menu reads as an imitation of a genre. It feels closer to raw material, reworked.
Behind that instinct is Head Chef Walter Melo, a Mexico City native whose 23 years cooking across Mexico, Texas and Dubai inform what he calls Cocina de Autor, a personal style built on curiosity and restraint in equal measure. Formal training at Mexico’s Colegio Superior de Gastronomía sharpened that instinct early, and years spent across demanding kitchens since have only deepened it. “I cook the way I grew up eating, honest and full of flavour,” said Chef Melo. “This menu is simply that instinct on a plate, nothing dressed up, nothing hiding behind the fire.”
That philosophy shapes the whole dining room, not just what lands on the plate. Rodeo Drive’s live fire cooking takes centre stage in its theatre. Deliberately visible, the Asado Grill is positioned as the heart of the space, so the drama of the flames becomes part of the experience itself. It is a menu built on decades of cooking across cultures, brought together on one plate rather than kept apart.
For reservations and enquiries, contact Rodeo Drive Ibn Battuta Gate directly.
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About Rodeo Drive Ibn Battuta Gate:
Rodeo Drive IBN Battuta Gate is Dubai’s home of American dining and entertainment, serving up bold flavours, live music, and a good time in the heart of Ibn Battuta Gate. From its signature steaks and comfort food classics to a packed events calendar, Rodeo Drive brings the spirit of the American West to one of the city’s most iconic destinations.
About Peninsula Hospitality Group:
Established in 1980, The Peninsula Hospitality Group has grown into a formidable force in the hospitality industry with a diverse portfolio of 21 thriving luxury and deluxe economy brands. The group operates 6 hotels and 25 signature restaurants, bars, lounges, and clubs, in the UAE and India. Among its iconic properties are the Peninsula Grand Hotel in Mumbai and the President and Marco Polo Hotel in Dubai, which has been one of the Emirates’ longest-operating hotels.