The pistachio-and-kunafa bar that went viral on TikTok was born here. Here is how to get the original, where to buy good Dubai-made bars instead, where to taste the kunafa behind it, and how to get your bar home without it melting.
The original is Fix Dessert Chocolatier's "Can't Get Knafeh of It". You won't find it in any shop in the city: in Dubai it is sold through the Careem app in daily drops (in October 2025 at 14:00 and 17:00, from AED 68.25 a bar), and over the counter only at the Fix shops of Dubai Duty Free at the airport, after passport control. For a bar you can simply walk in and buy, go to Bateel; to see chocolate being made, go to Mirzam in Al Quoz.
🍫 What's inside
A thick bar that you hear before you taste: the crunch is toasted pastry.
Milk chocolate: a thick moulded shell
Pistachio-kunafa filling: pistachio cream and a little tahini, mixed with kataifi: the shredded filo pastry of the kunafa dessert, toasted until it is golden and crisp
Milk chocolate: the base that holds it all together: one bar weighs about 180–230 g
📜 From a pregnancy craving to a world craze
2021 · Sarah Hamouda, a British-Egyptian who moved to Dubai in 2015, starts Fix Dessert Chocolatier with her husband Yezen Alani as a side project. The idea came from a pregnancy craving: a chocolate bar with the flavours she grew up with.
Dec 2023 · Dubai food creator Maria Vehera films herself eating the bar in her car. The crunch does the rest: tens of millions of views by mid-2024, over 100 million later.
2024 · The world copies it. Home cooks, bakeries, supermarkets (Lidl, Aldi) and big brands such as Lindt sell their own "Dubai chocolate", and the flavour turns up in doughnuts, ice cream, shakes and even pizza.
Dec 2024 · A food-safety lab in Germany tests eight cheap imported "Dubai chocolate" bars and finds problems in all of them, from undeclared sesame to mould toxin in the pistachio. None of them was Fix.
Jan 2025 · Two German courts disagree: one stops Aldi Süd selling a Turkish-made "Dubai chocolate", the other lets Lidl keep the name. In practice it has become the name of a style.
2025 · Pistachio prices jump, partly because of the boom: Iran ships 40% more pistachios to the UAE (September 2024 to March 2025).
May 2025 · Fix opens a shop at Dubai International Airport with Dubai Duty Free. In the first half of 2025 the airport sells about 2.5 million Dubai chocolate bars of all brands.
Oct 2025 · Fix moves its city sales to the Careem app, with two drops a day.
Jan 2026 · Dubai Duty Free sells 83 tonnes of Dubai chocolate in one month.
Jun 2026 · Fix opens at Harrods in London, after two shops at DXB and one at Singapore's Changi Airport. The founders' line: they didn't name it, the world did.
🎯 How to get the original Fix bar
In town, order it. Install the Careem app before you fly and add your hotel as the delivery address. When we checked (October 2025 launch), bars came in daily drops at 14:00 and 17:00 and delivery took about 20 minutes. Open the app a few minutes early: popular bars can be gone within minutes.
On your way home, buy it at the airport. Fix's shops at DXB are run by Dubai Duty Free and are airside, so you need a boarding pass. Since 2025 there has been one in Terminal 3, Concourse B East and a second one in Terminal 1; the airport range is smaller than the app's.
Don't fall for look-alikes. No mall, souk or website sells real Fix bars in the city. A "Fix" bar on a supermarket shelf or a site that ships worldwide is not the original.
Price check: a bar started at AED 68.25 on Careem in October 2025. Check the current price and drop times in the app.
✈️ At the airport
The easiest last stop: no heat between the shop and the plane.
FIX Dessert Chocolatier at Dubai Duty Free The original
The only counter where you can buy genuine Fix bars, including Can't Get Knafeh of It. Run by Dubai Duty Free in the departures area.
💡 Tip: Since 2025 in Terminal 3 (Concourse B East) and Terminal 1. The terminals were not named in the latest report (July 2026): ask at the Duty Free information desk.
📍 Address: Dubai International Airport (DXB), departures, after passport control
Dubai Duty Free chocolate shops All the local brands
The airport sells the local "Dubai chocolate" brands side by side: L'ocali, Bateel, Al Nassma camel-milk chocolate, Samha and more. Handy if Fix is sold out.
📍 Address: Dubai International Airport (DXB), Terminals 1, 2 and 3, departures
The date house sells its own Dubai chocolate: pistachio-kunafa and hazelnut-kunafa bars in 40 g and 120 g, dates filled with pistachio kunafa and date chocolates. Smaller bars make better gifts.
💡 Tip: Bateel says its chocolate keeps about six months when stored at 15–18 °C, far longer than a fresh filled bar.
📍 Address: The Dubai Mall, Lower Ground Floor, Downtown Dubai
Dubai's other chocolate story: made with camel milk from the Camelicious farm since 2008. Look for the little chocolate camels and the bars with dates or pistachio.
💡 Tip: Also sold at Dubai Duty Free, so you can buy it on the way out.
The bar's crunch comes from kunafa (knafeh): shredded pastry over soft cheese, baked and soaked in syrup, eaten warm. Try the real thing at a Levantine sweet shop. Deira has two a few steps apart, perfect for a taste-off.
Palestinian sweet house since 1984, near the Mall of the Emirates. Kunafa nabulsiyya comes na'ama (soft) or kheshna (crunchy): the crunchy one is closest to the bar.
📍 Address: Abdullah Building, Sheikh Zayed Road, Al Barsha 1
Buy it last. From May to October it is often over 35 °C outside: buy on your last day, or at the airport.
Cabin bag, not suitcase. A chocolate bar is solid food, so it goes in hand luggage. A separate jar of pistachio spread may count as a liquid at security.
Bring a small cool bag and keep the bar out of hot taxis and hotel windowsills.
Eat a filled bar soon. The pistachio cream and toasted pastry go soft and stale: eat it within about one to two weeks and check the date on the pack. Plain or Bateel bars keep much longer.
Check your home country's rules for bringing in food with milk or nuts.
💸 On a budget
Supermarkets and corner shops (baqalas) sell many copies for a fraction of the price. In 2025 Galaxy made a Pistachio Kunafa edition for the UAE and Qatar at AED 30 for a box of eight pieces.
Or skip the bar and have a warm piece of kunafa in Deira for a fraction of the price: the flavour that started it all.
❓ Questions people ask
What is in Dubai chocolate?
The original, Fix's "Can't Get Knafeh of It", is thick milk chocolate filled with pistachio cream, tahini and toasted kataifi, the shredded filo pastry of kunafa, which gives the crunch.
Who invented Dubai chocolate?
Sarah Hamouda and her husband Yezen Alani, through their small Dubai company Fix Dessert Chocolatier (2021). It became famous after a video by Dubai food creator Maria Vehera in December 2023.
Where can I buy the original in Dubai?
In the city only through the Careem app (daily drops), and over the counter at the Fix shops of Dubai Duty Free at Dubai International Airport, after passport control. There is no Fix shop in the malls.
Can I buy Dubai chocolate at Dubai airport?
Yes, on departure: Fix has shops in Dubai Duty Free, and the airport also sells local brands such as Bateel, Al Nassma and L'ocali.
How much does Dubai chocolate cost?
A Fix bar started at AED 68.25 on Careem in October 2025, plus delivery. Copies from other brands are cheaper; Bateel sells smaller 40 g bars.
Why is it so expensive?
It is a large, hand-filled bar made in small batches, pistachios became much dearer in 2025, and demand is still huge.
Is the Dubai chocolate in my supermarket at home the real thing?
No. "Dubai chocolate" has become the name of a style, and most supermarket bars are made elsewhere. A German food-safety test in 2024 found problems in all eight cheap imports it checked.
How long does Dubai chocolate keep?
A fresh filled bar keeps about one to two weeks, cool and dry; check the date on the pack. Bateel says its chocolate keeps about six months at 15–18 °C.
Plan your trip →Put these places in a day plan with walking times.
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