Eight restaurants in Dubai have been crowned the winners of the emirate’s first social dining awards, the 2015 Restaurant Buzz Awards. Organised by two UAE start-ups, social restaurant discovery tool, RoundMenu and impartial restaurant review website, FooDiva, with the support of Commercial Bank of Dubai, the awards are based around social occasions and voted by the public through social media only.

The public voted for 1,400 different restaurants in Dubai from top-end dining to cheap and cheerful eats, with 12,000+ users visiting the voting site over the five-week awards period.

The best buzzing restaurant winners in each category are:

The winners were revealed at a Dubai Food Festival event at the Beach Canteen on Kite Beach last night (17th February) hosted by well-known comedian Ali Al Sayed, and with food served by Moti Roti.

“In today’s world, social proof is one of the strongest indications of sound business health. The Restaurant Buzz Awards help us go beyond just photos and reviews, adding a layer of recognition to both diners’ opinions in a transparent manner, and to the restaurants for living up to new social dining standards that customers seek out,” said Zaid Jawad, founder of RoundMenu.

“A dining experience is so subjective that whilst I have strong opinions on Dubai’s restaurant scene, it’s important to allow the public to vote for what they feel are best-in-class restaurants. Eating out is such a social activity that we themed the categories around occasions, and with voting only via social media,” said Samantha Wood, founder of FooDiva.