Review: Inside Daniel Arsham’s art café at Dubai Mall
Step inside Daniel Arsham’s Daniel’s Room at Dubai Mall, a living gallery where art, design and dining come together through his signature fictional archaeology.
Image courtesy of Daniel's Room
Daniel’s Room isn’t just a café full of art. It’s Daniel Arsham’s way of bringing his creative work into everyday life, where you can experience his ideas about objects, nostalgia, and imagined archaeology over lunch instead of behind a gallery rope.
Art in the Middle’s Lydia Hammond takes a closer look at Daniel Arsham’s living gallery in Dubai Mall.
Amid the hustle and bustle of Dubai Mall’s Fashion Avenue, Daniel’s Room is a refreshing change of pace. Just a short walk from the busier parts of the mall, the café invites you to slow down and soak in Daniel Arsham’s unique visual world, where art, design, and hospitality come together.
The artist Daniel Arsham is best known for his distinctive take on “fictional archaeology”, transforming familiar objects through erosion and imagined decay so they appear as though they have been excavated from another time. Working across sculpture, architecture, drawing and film, Arsham’s visual language has travelled far beyond the gallery, with his practice extending into fashion, design and hospitality.
If you’re looking for somewhere to catch up with friends or take a break from shopping, Daniel’s Room strikes an easy balance between laid-back and sophisticated. The bold turquoise and white palette immediately catches the eye, while the details reward a closer look. Mid-century modern espresso machines bring a touch of 1950s diner nostalgia, while organic textures and eroded details add another layer to the space.
Look upwards and the story continues. Retro-inspired classic car posters sit beneath the rocky relief of the ceiling, creating the curious feeling of stumbling across a memory from another era. It’s this combination of the familiar and the unexpected that gives Daniel’s Room its character.
The menu carries the same playful approach. Matcha lovers can try the Matcha Cloud, which swaps the usual oat milk for coconut water for a lighter, refreshing take on the popular drink. For something to eat, Daniel’s Salad is a personal favourite, bringing nutty and acidic flavours that feel distinctly Mediterranean.
Then there’s the Status Dessert, which is perhaps the most obvious meeting point between art and food. A creamy white chocolate mousse with fresh berries is cast in the form of a classical Greek bust, turning dessert into something that feels almost like a small sculpture for the table.
Beyond the menu, Daniel’s Room is also a destination for art lovers, with a selection of collectible Arsham pieces available to purchase. There’s something refreshingly unpretentious about the way the café approaches art, finding beauty and intrigue in everyday objects, from basketballs to ashtrays.
You don’t need to be a seasoned collector to engage with the work. Instead, Daniel’s Room offers something closer to a living gallery, where Arsham’s ideas can be encountered as part of an everyday experience. Come for the coffee, stay for lunch and take a closer look at the art around you.
Visit: danielsroom