Sponsored: Definitely put this on your ‘take visitors to’ list…

Award-winning Thai restaurant Thiptara has just turned 10 years old, and so is a total Dubai classic. The food is consistently excellent, but it’s the location that is quite unlike anything else in Dubai: the dining area of the restaurant sticks out like a peninsula on the Burj Lake, and has unparalleled The Dubai Fountain and Burj Khalifa views.

The good news is that they’ve just created an entirely new al-fresco dining area that will be open winter-round: the area is actually a floating platform that juts out onto the Burj Lake and bobs in the water (so you’ll kind of feel like you’re on a boat).

This also doubles the amount of outside seating they have, and therefore doubles your chances of getting a table outside when you book (although we’d still recommend booking well in advance).

That said, if you can only get a table inside, you’ll still get an enviable fountain view:

You can also see the fountains from inside the dining room.

Keen to check Thiptara out? Well, the restaurant has just launched a new weekend lunch deal, which is a great option for when you have visitors in town. And yes it will be lunch and a show, because remember, The Dubai Fountain isn’t just a nighttime affair, there’s also a show at 1pm and 1.30pm Saturday to Thursday and at 1.30pm and 2pm on Fridays.

Dinner guests will get to see a selection of The Dubai Fountain shows considering the epic light and water display goes off every 30 minutes from 6pm to 11pm (we particularly enjoyed Adele’s Skyfall last time we dined at Thiptara).

The lunch feast features a selection of regional Thai favourites and costs Dhs200 with food only, Dhs230 with unlimited soft beverages and Dhs350 with free-flowing house grape beverages, hops and selected special drinks. Plus, that view is priceless.

This is almost exactly the angle you’ll get to watch the fountains from if you sit on the new floating platform at Thiptara.

If visiting at dinner time, we highly recommend you try the Gold River, or Than Suwaan sharing menu (come hungry, as it’s a lot of food). The menu costs Dhs358 per person (or Dhs398 with a few other options) and features a range of dishes, with particularly excellent seafood options.

The pomelo salad comes with giant tiger prawns and the sea bass fillet green curry is melt in the mouth and aromatic. Other highlights include the comforting beef satay, the tom yum and the tangy barbecue duck.

Som Tum Thai Poo Yaak: Spicy green papaya salad with Alaska crab

Dessert is a classic: a tempura banana with honey and coconut ice cream. The perfect way to finish off the night.

There’s also a fresh a la carte menu at Thiptara, crafted by Chef Thani – think deep-fried softshell crab with homemade spicy sauce, wok-cooked calamari, grilled fish in green curry, stewed lamb shank in masaman curry and crème brûlée with Thai tea flavour and coconut ice cream.

Pla Yang Nam Ma Kham: Grilled black cod fish (yum). 

Or, if you have tickets for a performance at Dubai Opera, Thiptara does a special early dinner-and-a-show menu for just Dhs200 on the nights shows are on: just show your tickets on the night to get the special set menu.

The views and the excellent food aren’t the only reasons that Thiptara should be on your ‘must-take-visitors-to’ list: the Palace Downtown itself is a bit of a show-stopper.

The hotel has a very Arabian feel, with gorgeous palm-tree-strewn gardens and pathways made for picturesque post-dinner ambling.

Even its driveway is majestic:

The hotel is also home to an Argentinean grill called Asado and Ewaan, which specialises in the cuisine of the Levant and GCC.

All of the restaurants boast beautiful al fresco areas, but if its The Dubai Fountain views you’re after, you really can’t go past Thiptara.

Thiptara, Palace Downtown, Downtown Dubai, 6pm to 11.30pm. Tel: (800) DINING. Metro: Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall. addresshotels.com/tasteofthai