The viral Dubai chocolate bar uses kataifi, shredded phyllo pastry, and creamy pistachios.
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A dessert dubbed the "Dubai chocolate bar" has gone viral online.
The original bar was created by Fix Dessert Chocolatier, a UAE-based chocolaterie.
I tried versions from three New York City stores and totally get the hype.
It all began, as most things do these days, with a viral video on TikTok.
UAE-based creator Maria Vehera filmed a 1 1/2-minute clip in which she opened a chocolate bar, broke it in half, and dipped it in green pistachio cream before taking her first bite. Since she posted the video in December 2023, it has been viewed 77 million times and has over 5 million likes.
The chocolate in the video — a milk-chocolate bar that's filled with pistachio cream and kataifi, a shredded phyllo pastry — took FoodTok by storm. From homemade recipes and vegan substitutes to DIY kits on eBay and small business owners making their own versions, everyone has been trying to recreate the bars.
The original bar, named "Can't Get Knafeh of It," after the traditional Middle Eastern dessert kunafa, was created by UAE-based dessert shop Fix Dessert Chocolatier. Its founder, Sarah Hamouda, launched the brand from her home kitchen in 2021.
"Coming from my dining-room kitchen to a small cloud kitchen with one person and then now a team of 15 people has been surreal," Hamouda told Business Insider.
The brand took off earlier this year and, according to Hamouda, went from getting six to seven chocolate orders a day to 500 orders a day, with the bars selling out within a minute of new products going on sale every evening.
Since the brand's viral success, Hamouda has quit her corporate job and is determined to meet the growing global demands. But Fix Desserts have yet to hit stores in the US, so some local businesses have taken things into their own hands. Banking on the bar's virality and a growing global chocolate market, US-based businesses are creating and selling their own versions.
In New York City, Nuts Factory, a specialty food store with six Manhattan locations and six others across the state, introduced the chocolate bar in July.
"We hand-make about 1,000 bars of chocolates every day to send across all our stores," Din Allall, the CEO of Nuts Factory, told Business Insider. And while he doesn't have a number on the chocolate sales yet, it's been popular enough a product to warrant expansion. The brand has already launched a dark and white chocolate option alongside its milk chocolate offering and plans to introduce additional flavors in the upcoming months.
Since I can't make a trip across the Atlantic to try the original, I decided to try bars from three local businesses selling them in New York — the Chocolate House, Mokafe, and the Nuts Factory — to determine which appears to be the most authentic and tastes the most delicious.
Here's how the chocolate bars tasted, ranked from my least favorite to my favorite.
To find out what the hype was all about, I tracked down three versions of the bars in NYC. One came from Chocolate House in Astoria.
New York-based restaurant Chocolate House's recreation of the viral chocolate bar.
Priyanka Rajput/Business Insider
I came across this dessert shop, which has six locations in New York City while scrolling through Instagram. I saw that, in addition to selling the chocolate, they had remixed the pistachio cream and toasted kataifi — shredded phyllo pastry used to make kunafa — flavors to create pistachio chocolate crepes and waffles.
I picked up the chocolate from its Astoria location, where it costs $8.99, excluding tax.
The bar came wrapped in a clear cellophane with a gold clip on top and felt soft, not firm.
The chocolate bar from Chocolate House.
Priyanka Rajput/Business Insider
Just from holding and seeing the bar, I could tell this wasn't the most accurate dupe, as it appeared to have used molten chocolate instead of tempered, which gave it a flat and mottled appearance.
The bar broke easily and lacked the snap that made the original famous.
In terms of size, this was the smallest of the three bars I tried from stores in NYC, but it was also the cheapest.
I thought the sweet milk chocolate overpowered the creamy and crunchy pistachio flavors.
The chocolate bar from Chocolate House.
Priyanka Rajput/Business Insider
While I usually opt for dark chocolate, I also enjoy the occasional milk option when mixed with nuts or berries. And though this chocolate combined both, it didn't seem to get the balance of flavors right. When I broke the bar in half, I also did not get the crunch or snap that I watched on scores of TikTok videos.
However, if you're new to Middle Eastern desserts and would prefer a largely American flavor profile with hints of kataifi and pistachio, then this chocolate bar might be the one for you.
I also tried a version of the chocolate bar from the Nuts Factory. This was my second favorite.
The large-square-sized chocolate bar from the Nuts Factory in New York was closest in size, crunch, and texture to its Dubai counterpart.
Priyanka Rajput/Business Insider
Several New York-based creators on TikTok have called this bar the Dubai bar dupe. While I haven't tried the original, based on watching several online videos of Fix's chocolate, I have to agree: At $18.99, excluding taxes, this 7.5-ounce bar comes closest to its Dubai cousin in terms of both costs — the 7-ounce Fix chocolate bar costs about $20 — and appearance.
I ordered my chocolate online on DoorDash from the closest store in Manhattan, and it came swiftly, packed in a plastic container with no branding.
The bar did not melt easily and was quite large.
The chocolate bar from Nuts Factory.
Priyanka Rajput/Business Insider
At first glance, the chocolate felt firm and had an even tone throughout, which suggested its base was tempered.
Din Allall, the CEO, told BI the chocolate is sourced from Belgium, the pistachio cream from Italy, and the kataifi from Greece.
As per tradition set online, I did the snap test by breaking the bar in half and was instantly satisfied by its sound.
The bar is also quite big — equivalent to four chocolate bars stacked — making it ideal for sharing with friends or family.
The bar was rich and crunchy, but I wish the chocolate and pistachio flavors had been better balanced to complement each other.
Inside the chocolate bar is filled with phyllo dough pastry and pistachio cream.
Priyanka Rajput/Business Insider
Despite being the perfect dupe appearance-wise, the flavor profile didn't work the best for me. Again, I thought the richness of the milk chocolate overpowered the pistachio cream. I also wish the kataifi was a bit roasted and dipped in extra pistachio cream so that both flavors could shine equally.
Having said that, I think lots of people with a fondness for crunchy milk chocolate would enjoy this decadent dessert, and I can see why it has an online fanbase.
My favorite bar had a perfect blend of pistachio cream and chocolate, with neither overpowering the other. It came from Mokafe in Astoria.
The chocolate bar from Mokafe had the perfect balance of all flavors, and so was my favorite.
Priyanka Rajput/Business Insider
Just across from the Chocolate House in Astoria is a small specialty coffee shop, Mokafe, that's most popular for its premium Yemeni coffee blends but is also selling the famous chocolate bars.
So naturally, I walked across the street and managed to get the last remaining bar of dark chocolate for $9.36, excluding tax.
The bar came wrapped in branded cellophane and had a white chocolate glaze.
Mokafe's chocolate bar.
Priyanka Rajput/Business Insider
The bar had a firm exterior and a smooth, consistent texture. It did not melt easily and passed the snap test with flying colors. The chocolate seemed so perfectly tempered that it had a nice gloss and took some strength to break in half.
While it's much smaller than the bar from Dubai, it appeared to match it in some aspects.
I also felt the bar was priced fairly for a specialty chocolate, neither too low nor too high.
I enjoyed the crunch of roasted kataifi combined with dark chocolate.
Mokafe's chocolate bar had a nice, crunchy exterior that snapped when broken in half and a creamy interior.
Priyanka Rajput/Business Insider
One of the reasons this bar stood out to me was its use of roasted kataifi, a texture and flavor profile I could taste well and that integrated nicely with the pistachio cream.
The other reason, of course, was that this was the first place that used dark chocolate instead of milk, which I felt helped balance the overall sweetness.
Although the chocolate wasn't 100% dark and had hints of sugar, it still paired better, in my opinion.
Each shop added a unique spin to the original bar, and I can understand why the indulgent dessert is such a hit.
In addition to "Can't Get Knafeh of It," Fix Dessert Chocolatier's most popular flavor, the shop offers five other choices, including Lotus cheesecake and salted pretzels.
Fix Dessert Chocolatier
If I were to buy one of these bars again, Mofake would be my first choice, but all the bars offered a distinct experience, from melt-in-your-mouth smoothness to a delicate crunch.
Each shop provided a unique spin on the original bar from Dubai's Fix Dessert Chocolatier and offered chocolate enthusiasts a variety of flavors, types, and textures to pick from — all without having to travel 7,000 miles across the ocean.
