Trend guide
Dubai Chocolate
The pistachio and kadayif bar that broke the internet. What is actually inside it, where it came from, and the bars worth knowing, from the original to the supermarket dupes.
Fix · 1919 · Hands Off · Lindt
What is Dubai chocolate?
Dubai chocolate is a filled chocolate bar with a centre of pistachio cream and crisp, toasted kadayif (shredded kataifi pastry). It was created in 2021 by the Dubai maker Fix Dessert Chocolatier and went viral on TikTok in 2024, setting off a wave of versions from craft makers and supermarkets around the world.
The whole idea is texture. A thin shell of chocolate gives way to a soft pistachio and tahini cream, shot through with kadayif that has been toasted in butter until it shatters. Get the crunch right and it is genuinely good. Lose it to a sweet, damp filling and you have an expensive novelty.
The original is Fix Dessert Chocolatier's "Can't Get Knafeh Of It", made in Dubai by a team led by founder Sarah Hamouda. It was a local cult bar until a single TikTok tasting video in 2024 turned it into one of the most searched chocolates in the world, and supermarkets raced to launch their own takes.
That is why the bars below span a wide range, from the Fix original and small craft interpretations to Lindt's widely stocked supermarket version. Cocoa percentage barely matters here. This is a confection built around its filling, so judge it on the quality of the pistachio and the snap of the kadayif, not on the number on the front.
Cocoa percentage barely matters here. Judge a Dubai bar on the pistachio and the snap of the kadayif.
How to spot a good one
Real, named pistachio and an audible kadayif crunch. The chocolate shell should be thin enough to let the filling lead.
Bars selling the look. A neon-green filling is a styling choice, not a sign of quality.
A damp, uniform paste with no crunch. Once the kadayif goes soft, the whole point is gone.
The Dubai chocolate bars worth knowing
From the Fix original that started the trend to the craft takes and the supermarket dupes, here is the spread on Chof, with the real maker and ingredients behind each one.
The original
Fix
Can't Get Knafeh Of It
Chof Score 34 / 100
The bar that started it all, made in Dubai. The benchmark every other version is measured against.
Craft
1919
Knafeh Krunch
Chof Score 61 / 100
A craft take that keeps the knafeh crunch right up front.
Craft
Hands Off
Soft Core Dubai Pistachio
Chof Score 48 / 100
A soft-centred craft version built around a pistachio core.
Supermarket
Lindt
Dubai Style Chocolate
Chof Score 34 / 100
The widely stocked supermarket version that put Dubai chocolate in every aisle.
Supermarket, white
Lindt
Dubai Style White Pistachio & Kadayif
Chof Score 53 / 100
Lindt's white-chocolate spin on the same pistachio and kadayif idea.
Why Dubai chocolate scores low on Chof Score
Here is the honest part. On Chof Score, Dubai chocolate bars tend to score low, usually well below a typical bar in the catalogue. That is expected, and it is worth understanding before you read too much into the number.
Chof Score is not a taste rating. It is a structural reading of fine-chocolate quality, built on ingredient purity, origin traceability, process disclosure and integrity. A Dubai bar works against most of it. The ingredient lists run long, with lecithin, vanillin and sometimes substitute vegetable fats or artificial flavouring, which pulls purity down. There is no named cacao origin, because the story is the pistachio and the pastry rather than a single estate, so traceability, the heaviest pillar, sits near the floor. And a filled confection has little to disclose about fermentation or roasting.
So a low score is not a verdict that the bar is bad. It means a filled novelty is being measured on a scale built for origin tasting bars, and it is playing a different game. The clearest sign of that: the Fix original, the bar that started the whole trend, sits at the very bottom of the scores above. Read Chof Score here as a measure of craft and traceability, not of whether you will enjoy it.
On Chof, the bars above currently score between 34 and 61 out of 100, against a catalogue where a strong tasting bar sits in the 80s and 90s.
More pistachio chocolate
Riding the same wave, here are other pistachio bars in the Chof catalogue.
KAICAO
55% Crema de Pistacho
Bon-Fiction
A Rose in Pistachio Skies
Hands Off
Chunky Pistachio Crunch
Lindt
Excellence Pistache
Plaq
Kamili Praliné Pistaches
Lucid Chocolatier
Pistachio
Ziaho
Pistachio & Desert Salt 64%
The Chocolate Smiths
Pistachio Cannoli
Frequently asked about Dubai chocolate
What is Dubai chocolate made of?
A chocolate shell, usually milk chocolate, around a filling of pistachio cream (often blended with tahini) and kadayif, the shredded kataifi pastry toasted until crisp. The contrast between the smooth cream and the crunchy pastry is the whole point.
What is kadayif (kataifi)?
Kadayif, also spelled kataifi, is a Middle Eastern and Mediterranean pastry made of very fine shredded filo dough. In Dubai chocolate it is toasted in butter until golden and crunchy, then folded through the pistachio filling.
Who invented Dubai chocolate?
Fix Dessert Chocolatier, a maker based in Dubai founded by Sarah Hamouda, created it in 2021. Their bar "Can't Get Knafeh Of It" is the original, and it inspired the global trend after going viral on TikTok in 2024.
Why is Dubai chocolate so expensive?
The filling is the cost. Real pistachio is pricey, and toasting kadayif and hand-filling bars is labour intensive, so authentic versions sit well above a standard bar. Supermarket versions such as Lindt bring the price down by scaling the process.
Is Dubai chocolate worth the hype?
It depends on the bar. A well-made one with real pistachio and a proper kadayif crunch is a genuine treat. Many fast imitations lean on sugar and lose the texture. Compare the bars on this page to see which ones keep the crunch.
Do Dubai chocolate bars score well on Chof Score?
Usually not. They tend to score well below a typical bar, because Chof Score measures fine-chocolate signals like ingredient purity and cacao traceability, and a filled pistachio-and-kadayif bar is built for texture and fun, not origin. A low score reflects the category, not that the bar is bad.
What is the original Dubai chocolate bar?
Fix Dessert Chocolatier's "Can't Get Knafeh Of It", made in Dubai. It is the bar that started the trend, and everything else, from craft makers to supermarkets, followed it.
Keep reading
New to reading a chocolate bar? Start with how to choose good chocolate. Or browse filled chocolate bars and the cocoa percentage chart.
Track what you taste
Scan a Dubai chocolate bar in the Chof app to log it, see what is really inside, and compare it with more bars like it.
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