The bar that broke TikTok in December 2023 has nothing to do with Dubai's chocolate heritage — it's barely three years old, made by a single boutique chocolatier, and now copied by nearly every major UK supermarket.
What is Dubai chocolate, exactly?
Dubai chocolate is the nickname for "Can't Get Enough of Dubai Chocolate", a bar created by Fix Dessert Chocolatier, a small chocolate brand founded by Sarah Hamouda in Dubai. It pairs a tempered milk or dark chocolate shell with a thick pistachio cream filling, folded through with kataifi — thin shredded pastry strands that are toasted in butter or ghee first to give the filling a crunchy, almost baklava-like texture.
- Shell — tempered milk or dark chocolate, hand-poured into moulds
- Filling — pistachio cream, sometimes cut with tahini in the original recipe
- Crunch — kataifi pastry, toasted before folding into the filling
How it went viral
In December 2023, TikTok creator Maria Vehera posted a video biting into the bar and showing the filling stretch and spill out. The clip racked up tens of millions of views within weeks, and demand overwhelmed Fix's small Dubai kitchen — customers reported waiting lists running into months, and unofficial resellers listed bars online for many times the original price.
Where to actually buy it in the UK
The original Fix bars are still made in small batches in Dubai and are hard to get hold of in Britain, but UK supermarkets moved fast to fill the gap. Lidl, Aldi and M&S all launched their own pistachio-and-kataifi chocolate bars from mid-2024 onwards, and independent chocolate and sweet shops have followed with their own versions too. Quality and pistachio content vary a lot between them, so it's worth checking the ingredients list if you want a bar that's mostly pistachio rather than mostly sugar and palm oil.
Frequently asked questions
What is Dubai chocolate?
Dubai chocolate is a milk or dark chocolate bar filled with pistachio cream and toasted kataifi pastry for crunch, created by Fix Dessert Chocolatier in Dubai.
Why did Dubai chocolate go viral?
It went viral in December 2023 after TikTok creator Maria Vehera posted a video cutting open the bar, which racked up tens of millions of views and triggered global demand almost overnight.
Can you buy Dubai chocolate in the UK?
Yes. Lidl, Aldi and M&S all launched their own pistachio-and-kataifi bars from mid-2024 onwards, and it's also stocked by specialist chocolate and sweet retailers.