• JP Anglo’s Kooya opens second UAE location at The Market Island.
  • Filipino flavors get a bold stage in Dubai’s top food hall.
  • Exclusive new dishes debut alongside classics like Chicken Inasal.
  • The Market Island blends food, music, and vibes for all ages.

If you thought The Market Island at Dubai Festival City Mall was already serving peak flavor energy, think again. It just got kooya-fied. Filipino culinary maverick JP Anglo has officially parked his second UAE outpost of Kooya Filipino Eatery inside the city’s most buzzing food hall—and let’s just say, it’s not your average mall food stop. This is where halo-halo meets hype, and pancit gets its runway moment.

Kooya’s arrival isn’t just another restaurant opening—it’s a cultural reset. The OG Dubai Marina location has already earned some serious clout (hello, Fact Magazine fave and Time Out Dubai’s Highly Commended Best Asian). Now, with The Market Island’s 70,000 sq. ft. playground of 50+ vendors, live music, kids’ zones, and marble-meets-wood interiors, Kooya’s punchy Filipino soul food is stepping into the spotlight like it owns the catwalk. Spoiler: it kinda does.

What’s on the plate? Think Chicken Inasal with swagger, Pancit Palabok that means business, and Halo-Halo so iconic it deserves its own Netflix series. And because Chef JP never misses, there’s a secret menu exclusive only to this new Kooya outpost—bold, traditional, and entirely Filipino-forward. It’s the kind of twist only JP Anglo can pull off without flinching.

“I’m not just feeding people—I’m telling stories through food,” says the Bacolod-born chef-slash-restaurateur-slash-culinary icon. From Manila’s Sarsa to Paris, Tokyo, and now a second Dubai hot spot, Chef JP is championing Filipino cuisine with every forkful. No fancy reservation hoops, just pure flavor, free parking, and vibes from 8 AM to 1 AM daily.

So yeah, if your summer plans didn’t include crushing Halo-Halo under disco lights and live music, you might want to rethink that. Kooya isn’t just joining The Market Island—it’s upgrading the taste level, one bold bite at a time.

Come hungry. Leave culturally shook.

@market.island_uae | @kooyafilipinoeatery | @chefjayps
Open daily, 8 AM–1 AM | No reservations needed | Free parking
Website: Dubai Festival City Mall