XU
Escape the ordinary
XU
CHINESE RESTAURANT
Dubai, UAE
The moment one steps inside, the night shifts. It isn’t obvious at first. Just a slight change — the air feels warmer, heavier, like stepping away from reality, something just out of focus. The place feels familiar, though we can’t quite say why.
The air is thick with cigarette smoke and conversation, the kind spoken in hushed tones, just loud enough to be overheard if one listens closely enough. The ice melts slowly. The room is warm, dark, painted in shadows and deep reds. Music drifts lazily in the background, a tune half-forgotten but impossible to ignore. It’s the kind of place where no one is in a rush, but no one is standing still.
At the far end of the room, Su Li-zhen tilts her head just slightly, the silk of her cheongsam catching the light. She is listening but not looking. Across the bar, Chow Mo-wan scans the room the way a writer scans a blank page, searching. Wondering how this night will be written. Neither speaks right away. Instead, they let the moment stretch between them, like silk unspooling.
A match flares at the bar, flickering against the rows of backlit bottles.
A man in the corner exhales, his cigarette trailing smoke into the slow-turning ceiling fan. A whisper of laughter rises from a nearby table, then disappears. Someone plays mahjong in the back, the click of tiles like a metronome counting out the night.
Some things are better left unsaid.
Tonight is still unwritten.
PIRAJEAN LEES SCOPE
Full Interior design scheme
Layouts, room distribution, circulation
Bespoke finishes and joinery
Bespoke furniture design
PARTNERS
Photography: Ingrid Rasmussen
