Neha Mishra is the founder and chef of Dubai’s Kinoya, which was recently named the UAE’s Best Restaurant 2026. Neha's journey began at her dining table, where she hosted intimate supper clubs under the banner A Story of Food. What started as a passion project has now turned into a phenomenon. She had thousands of guests and long waiting lists. Word-of-mouth hype created demand before a restaurant even existed.
Her obsession was specifically ramen. Neha travelled repeatedly to Japan, studying regional styles, techniques and the philosophy behind the bowl. At Kinoya, broths are slow-built, noodles are crafted with love, and the menu stays tight.
When Kinoya opened in 2021, Dubai’s dining scene took notice and within a year, the restaurant earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand and a spot on the MENA’s 50 Best list. Kinoya focused on ramen and izakaya-style comfort food. Since then, the brand expanded to London’s Harrods, becoming one of the few homegrown Dubai concepts to travel internationally without losing its soul. Guests love Kinoya for their signature shio paitan or the deeply savoury duck ramen.
Neha left her career in film production and pivoted to full-time cooking, and built a community before building a restaurant. She doesn't have culinary school pedigree or fine-dining apprenticeship circuit. She positioned ramen not as quick comfort food but as craft worth lingering over. She is an Indian chef in Dubai mastering a Japanese culinary tradition and earning global recognition for it. Modern dining is no longer about ownership of cuisine. From a home kitchen to the top of the UAE’s dining scene, she has built her success the way she builds her broths, slowly but built to last.
If the past decade belonged to celebrity chefs and headline-grabbing concepts, Neha Mishra represents founder-chefs who grow their audiences first.
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