3 days Ago
After being inundated with videos about the Dubai chocolate bar phenomenon, I headed out in Bolton town centre on a mission to find some. Whilst I didn’t try every single shop in Bolton, I spent the best part of two hours looking for the pistachio and knafeh-filled chocolate bars. If you’re like me, you may be wondering what knafeh, also known as kanafeh, is.
Knafeh is a traditional Arab dessert made with spun pastry dough layered with cheese and soaked in a sweet, sugar-based syrup. The Dubai chocolate bar, which encompasses pistachio and knafeh enveloped in rich milk chocolate, became a viral sensation following a TikTok video. The viral chocolate can be found in several shops around Bolton (Image: Newsquest) The original bar from Fix Dessert Shop in Dubai is officially known as Pistachio Kataifi Chocolate Bar and is only available in Dubai.
All of the bars available in the UK are inspired by the original Dubai chocolate bar. Having seen online that some discount stores sold the bars, I tried Bolton’s Home Bargains and Poundland to no avail. I also received a tip-off that Morrison’s in Bolton sold them, but despite my best efforts, I couldn’t find them there.
I had my best luck in convenience shops and newsagents, especially around the Deane Road area. Kandylicious on Deane Road stocks the bars, priced at £10 per bar. Newsagent Convenience Store Mobile Phone & Vape Shop (MD Bolton Ltd Newsagent) on Newport Street also sells the bars at £2.
99 each or two for £5. Though closed when I visited, drive-thru patisserie Dujour Bakehouse on Vicarage Street sells the Dubai chocolate in multiple forms. According to their website, Dujour sell multiple kinds of the Dubai chocolate and offer UK-wide shipping.
Dujour offers a Knafeh Bar for £10, Pistachio Knafeh Spread for £10 and Kinder Knafeh Spread for £11. They also sell a Hybrid Pistachio Knafeh & Bruce Bar for £10. They claim that their most popular offering is the Pistachio Knafeh Brownie Tin priced at £9.
Chocoberry, a dessert café on Deane Road, boasts a Dubai Viral Knafeh Range which includes the famous Dubai chocolate bar priced at just under £20. Other sweet treats in the range include a Pistachio Knafeh Dream Cake and a Knafeh Brownie. Given the viral chocolate's popularity online, I decided to ask some young people what they thought of the trend .
Isobel, 21, said she is easily influenced by trends she sees on social media. She said: “The Dubai chocolate bars are all over my feed. I haven’t tried one because, like a lot of fads, they’re massively overhyped.
” ALSO READ: Pubs, restaurants and bars that opened in Bolton in 2024 ALSO READ: New town centre restaurant opens with one dish 'you will absolutely love' ALSO READ: Baker's dreams come true as she opens 'first of its kind' drive-thru Jay, 28, said he doesn’t have much of a sweet tooth, so is less likely to be swayed by the marketing around Dubai knafeh bars. However, other food trends, such as the craze for birria tacos a few years ago, struck a chord. He said: “I ate loads of birria tacos at the time.
” Dan, 27, tried a bar after seeing them repeatedly plastered all over his social media feed. He doesn’t think it was worth the hype. Dan said: “It was a lot crunchier than I expected, but then again, I think I bought a cheap version.
” Ben, 24, actively avoids buying anything that becomes a social media phenomenon..
