Where to Eat in Dubai

Dubai is known as 'The City of Merchants' has it has no fewer than 24 shopping malls. There is something for everyone in Dubai whether its. Shopping, eating different foods, doing activities or even riding a camel. Don't forget Dubai can also provide you with some of the finest golf courses in the world.

Dubai's restaurants and hotels offer an incredibly diverse range of food and beverage choices including both restaurants of all kinds and cafes and bars. The choices consist of cuisine from around the world, including excellent service and decor. Here, unlike many other cities your best bet might be to eat in your hotel because restaurants located outside hotel and club premises are not permitted to serve alcohol. However, the rest of the city does offer small eateries which support Dubai's high standards of international cuisine. Some of the types of food you will find besides Gulf, Middle Eastern and Arabian are Italian, Spanish, Swiss and Chinese.

Dubai is no longer the cheap destination it was 10 years ago. At most restaurants, expect to pay about £5 for starters, £13 for mains and London prices for wine.

The choice is astonishing, with highlights including Nina, a funky modern Indian at the Arabian Court and Anar, a Persian restaurant at Madinat Jumeirah, where specialities include lamb and pistachio koftas with pomegranate seeds. If you're really pushing the boat out, try Verre at the Hilton Dubai Creek, Gordon Ramsay's only restaurant outside the UK. At the other end of the spectrum, you have backstreet Indians in the textile souk of Bastakia, where you can get an authentic Gujarati thali for £2.

Top seafood choices include the Aquarium at the Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club and the Fish Market at the Hotel Inter-Continental; and Dubai boasts an abundance of European restaurants, particularly Italian: the Bice Ristorante in Umm Suqueim offers first-class Italian delicacies, fine service and alfresco dining; the elegant Cubo Pasta restaurant at the Ibis Hotel receives rave reviews; Venezia, the largest restaurant in the Middle East, is beautifully designed like an Italian village square, complete with gondola rides, musical entertainment and an extensive selection of fine wines. La Moda's plush setting and delicious Italian dishes makes it the place to be and to be seen in. Other top choices include Da Vinci's in Garhoud and the all-day Fontana diner.

As Dubai is a Muslim city, many restaurants, especially at the cheaper end of the market, are not licensed to serve alcohol. However, restaurants in the tourist and business hotels almost always serve alcohol. Sales tax at 10% is added to all bills. Service charges at 10-15% are also frequently added but, if they are not, a 10% tip is expected.

If you feel like dinner in shorts and flip-flops, go to The Boardwalk at the Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club, which overlooks the Creek and serves delicious burgers.

Thursday marks the beginning of the weekend and restaurants are always very busy, so if you are interested in any of the below we highly advise you to book, especially in the Summer months as a lot of restaurants will close their outdoor dining areas as it is too hot.

Dubai is also famous for its Friday brunches, where sumptuous buffets cover the whole spectrum of international cuisines, some lasting all day. Competition is intense and great promotions often apply: some venues offer free use of facilities, such as swimming pools, as part of the Friday brunch package.

Middle East Cuisine

Dubai is an excellent place to sample all types of Gulf and Middle Eastern cuisine, including Iranian, Moroccan and Lebanese. Arabian food makes up an important part of most buffet spreads. Specialities include:
Hoummus, a paste made from chickpeas and sesame seeds.
Tabbouleh, chopped parsley, mint and crushed wheat.
Ghuzi, a whole roast lamb on a bed of rice mixed with nuts.
Wara enab, vine leaves stuffed with rice.
Koussa mahshi, stuffed courgettes.

Matchbous, spiced lamb with rice.
Hareis, a rich delicacy of slow-cooked wheat and tender lamb.
Seafood served with specially seasoned rice.
Naturally, dates are a feature of any Arabian meal.

Delicious regional desserts include:

Umm Ali (literally "Mother of Ali"), a type of bread pudding.
Esh asaraya (meaning bread of the harem), a sweet kind of cheesecake with a cream topping.
Mehalabiya which is a pudding sprinkled with rosewater and pistachios.

Visitors especially enjoy fresh fish from the Arabian Gulf and the Indian Ocean -- lobster, slipper lobster, crab, hamour, shrimp, tuna, king fish, pomfret, red snapper.

A traditional Middle Eastern snack is the shawarma -- grilled shavings of lamb or chicken, mixed with salad and rolled inside a pocket of Arabic bread -- sold in many small outlets around the city.

There are also numerous juice bars where visitors can buy a fresh juice cocktail or a mango milkshake.

International Cuisine

Standards of international cuisine in Dubai are high and the choice is wide. Top class European restaurants in the city's hotels range from French to Italian, Spanish to Greek and British to German.

There are also several American and Mexican restaurants in the city, while international fast food chains are represented by such names as Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, Pizza Inn, Burger King, Shakey's Pizza, McDonald's, Wimpy and Hardees.