United Arab Emirates Local Food

Local Food

A wide variety of international cuisines can be found in the UAE and eating out can be fairly inexpensive, although of course there are many upmarket restaurants and hotels where dining is correspondingly more expensive. A popular local dish Shawarma consists of tasty slow roasted shaved chicken served with flat bread. Generally, Arabic food is tasy and nutritious and considered to be similar to that found in Greece and Lebanon, often focused on skewered and grilled meats such as lamb and chicken with a mild spicy flavour derived from cumin and saffron.

Alcohol is available to tourists in liquor stores, many hotel restaurants and bars in all emirates except Sharjah, where alcohol can only be consumed in the home. During the festival of Ramadan, no alcohol is served between dawn and dusk. Dubai and Abu Dhabi do permit alcohol to be served in some bars after sunset during Ramadan, but all music is turned off and no dancing is allowed. Consequently the nightclubs are closed. Other holy days in the Muslim calendar prohibit the public sale of alcohol anywhere in the Emirates.