GENERAL
INFORMATION
Visitors from many parts of the world along
with a multi-ethnic resident community have
ensured that a sophisticated and innovative
food culture has developed in the UAE. Almost
any type of food is available, from classic
European to Pacific Rim. You can eat Mexican,
Polynesian, Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Korean,
Indian, Pakistani, Persian, Italian and French
cooking, and more, at some of the finest restaurants
in the Middle East.
International fast-food chains, serving the
standard fare of hamburgers, chips, pizzas etc
(McDonalds’s, Pizza Hut, Pizza Inn, Hardee’s,
Wimpy, Dunkin’ Donut) are also located
in the larger cities.
Kentucky Fried
Chicken seems to be a particular favourite.
International theme restaurants such as TGI
Friday’s, Planet Hollywood, Fashion Café,
Hard Rock Café and Henry J Bean’s
are all represented in the Emirates.
If you cannot
find anything to suit in that list, small
ethnic cafés and corner stalls are
ubiquitous. Shisha cafés offer an opportunity
to smoke a shisha (hubble-bubble pipe) and
serve food, coffee, tea and fruit juices and
corner stalls serve sharwarmas and other sandwiches.
Gulf and Middle
Eastern food is also available in a wide variety
of venues, from expensive restaurants to local
cafés. Fresh fish from the Arabian
Gulf is always good. Try lobster, crab, shrimp,
or grouper, tuna, kingfish, red snapper, grilled,
stuffed, or fried with spices.
But it is not
just a question of variety, make no mistake
the food is generally good and the standard
of service is high.
Pork
Muslims are prohibited from eating pork so
it is not included in Arabic menus. Hotels
frequently have substitutes such as beef sausages
and veal rashers on their breakfast menus.
If pork is available, it is clearly labelled
as such.
Alcohol
Alcohol is generally only served in hotel
restaurants and bars (but not in Sharjah).
Exceptions
are some clubs (e.g. golf clubs) and associations.
Restaurants that are not associated with hotels
are not permitted to serve alcohol.
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