Dining in Dubai

Overview

As the city of Dubai has grown at a frenetic pace, its dining scene has kept up, drawing in flavors from all expatriate cultures, as well as attracting celebrity chefs who have set up their fusion kitchens in the city.

Arabian Cuisine

Oddly enough, the restaurants here don’t include a lavish spread of local Emirati food.  That's because of the competition that the local cuisine receives from the more glamorous and heavily flavored gastronomy of Morocco and Lebanon.  To try traditional mezze, creamy humus, and falafel on your medical tourism vacation, look for Moroccan and Lebanese eateries – the cooking is the best that you could find outside of those countries. 

International Flavors

As home to one of the largest expatriate populations in the world, it's no wonder that there are restaurants catering to Indians, Pakistanis, Iranians, Lebanese, Syrians, and Egyptians, at every corner.  As possibly the only truly global city in the Middle East, Dubai is also home to every Western fast food franchise there is, ensuring that you can pick up a pizza or a burger with fries if you get homesick on your medical tourism visit.

Dinning Districts

Considering that restaurants located inside hotels are the only ones that have permits to serve liquor, it's no surprise that the best fine dining establishments are tucked away within the plush confines of these properties.  For a la carte dining and an extensive wine menu, head to the Jumeirah Beach strip and sashay into one of the many five star properties there.   

If paying top dollar for a quail's head surrounded by two lettuce leaves doesn’t interest you, walk into one of the city's several dozen malls, where the food courts serve up different flavors.  Or simply stop by at a local food stall and grab a Lebanese shawarma – shavings of barbequed meat tossed in mayonnaise and chopped onions, all rolled in baked Arabic bread.  Plus, the stalls whip up excellent fruit juices to go with your shawarma. 

The Deira and Bur Dubai areas are lined with small South Asian and Iranian joints where a heavy four-course meal that starts with trotter soup and ends with pistachio pudding, won't set you back by much.