Food & Drink

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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 Cafe, Hard Rock Cafe and Henry J Bean's are all represented in the Emirates. If you cannot find anything to suit in that list, small ethnic cafes and corner stalls are ubiquitous. Shisha cafes 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 cafes. 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.