Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Where to Eat & Drink
One of the undoubted pleasures of the modern cities of the Peninsula is the variety and
quality of the restaurants. In the Gulf in particular, there is world-class dining in magnifi-
cent surroundings. One way for a visitor to experience some of the best of these dining ex-
periences is to skip breakfast on a Friday and visit the local five-star hotel for Friday
brunch - a regional speciality much beloved by locals and expats alike. A spectacular array
of local, Middle Eastern and international dishes will be on display, decorated with ice
carvings and garnished extravagantly, for a relatively modest price. Similarly, many hotels
arrange weekly seafood nights, often with belly dancing or local entertainment. Again, this
is often a more economic way of sampling the region's famous oysters, lobsters and prawns
than reserving a table at an exclusive seafood restaurant.
There are over 600 species of date. The best come from Al-Hasa in Saudi Arabia where a variety called
khlas
is presold to regular customers before it's even harvested.
Lebanese and Indian restaurants are the most prevalent throughout the region, followed
by Chinese and Thai in the bigger towns. Food from all over the world is available in the
Gulf cities. The hardest food to find in a restaurant is local, traditional fare but chains like
Bin Ateeq in Muscat, and Souq Waqif in Doha, try to redress that imbalance.
On the whole, restaurants are open (mostly for expats) during lunch; they're closed in
the afternoon and open from about 6pm to the early hours of the morning to cater for the
late-night eating habits of most people across the region. In Saudi Arabia restaurants must
comply with certain strict regulations (regarding segregation of men and women and the
observation of prayer hours, for example).
In very local restaurants, seating is sometimes on the floor on mats. Shoes should be left
outside the perimeters of the mats. Food is served from a communal plate placed on a tray.
Traditional snacks (such as
shwarma
) are quick, cheap and usually safe to eat, as the
food is prepared and cooked in front of you.
There's also a good range of well-stocked supermarkets (selling many international
foods) in the large cities and, increasingly, food halls are found in the malls.
During Ramadan, most hotels set up elaborate buffets of Ramadan specialities which
non-Muslims are free to join. Alcohol is not available in Ramadan except as room service
at hotels.
