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Travel food guides

Middle East food guides

Mezze in Beirut, mansaf in Amman, machboos in Dubai and Doha: what to eat, Ramadan customs and where to eat across the Middle East.

The Middle East is a region of shared dishes with fierce local loyalties: hummus, falafel, grilled meats, rice platters and endless small plates, each cooked differently from one country to the next. These Middle East food guides cover what to eat, how to read an Arabic or Persian menu, how service charges, VAT and tipping work, alcohol rules and Ramadan customs, and where to eat city by city, from Dubai and Abu Dhabi to Amman, Petra, Doha, Muscat, Jerusalem and Beirut.

Start with the most visited food destinations below, or browse every Middle East country guide.

Lamb machboos, luqaimat with date syrup and Arabic coffee with dates on a terrace table beside Dubai Creek, with wind towers and wooden abra boats behind, in Dubai, UAE
United Arab Emirates

United Arab Emirates food guide

Emirati dishes, Arabic menu words, the "++" on hotel bills, alcohol and Ramadan rules, and where to eat in six emirates.

13 min readRead
A large platter of chicken kabsa, Saudi coffee in a brass dallah and a dish of dates on a table at a restaurant with mud-brick walls in Diriyah, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia food guide

Kabsa, mandi and Hejazi street food, Arabic menu words, tipping, Ramadan customs, and where to eat in six Saudi cities.

13 min readRead
A platter of mansaf with lamb, rice and pine nuts, bowls of hummus and falafel and glasses of mint tea on a rooftop terrace overlooking the hills of Amman, Jordan
Jordan

Jordan food guide

Mansaf, falafel and knafeh, Arabic menu words, tax and tipping, Ramadan customs, and where to eat in seven Jordanian destinations.

13 min readRead

All 11 Middle East food guides

Chicken machboos, muhammar sweet rice with grilled safi fish and Arabic coffee on a table in a traditional Bahraini restaurant with carved wooden doors near Manama Souq, Bahrain
Bahrain

Bahrain food guide

Machboos, muhammar and Bahraini halwa, Arabic menu words, dinars and fils, and where to eat in five parts of Bahrain.

12 min readRead
Plates of chelow kabab with saffron rice and grilled tomatoes, a bowl of ghormeh sabzi and a jug of doogh on a table in a traditional tiled restaurant in Tehran, Iran
Iran

Iran food guide

Kebabs, stews and saffron rice, Persian menu words, cash and tipping, and where to eat in eight Iranian cities.

14 min readRead
A whole masgouf carp grilled over a wood fire, served with flatbread, pickles, onion and lemon, with glasses of sweet tea, at a riverside restaurant on the Tigris in Baghdad, Iraq
Iraq

Iraq food guide

Masgouf, dolma and kubba, Arabic and Kurdish menu words, cash and tipping, and where to eat in seven Iraqi cities.

13 min readRead
Hummus with olive oil, falafel, Israeli salad, warm pita and lemonade with mint on a table in a Jerusalem stone courtyard restaurant in Jerusalem, Israel
Israel

Israel food guide

Hummus, sabich and shakshuka, Hebrew and kosher menu words, tipping and Shabbat, and where to eat in seven Israeli cities.

13 min readRead
A platter of mansaf with lamb, rice and pine nuts, bowls of hummus and falafel and glasses of mint tea on a rooftop terrace overlooking the hills of Amman, Jordan
Jordan

Jordan food guide

Mansaf, falafel and knafeh, Arabic menu words, tax and tipping, Ramadan customs, and where to eat in seven Jordanian destinations.

13 min readRead
A platter of chicken machboos with spiced rice, a plate of grilled zubaidi fish and small cups of Arabic coffee with dates on a table in a traditional restaurant in Souq Al Mubarakiya, Kuwait City, Kuwait
Kuwait

Kuwait food guide

Machboos, murabyan and luqaimat, Arabic menu words, tipping, Ramadan rules and where to eat in six parts of Kuwait.

12 min readRead
A spread of Lebanese mezze with hummus, tabbouleh, fattoush and kibbeh, a glass of arak and a basket of flatbread on a restaurant terrace overlooking the Mediterranean in Beirut, Lebanon
Lebanon

Lebanon food guide

Mezze, man'oushe and knefeh, Arabic menu words, tipping and cash, and where to eat in seven Lebanese cities.

13 min readRead
Omani shuwa lamb on rice, mishkak skewers and kahwa coffee with dates on a terrace table overlooking Muttrah harbour and its dhows in Muscat, Oman
Oman

Oman food guide

Shuwa, mishkak and Omani halwa, Arabic menu words, rials and baisa, Ramadan rules, and where to eat in six Omani destinations.

13 min readRead
Chicken machboos, grilled hamour and glasses of karak tea on a table at a restaurant in Souq Waqif, Doha, Qatar, with mud-rendered walls and wooden beams behind
Qatar

Qatar food guide

Machboos, karak and Souq Waqif, Arabic menu words, tipping, alcohol and Ramadan rules, and where to eat across Qatar.

12 min readRead
A large platter of chicken kabsa, Saudi coffee in a brass dallah and a dish of dates on a table at a restaurant with mud-brick walls in Diriyah, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia food guide

Kabsa, mandi and Hejazi street food, Arabic menu words, tipping, Ramadan customs, and where to eat in six Saudi cities.

13 min readRead
Lamb machboos, luqaimat with date syrup and Arabic coffee with dates on a terrace table beside Dubai Creek, with wind towers and wooden abra boats behind, in Dubai, UAE
United Arab Emirates

United Arab Emirates food guide

Emirati dishes, Arabic menu words, the "++" on hotel bills, alcohol and Ramadan rules, and where to eat in six emirates.

13 min readRead

Where to eat in Middle East, city by city

Every city and island with its own section in our Middle East food guides.

Bahrain food guide
Manama Muharraq Adliya Juffair Budaiya
Iran food guide
Tehran Isfahan Shiraz Yazd Kashan Tabriz Rasht Mashhad
Iraq food guide
Baghdad Basra Najaf Karbala Erbil Sulaymaniyah Duhok
Israel food guide
Jerusalem Tel Aviv Jaffa Haifa Akko Nazareth Eilat
Jordan food guide
Amman Salt Jerash Madaba Petra Wadi Rum Aqaba
Kuwait food guide
Kuwait City Sharq Salmiya Hawalli Fahaheel Jahra
Lebanon food guide
Beirut Byblos Batroun Tripoli Zahle Sidon Tyre
Oman food guide
Muscat Nizwa Jebel Akhdar Sur Wahiba Sands Salalah
Qatar food guide
Doha West Bay and Katara The Pearl Lusail Al Wakrah Al Khor
Saudi Arabia food guide
Riyadh Jeddah AlUla Al Khobar Abha Taif
United Arab Emirates food guide
Dubai Abu Dhabi Sharjah Al Ain Ras Al Khaimah Fujairah

Menus you cannot read, prices in a currency you do not use? Photograph any menu in Middle East with swap.menu and every dish comes back in your language, explained, with prices in your own money and an order the waiter can read. Your first 3 scans are free.

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