What to eat in Dubai
Dubai eats Emirati, Levantine and South Asian at once: machboos and luqaimat, shawarma in Deira, curry in Karama, dates and karak tea for pocket change.

[ ] Try machboos
    Rice cooked with meat or fish, dried loomi lime and the bezar spice blend — the central Emirati dish for guests and celebrations. What sets it apart from pilaf is the dried lime and its sour note.
[ ] Try harees
    Wheat cooked down with meat into a smooth, sticky mass and finished with ghee. Austere to the point of plainness, and eaten especially during Ramadan at the breaking of the fast.
[ ] Eat shawarma in Deira
    Chicken or lamb shawarma in thin bread with garlic toum, pickles and chips inside. Levantine school, and in the old town it costs almost nothing.
[ ] Have manakish for breakfast
    A flatbread from the oven topped with zaatar and olive oil, or with akkawi cheese. Levantine bakery breakfast, folded in half and eaten walking.
[ ] Order mezze
    A spread of cold starters for the middle of the table: hummus, smoky mutabbal, tabbouleh, fattoush, kibbeh. Ordered in quantity for the group rather than one each.
[ ] Eat a South Indian thali or dosa
    A thali tray of rice, dal, vegetables and breads with free refills, or a dosa, a huge crisp crepe with potato filling. Lunch in Karama costs less than a coffee in a mall.
[ ] Try biryani
    Layered rice with meat, spices and saffron cooked in a sealed pot. Dubai serves Hyderabadi, Sindhi and Malabar versions, and they differ noticeably.
[ ] Try Iranian chelo kabab
    Koobideh of minced meat or saffron chicken joojeh, with a mound of rice, a roasted tomato and sumac. Deira has dozens of Iranian places, and this is its own school rather than an Arab one.
[ ] Eat grilled fish from the market
    Hammour, sultan ibrahim or kingfish picked at the fish market and grilled on the spot for a small fee. The pick-and-cook format works in Deira and at the Waterfront.
[ ] Try balaleet
    The Emirati breakfast: sweet vermicelli with cardamom, saffron and rose water under a thin omelette. Sweet and savoury on one plate is the local norm, not an experiment.
[ ] Eat luqaimat
    Crisp balls of fried dough drenched in date syrup and sprinkled with sesame. They stay soft inside and must be eaten hot, before the syrup soaks in.
[ ] Buy dates by weight
    Khadrawi, sukkari, ajwa, medjool — the varieties differ as much as apple varieties do, and markets let you taste before buying. Fresh dates are soft and do not stick together in a lump.
[ ] Try kunafa
    Stretchy cheese under a layer of crisp kadaif pastry, soaked in sugar syrup and dusted with pistachio. Served hot and eaten immediately, while the cheese still pulls.
[ ] Drink karak chai
    Strong tea boiled with evaporated milk, cardamom and sugar, sold to take away from cafeterias for a few dirhams. The national drink in practice if not on paper.
[ ] Try Arabic gahwa
    A pale, lightly roasted coffee with cardamom and sometimes saffron, poured from a copper dallah into tiny handleless cups. Served with dates as a gesture of hospitality.
[ ] Drink jallab
    A dark syrup of dates, grape molasses and rose water, diluted with iced water and topped with pine nuts and raisins. The summer drink of Levantine cafés.

Checklist from Unload: https://unloads.me/c/food-dubai