Documenting Emirati cuisine — and sharing it with the world

Restaurants, hotels and cafés across the UAE serving Emirati cuisine. Open any place on Google Maps to see its location and visitor reviews, or show the nearest to you.

AI-powered tools that work on the spot: event menus, recipe scaling, purchasing lists, suggestions and more — all grounded in the House of Emirati Cuisine's documented content.

Each dish gets a professional reference page, not just a recipe: its story, its occasions, its ingredients and an outline of the traditional method.

Sweets

Emirati Gahwa

Arabic coffee · القهوة

Lightly roasted Arabic coffee with cardamom and saffron, poured from the dallah into small cups with dates — Emirati hospitality begins here.

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Mains

Chicken Majboos

Spiced Chicken and Rice · Machboos

Chicken and basmati rice in one pot with loomi, whole spices and Majboos bzar, finished with Dahn Khaneen. Serves 10.

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Mains

Harees

Also: Hareed, Jareesh (related Gulf names) · الهريس

Wheat and meat slow-cooked for hours into one silken whole — the first dish of Ramadan and weddings.

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Mains

Thareed

Also: Fareed, Thereed · الثريد

A rich meat-and-vegetable stew ladled over thin regag bread until it soaks through — a Ramadan iftar essential.

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A true reference must include the culture the food was made in, and the way it is offered.

Gahwa & Dates

Emirati gahwa — lightly roasted coffee with cardamom and saffron — is poured from the dallah into small cups, always with dates. The pouring has its etiquette: the most honoured guest first, small pours so the cup stays warm, and a gentle shake of the cup to signal enough. Arabic coffee is inscribed on UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage lists.

The Majlis & Hospitality

The majlis is the first space of welcome: coffee circulates, food is laid out, and the guest is honoured before any question is asked. Generosity in Emirati culture is not a personal trait but a social obligation, and outdoing oneself for a guest is the pride of the whole house. The majlis, too, is inscribed as UNESCO intangible heritage.

Fuwala

Fuwala is the hospitality between meals: dates, sweets, luqaimat, fruit and coffee laid out for a visitor at any hour. It is not a meal but a message — the house is always ready for its guest. During Eid, fuwala becomes a full display in which households take joyful pride.

The Sea & Pearling

Before oil, the sea was the first livelihood: pearl diving in summer, fishing year-round. From that economy came the curing and drying techniques behind maleh, and dishes like jisheid and madrooba; from the diving seasons came travel foods like batheeth, made to endure long voyages.

The Palm & the Oasis

Inland, life was built on the palm groves and falaj irrigation: dates as food, sweet and molasses; palm fronds woven into mats and table craft. Emirati cuisine cannot be understood without understanding that the palm was — and remains — the tree of life.

Ramadan & Eid

Ramadan has its own table: harees, thareed and luqaimat at iftar, and majalis alive until suhoor. At Eid, houses open with balaleet in the morning and fuwala through the day. These food seasons are what have kept the heritage dishes alive, generation after generation.

The palm is the mother of the Emirati home — meet the most famous rutab and date varieties, their character and where they grow. (Current images are generated illustrations, to be replaced by real photos.)

Khalas

Al Ain & Liwa (Al Dhafra)

The most celebrated Emirati date: golden amber with a balanced caramel sweetness, enjoyed as rutab or dried, and the classic companion to gahwa.

Fard

Al Ain oases & the eastern regions

One of the most widespread varieties: dark with a small seed and thin skin, it stores exceptionally well and was the traveller's provision.

Dabbas

Liwa & Al Dhafra

A small, golden, intensely sweet date from Al Dhafra's heritage farms, prized for date molasses and blends.

Lulu

Abu Dhabi & its oases

Small and round like the pearl it is named after, with a sweet flesh loved at the rutab stage.

Barhi

Grown across the Emirates' farms

The star of summer: eaten as crisp yellow bisr before ripening, then as soft honeyed rutab — one of the season's most awaited treats.

Khenaizi

Ras Al Khaimah & the northern regions

Deep red with soft, richly flavoured rutab — a favourite early in the season and on Ramadan tables.

Naghal

Widespread across the country

Among the earliest to ripen — it opens the rutab season in the Emirates, with a light sweetness.

Sheeshi

The east coast & Khor Fakkan

A well-known east-coast variety: golden-brown, moderately sweet, good as rutab or dried.

A roster of Emirati cuisine chefs, each with a verified profile, services and prices — pick a service and book directly.

1

✓ Verified chef

Chef Nabhan Abdulrahman

Emirati chef — contemporary Emirati cuisine & fine hospitality

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2

✓ Verified chef

Chef Alya Abdulrahman Al Ali

Emirati chef — contemporary Emirati cuisine

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Your place here

Join as a chef — apply, and once approved your profile appears here

A chef specialised in Emirati cuisine? Register your details, achievements and services; after the team reviews and approves your file, your profile is published on the platform.