The best restaurants in the UAE are spread across seven emirates and every budget, from AED 10 cafeteria parathas to tasting menus listed in the MICHELIN Guide, which has covered Dubai since 2022 and Abu Dhabi since 2023. There is no single best restaurant; there is a best one for what you want tonight. This guide sorts it by emirate, cuisine and budget, and tells you how residents find the good places.
What does each emirate do best?
- Dubai: the widest range in the region. Fine dining, hotel brunches, celebrity chefs and international chains, plus older food districts in Karama, Bur Dubai and Deira where much of the city's best value is.
- Abu Dhabi: hotel dining on the Corniche and Saadiyat, Emirati and Gulf cooking, and large South Asian food areas in Mussafah and around Hamdan Street.
- Sharjah: the UAE's family food capital. No alcohol licences, lower rents and some of the densest clusters of Pakistani, Indian and Arabic restaurants in the country, in Rolla, Al Nahda, Al Qasimia and Abu Shagara.
- Ajman: Sharjah's neighbour, with seafront cafes and a strong desi food scene that runs straight into Sharjah's.
- Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah: resort dining and seafood, best combined with a weekend trip.
How much does a good restaurant meal cost in the UAE?
Roughly: AED 10 to 25 a head at a cafeteria, AED 40 to 80 at a casual sit-down restaurant, AED 100 to 200 at a mid-range or hotel restaurant, and AED 400 and up for fine dining. Hotel restaurants commonly add service charge and municipality fees on top of menu prices. Our cost of eating out guide breaks this down further.
Which cuisine should you try in the UAE?
Emirati food first, at least once: machboos, harees and luqaimat, covered in our famous food in the UAE guide. After that, follow the communities. Around a third of the UAE's population comes from South Asia, which is why Pakistani and Indian cooking here is as good as anywhere outside the subcontinent. The same is true of Lebanese, Syrian, Iranian and Filipino food.
How do residents find the best restaurants?
- Rating and review count together: a 4.6 from 1,700 reviews tells you far more than a 4.9 from 40
- Go where the community eats: a Pakistani restaurant full of Pakistani families is the best review there is
- Check the price before you go: good restaurants publish their menu with prices online
- Look past the postcode: the same dish often costs much less in Sharjah or Ajman than in central Dubai
Where to eat Pakistani food in the UAE
For Pakistani food, Sharjah is the strongest single city. Our pick, naturally, is our own kitchen: Taier Al Monal, opposite Nesto Hypermarket in Abu Shagara, Sharjah, rated 4.6 stars from over 1,700 Google reviews. The dinner buffet is AED 42 Monday to Friday with a live tandoor, there are seven karahis on the menu, and it is open 12:00 PM to 12:00 AM every day. For a wider view of the desi scene in every emirate, see our desi food guide.
The best restaurant for a family, a group or a budget
Families should look for buffets with child pricing and space to spread out, covered in our family restaurants guide. Groups need a venue that can join tables and fix a per-head price; see restaurants for large groups. On a budget, buffets are the best value in the country, and our UAE buffet price guide lists what each level costs.
Our pick for Pakistani food in the UAE
Abu Shagara, Sharjah. Rated 4.6 from 1,700+ Google reviews.
See Our Menu & Prices
