All activities / Culinary / Cooking / Dubai
Culinary / Cooking in Dubai
A hyper-modern city rising from the Arabian desert and the Gulf coast, home to the Burj Khalifa, Palm Jumeirah, the old Deira and Bur Dubai souks and a skyline that did not exist forty years ago. The UAE's gateway city and its base for desert, water and cultural experiences.
Why here
Behind the glass towers, Dubai's oldest neighbourhoods are the place to eat your way into the region. In the lanes of Deira and Bur Dubai, around the spice and gold souks and the Al Fahidi wind-tower quarter, the food is Emirati, Iranian, Indian and Levantine, cooked by the communities that built the modern city. Frying Pan Adventures, run by long-time Dubai residents since 2013, walks small groups through these streets to family-run cafes and hole-in-the-wall grills, telling the story of each dish. For the Emirati side specifically, the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding serves traditional meals, machboos, harees, luqaimat, at communal tables in a restored courtyard house under its motto of open doors, open minds, where the whole point is that no question is off limits. Together they turn a meal into an education in who actually lives here.
Best months
The walking food tours run best in the cool season, October to April, when strolling the old quarters is comfortable rather than sweltering; the seated cultural meals run year-round in air-conditioned or shaded courtyards. Tours and meals are booked in advance rather than dropped in on. Come hungry, and note that the Emirati sessions are alcohol-free and modest-dress cultural spaces.
Getting there & around
Both experiences are in and around old Dubai (Deira, Bur Dubai and Al Fahidi), reachable by metro and the abra water taxis across the Creek. Tours last two to three hours and cover a lot of walking and tasting; the cultural meals are seated. Book directly with each operator ahead of time.
Skill levels: beginner
Schools & guides (2)
Frying Pan Adventures
GuideFounded in 2013 by Arva Ahmed, Frying Pan Adventures pioneered food tours in the old quarters of Dubai, walking small groups through the spice and textile lanes of Al Ras and Deira to family-run kitchens led by cooks who have lived in the city for decades. Its tours have been featured on Netflix's Somebody Feed Phil and by CNN and National Geographic.
Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding
SchoolThe Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding, in Dubai's restored Al Fahidi historic district, opens Emirati culture to visitors under the motto Open Doors, Open Minds. Its cultural meals seat guests on the floor for a traditional Emirati breakfast, lunch or dinner while Emirati hosts field any and every question about local life, dress, religion and custom.