Dubai and, to a lesser extent, Abu Dhabi offer a vast spread of food from most of the world's major cuisines. By Western standards most restaurants are quite affordable although it is easy to find extremely expensive food, too. Traditional Shawarma and other Arabic cuisines are readily available and are quite cheap and delicious with medium spicy flavour, with controlled calories. Grilled chickens are available at most of the hotels on the road which can be relished with other accompaniments like Khubz (Arabic Bread), hummus, etc.

Drink

Dubai has a burgeoning nightlife scene and even formerly straitlaced Abu Dhabi has loosened up and tried to catch up. Alcohol is available in liquor stores, 5-star hotel restaurants and bars in all emirates except Sharjah, where you can only drink in your home or in an expat hangout called the Sharjah Wanderers. As a tourist, you are permitted to buy alcohol in bars and restaurants to drink there. If you are a resident, you're supposed to have a liquor license (never asked for in bars) which also allows you to buy alcohol at liquor stores (they do check).

During Ramadan, no alcohol is served during daylight (fasting) hours. Dubai and Abu Dhabi permit bars to serve alcohol at night, but bands stop playing, background music is off or quiet, no dancing is allowed and nightclubs are usually closed. On certain holy days in the Islamic calendar, no alcohol is served publicly in any of the UAE.

Do not under any circumstance drink and drive in the UAE. If by chance you are in an accident, this becomes a card for going directly to jail — especially during Ramadan. Taxis are widely available if you have been drinking and a much safer and wiser option given the insane driving habits in the region.

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Based on work by ilyas, Jani Patokallio, Colin Jensen, David and Stacy Hall, Wikitravel user(s) Texugo and Episteme, Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel and others. Content is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0.