Your Guide to Food Shopping in Abu Dhabi

The most common local food eaten is Biriyani a hot spicy rice dish usually made with mutton, camel (!) or chicken. Originating in India and the surrounding regions, it is now very commonly eaten here by the locals. There are several Indian restaurants that serve extremely good food at very low prices and will home deliver for no extra charge. Indian Palace on Al Salaam St. is popular choice for many, as is Foodlands on Airport Rd. Not all the best restaurants are found in the Hotels!

The Arabic food eaten here is mainly Lebanese in origin and is delicious. Consisting of mainly barbecued meats and fresh salads, their bread and pastries are to die for. Al Sultan is a highly recommended bakery for their cheese breads, zatar bread (thyme in a vinegar and olive oil base) and baklava (filo pastry dripping in honey encasing finely chopped nuts). For good shawarma (chicken or lamb wrapped in flat bread with loads of garlic sauce) or falafel sandwich, try Maroush, they do lovely humus and tabouleh too and wonderful fresh fruit juices.

At certain times of the year you will see people carefully wrapping the dates in plastic bags to protect them as they ripen on the trees growing down the centre of most of the streets around the city. When ripened you are allowed to pick them for yourself and take them home.

Carrefour is one of the largest grocery stores in town, with sections such as, fresh fruit and veg, meat and fish. They stock good selections of light and heavy household goods as well as stationary, clothing and hi-fi. The stores are open from 9am to midnight on Saturday – Thursday and 10am till 10pm on Friday. Stores can be found at Marina Mall and on Airport Road, midway up the island.

Abu Dhabi Co-operative Society has several branches throughout town and are popular shopping venues with many expatriate communities and locals. They stock good varieties of fresh fruit, meat and fish as well as general groceries and household items and are very competitively priced.

Spinneys and Abela are more popular western supermarkets, and the only two stores in town where you can buy non-halal goods, i.e. pork sausages. They tend to be a little more expensive, but you will be able to get a larger selection of your favourite western brands of food.

For a more local feel when doing the grocery shopping it is worth trying out the Fruit and Veg. market which is located in the Meena Port area. Across the road from the vegetable market is the fresh fish market, just next to the Harbour where the fishing boats bring in their catch. Around 200m up the road (towards ToysRus), turn left at the yellow pots roundabout and you get to the Iranian souk, Plastic goods souk and the plant souk. However, there are no traditional style souks left in Abu Dhabi.