Expat Travel Mom

If we ever leave the UAE, there are some foods we'll genuinely miss. Sure, Arabic restaurants exist all over the world, but it's just not the same, like having Mexican food outside Mexico, or pain au chocolat outside Paris. It always tastes better at the source. Here are six foods from around here that we recommend chasing down while you're visiting, there are plenty more, but this will get you started.

Shawarma

Popular before the Avengers movie made the word famous, and even more so now. Usually made with lamb or chicken, though most stops default to chicken, wrapped in Arabic roti with tomatoes, pickles, garlic sauce, and chips (fries), which seem to accompany or end up inside half the food here. I always ask for no chips. Flavor and size vary a lot from place to place, part of the fun is finding your favorite.

Falafel

Crunchy, wonderful, and best dipped straight into hummus. Made from chickpeas and spices, deep-fried, and you'll find both great falafel and just-okay falafel around, it takes some trial and error to find your spot. Here in Al Ain, ours is Hussam. You can get it on its own or wrapped into a flatbread sandwich.

Fresh Fruit Juices

Not a juice box, a real, fresh-squeezed juice made right in front of you. Stop into any shop labeled "cafeteria" and you'll find blend after blend, or build your own. Mine's orange, banana, and pineapple. Genuinely some of the best juice we've ever had, anywhere.

Tabbouleh

A side salad of chopped parsley, bulgur, tomato, scallion, mint, and herbs, tossed with lemon juice and olive oil. I used to make this at home with a heavier bulgur ratio, but here it leans almost entirely parsley. Still refreshing, especially in the heat.

Margooga

Think of your favorite stew, then imagine it ten times better. This has become my favorite hearty dish here, vegetables, chicken, and bread simmered together with all the right spices.

Umm Ali

Arabic bread pudding, essentially, warm and comforting in a way that reminds me of grandma's kitchen. I actually learned how to make it myself, because it's my favorite. The story of Umm Ali is as follows:

Umm 'Ali is said to have been invented during the reign of the Ottoman Turks. One day while hunting in the Nile delta, the sultan developed a ravenous appetite and stopped in a small village. The peasants wished to please the sultan, so the best cook of the village, Umm 'Ali , pulled out a special pan and filled it with the only ingredients she had around: some dried wheat flakes (perhaps stale broken pieces of gullash, a phyllo-like pastry), sultanas, nuts, and coconut. She covered it with sugar and milk and put it into the village's oven. It was so good that the sultan asked for Umm 'Ali 's dessert the next time he visited.**

You'll find Umm Ali made either firm or sloppy style...basically more baked and set, or still swimming in the delightful sweet creamy milk. 

Coming back to update: specific restaurant recommendations, like Hussam in Al Ain, may have changed hands or closed in the years since we wrote this, worth double-checking current reviews before making a special trip. The foods themselves, though, are as much a must-try in the UAE now as they were then.