Abu Dhabi's food runs from the grill stalls behind the Mina Zayed fish market to Emirati fine dining inside Emirates Palace. Three days here cover machboos and balaleet, Khalidiya's Lebanese canteens, the date souk and a 62nd-floor bar above the Corniche.
The rebuilt market at Zayed Port opens around 06:00, and by nine the hammour, kingfish, sherry and blue crab are still on ice. Pick a fish, pay by weight, then carry it to the grill stalls at the back who cook it while you wait.
A workhorse canteen serving Pakistani and Emirati crossover food to taxi drivers and bankers at the same formica tables. Mutton biryani, tandoori roti pulled straight off the clay oven wall, and karak served in small glass cups.
Rows of open sacks holding khalas, fard, lulu and khenaizi dates, alongside local honey, dried limes (loomi) and the spice blends that go into Emirati stews. Vendors hand you samples before you commit to a kilo.
A canal-side souk beneath the Shangri-La, built with wooden walkways over the water and abras crossing to the hotel side. The waterfront cafés pour karak and mint lemonade with the Grand Mosque floodlit directly opposite.
An Emirati restaurant styled as a 1960s courtyard house, staff in kanduras, menu built on dishes that rarely reach hotel buffets. Order balaleet — sweet vermicelli under a thin omelette — with chebab pancakes and date syrup.
The Gulf's first fine-dining Emirati kitchen, where camel machboos, madrouba and thareed arrive on palm-frond mats under a tented ceiling. Produce comes from local farms and the emirate's own fish landing sites.
The restaurant inside Saadiyat's arts centre runs an Emirati-Levantine afternoon menu: luqaimat dumplings drowned in date syrup and sesame, saffron karak, and camel-milk ice cream, with tables spilling into the gallery atrium.
Lebanese cooking taken seriously — kibbeh nayyeh, frikeh with grilled quail, and a mezze list drawn from Bekaa Valley recipes. Floor-to-ceiling glass faces the Gulf and the low western skyline of Lulu Island.
A Khalidiya institution where families queue for charcoal-grilled chicken with garlic toum, za'atar manakish out of the wood oven, and fresh juice. The bread comes out blistered every few minutes all morning.
One of the oldest Lebanese chains in the Emirates, doing fattoush, hummus, shish taouk and mixed grill at prices that never chased the skyline. Mezze arrives in a dozen small plates before you have finished ordering.
A small specialty roastery pushing filter and cold brew in a city built on cardamom coffee. Single-origin Ethiopian and Yemeni beans are roasted in-house, and the counter staff will talk through the grind if you ask.
On the 62nd floor, reached by a dedicated express lift, with a wraparound view over the Corniche, Emirates Palace and the breakwater. Cocktails start around AED 65 and the terrace fills long before the tables inside.