Restaurants and Cafes in Doha, Qatar
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Where to Eat in Doha
As you would expect for a wealthy and multi-cultural city intent upon putting itself on the global stage, there's a huge range of restaurants to choose from in Doha. Do note, however, that public restaurants do not have alcohol licences, so if you want a drink you will have to eat in a club or a hotel. (This may not be the case in the upcoming Pearl Development.)
Also be sure to check out our feature article:
Ten places to Eat in Doha without Breaking the Budget
Arabic Food | Chinese
| European | Iranian
| International | Seafood
| Thai | Turkish
| Moroccan
Also see: Qatar Food
Arabic Food
Al Majiles Al-Arabi Restaurant
Location: Al Sadd Street‚ Souq Ali Bin Jassim
(+44 447 417)
This Arabic restaurant has a large menu, but whatever you order seems to come with a huge pile of freshly baked Arabic bread. Portions, as in most places in Doha, are large, so don't expect to finish everything. In the afternoon the restaurant seems to be most inhabited by business people.
Al Hamra
Location: Al Rayyan Road, heading towards the Amiri Diwan.
This restaurant has a range of food, from Gulf and Lebanese to European, but
with a name like Al Hamra we could hardly place it anywhere else. It
also perfectly suits the Arab family's preference for privacy, with
many of the tables completely shielded from view. When we ate there
we stuck to Arabic food: delicious Hamour Kabsa (slices of fish in fragrant
yellow rice, as pictured above), grilled quail and mixed grill. The
meat dishes were standard fare in Qatar, accompanied by bread, chips
and red onions and with little in the way of vegetables, although the
meat itself was grilled just right.
Al Tawash
Location: Souq Waqif, opposite the Waqif Art Center (+44 982 002)
Enter this relatively new restaurant, and you will met by low traditional Arabic decor. Sit at a table and you can choose to have curtains lowered creating a tent like effect. This is a place where you can enjoy traditional Arabic food, including a number of Qatari dishes such as Harees and Kabsa. The restaurant, which we highly recommend, remains reasonably priced - especially for local dishes!
Al Liwan
If you are looking for something rather more exclusive, head off to Al Liwan
restaurant. When we visited a large array of delicious Lebanese salads
were being served, although you could also help yourself to the prawns
and lobsters being cooked on the grill in front of you - or to the whole
lamb cooked in the traditional Qatari style.
Also see our full review of Al Liwan restaurant.
Al Mourjan
The only stand alone restaurant on the Corniche, this Lebanese restaurant is
one of the top establishments in Qatar. Sit outside at night and watch
a view over the bay - and at conference time you might well find the
neighbouring table is occupied by a head of state. Booking is essential.
Also see our full review of Al Mourjan restaurant.
Location: Balhambar building, Corniche
Tel: 974-483-4423
Chinese
Wok of Fame
Location: Villagio (+55 574 069)
It's the location rather than the food that makes this restaurant. To get there walk along the canal that runs through Villagio. You enter the restaurant, walk upstairs and sit on one of the bridges that crosses the canals, watching the gondolas pass below you.
European/Mediterranean
Rocca
Location: Grand Hyatt
Tel: +974 44 481 234
Sit outside by the canal and eat by candle-light while the lights flicker off the swimming pools and the sea - this is a great place to escape the hustle and bustle of the city and enjoy some superb Mediterrenean and Morrocan dishes. See Dinner by the Canal for our full review.
The Italian Job
Location: The Ramada Hotel
Tel: +974 44 417 417
Head through the old building here, out through the back and along the swimming pool to get to the restaurant here. Do not enter if you do not have a sense of humour, the sign at the door warns. This is the restaurant with the singing waiters, who, to be honest, are not overly endowed with musical ability. The food is good, but a little rich, and if you enjoy a laugh you will have a good night here.
La Villa
Location: Mercure Grand Hotel, Doha
Tel: + 974 44 462 222
Set on the twelfth floor of the Mercure Grand Hotel in the centre of Old Doha, the views of the bay and the skyline take your breath away. When you get it back, you can enjoy some truly superb Mediterranean food. When you have finished take a walk to The Old Manor for a drink ‚ we recommend their Franziskaner beer.
Garvey's European Family Club
Location: Salwa Road +974 44 687 381
Not a posh club, but the closest thing you'll find to a British pub and a British
pub grub. Don't expect gourmet food here, but if you are hankering after
some good old fish n' chips (complete with mushy peas) this is the place.
Prices are reasonable - including the beer. An alcohol
permit may be required for entry.
Iranian
Shatter Abbas
Tel: Al Sadd +974 44 321 091/ 44 425 377 Ramada: +974 44 434 516/ +974 44 434 517 Hyatt Plaza: +974 44 697 726
Shatter Abbas is primarily a take-out joint, but you can eat there too. There restaurants are dotted around Doha, but we are at the one in Al Sadd close to Istanbul restaurant. If you like meat, this is a great restaurant serving schwarma (kebabs) and mixed grills as well as fragrant rices and meza.
Read about Persian Food | Shatter Abbas: Pictures
Indian
Chingari
Location: The Ramada Hotel
(+974 44 417 417)
Located in the Ramada Hotel, expect excellent food, a cosy atmosphere and live traditional music from this Indian restaurant. Seating here is private and cosy, and the decor authentically Indian, while in the middle of the restaurant, on a raised dais, two musicians play traditional Indian instruments.
You have to wait a long time for your food here, but its definitely worth it when it comes. Unlike some other Indian restaurants we have been to, the chefs manage to avoid using overpowering spices, so all the delicate flavours of the food can be tasted.
International
La Cigelon
La Cigalon, located on the lobby floor of La Cigale on Suhaim Bin Hamad Street, serves international food, albeit with a strong bias towards Lebanese cuisine. You can start off, however, with Sushi prepared by the hotel's Japanese trained Sushi chef, before moving on to a range of Lebanese delicacies for the main course. The highlight, however, is undoubtedly the desert, with a range of mouth watering delicacies to tempt your fancy - not surprisingly, as the man leading the team of nine patisserie chefs, Alfredo Salduiero, has won competitions world wide for his creations.
Seafood
Al Dana Seafood Restaurant
Al Dana is the signature restaurant of the luxurious Sharq Village and Spa. Currently, Sharq Village claim, it is the only ocean side restaurant in Doha. The restaurant, which is decorated in traditional Qatari style, features French trained Chef De Cuisine Christophe Buffille, who hales from Marseilles and is known for his skill with the famed Marseilles fish soup.
Chef | Menu
Al Bandar Fish Market
A cheaper option that Al Dana is the Al Bandar fish market, where superb four
course set meals start from less than QAR100. Located next to the Moroccan
Al Tajine in Souq Waqif, the restaurant provides good food and excellent
service. Read our blog
review for more information and images.
The Seafood Market at the Intercontinental
Set outside the main hotel, you can enjoy views of the beach and the sea from
the Seafood Market, whether in the air-conditioned shelter of the restaurant
or outside on the restaurant. Start your meal with a choice of Lebanese
delicacies, move on to deep fried squid and then walk over to choose
the fish you want from the shops selection - we recommend the grilled
Hamour.
Thai
Thai Snack
This isn't a five star restaurant, at least in terms of decor, but the staff are Thai and the food is delicious. Prices have increased since we first written this review, but it still remains the best value Thai restaurant in Qatar. In the cooler months you can sit in the restaurants garden an enjoy the fountain. The restaurant is located at the bottom of Al Nasser street just of Suhaim Bin Hamed street (C ring road) close to Ramada signals - look out for a Thai massage sign.
Also see: Blog Review
Issan
The Issan serves Thai food with a twist - tapas style, enabling the guests to try a much wider variety than is normally possible. The restaurant is set in the Grand Hyatt, and is set around the restaurant's three open kitchens, where you can watch the all Thai chefs prepare your food. For more informaion see our full review: Issan: Thai Food - Done Tapas Style!
Turkish
Marmara Istanbul Restaurant
Location: AL Nasser (44 422 086) Al Sadd (44 362 947) Al Aziza (44 474 801) Bin Omran (44 868 395)
Istanbul Restaurant serves a wide array of food, including Meza (vegetarians
will have no problem here), traditional Turkish dishes laid out as you
enter and the standard schwarma (kebab), mixed grills and barbecued
chicken. From the moment you glance at its cheerful red and white facade,
you will know this is a cheap and cheerful restaurant rather than a
posh joint. But in addition to being cheap (a plate of mixed mezza with
a pile of freshly cooked bread costs QR10), the food is delicious and
the houmous, to our Western palates, is the best in Doha. The restaurant
is one of a chain, but our favourite is the Al Sadd outlet.
Morrocan
Tajine
At the Moroccan restaurant in Souq Waqif you can enjoy traditional Tajine.
Tajine refers to both the pot the food is cooked in and the food within.
The design of the earthenware tajine pot stops condensate from leaving
the pot, retaining all flavour until the delicious and tender meat is
placed in front of you and the lid of the top removed.
At Tajine you can also enjoy Kofta camel, camel sandwiches or tender baby camel. While the service is absolutely hopeless - this is not a place to go if you are in a hurry - the food is excellent, and after your meal you can relax on tables outside the restaurant on the cobbled road with a shisha, watching the world go by.
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