Middle Eastern Food: A Guide to the Region's Great Dishes

Across the Middle East, a meal is first an act of welcome. A guest is offered coffee and dates, plates arrive to be shared, and the host keeps refilling until you insist you could not eat another bite. That spirit of hospitality and the majlis links kitchens that are otherwise wonderfully different.

The Gulf cooks rice with whole spices, dried lime and slow-cooked lamb or fish; the Levant built the world's favorite small-plate tradition; North Africa perfected the tagine and couscous; and Türkiye's kitchen, shaped by Ottoman palace cooks, ranges from kebabs to elaborate pastries. Ancient trade routes carried saffron, cardamom, pepper and rosewater through all of them.

Food here is also one of the easiest ways into the culture for a first-time visitor. Order a few plates, share them, and ask your waiter what is local. For the region's most celebrated dining rooms, see our guide to the finest restaurants.

Across the Gulf and North Africa, food is halal as standard, and pork is rarely served outside specially licensed outlets. Alcohol is available in licensed hotels and restaurants in the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman, and more widely in Türkiye, Lebanon, Cyprus and Morocco.

Eat with your right hand when sharing from a communal dish, accept coffee when offered, and gently shake the cup when you have had enough. Our guide to customs and etiquette has more, and our Ramadan travel guide explains the special joys of iftar.