Dining and Entertainment

Qatar has an array of world-class restaurants and night-spots, with something to offer everybody Fun and food for all Hotels in Qatar serve not only their own guests but also cater for a large number of local residents. Their restaurants cover the full range, from coffee shops to fine dining and specialty outlets and the standard of service is on a par with the best in the world. The night-life is equally varied, with many bars, and discos open until the small hours.

Outside the hotels, small eating places are to be found in all parts of Doha. While restaurants located outside hotel and club premises are not permitted to serve alcohol, all are air-conditioned, clean and are often culinary adventures in their own right.

Arabian cuisine

Qatar is an excellent place to sample all types of Gulf and Middle Eastern cuisine, including Iranian and Turkish. However, Arabian food makes up a key part of most buffet services at hotels and restaurants.

Specialties include, beside various green vegetables:

Homous: a dip made from chick-peas and tahini (sesame seeds paste).

Tabbouleh: chopped parsley, mint and crushed wheat.

Motabel: Lightly cooked eggplants mixed with tahini and garlic and made into a paste.

Waraq enab: vine leaves stuffed with rice.

Koussa mahshi: stuffed courgettes.

Ghuzi: a whole roast lamb on a bed of rice mixed with nuts.

Biriani: very sweet smelling spiced rice mixed with lamb or chicken .

Local dishes include:

Matchboos: spiced lamb or chicken with rice.

Harees: a rich delicacy of wheat and tender lamb cooked and beaten until it has the texture of a thick paste. Usually served during the month of Ramadan.

Seafood: you will enjoy fresh fish from the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman — lobster, cigale, crab, hamour (grouper), shrimp, tuna, kingfish, pomfret and red snapper.

Delicious regional desserts include:

Umm Ali (literally means ‘Mother of Ali’): a type of bread pudding that is full of nuts and white raisins.

Esh asaraya (meaning ‘bread of the harem’): a sweet kind of cheesecake with a cream topping.

Mehalabiya: a pudding sprinkled with rose water and pistachios.

Traditional Snacks

A traditional and very delicious Middle Eastern snack is the showarma which is sold at many small outlets around Doha. It consists of — grilled slices of delicately spiced lamb or chicken, mixed with salad and tahini (mixed with lime juice), some pickles thrown in and rolled inside a pocket of Arabic bread then wrapped in a wafer thin paper.

Doha has also countless cheap, cheerful and clean restaurants that serve quality food. For around QR20 you can enjoy Arabian grills, local fish, local sweet desserts and coffee.

There are also numerous juice bars where visitors can buy a fresh juice cocktail or a milkshake.

International Cuisine

Standards of international cuisine in Doha are high and the choice is wide. Top class western restaurants in the city’s hotels include French, Italian, Swiss, Spanish, Greek, British and American.

Asia is equally well represented at the hotels and at numerous outlets throughout the city with many fine Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Filipino and Korean restaurants.

International theme restaurants such as Ponderosa, Bennigan’s and Fuddruckers have all now opened in Doha.

International fast food chains are also represented by such names as McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut, Pizza Inn, Taco Bell, AFC, A&W, Burger King, Hardee’s, Dairy Queen and Al Tazaj Fakieh.

Night-life

Doha has many lively after-dark scenes. Hotel bars range from sophisticated cocktail lounges to typically informal Western-style bars. Most of them serve food and many feature live bands nightly.

After-dinner revelers can dance to the latest sounds in a number of hotel discos, each with their own ambience and the best of DJs around.

Doha is also increasingly attracting top names from the world of entertainment. These include popular singers and entertainers from both West and East.

Stage plays from London tour regularly, as do major dance groups from Europe and Asia.

Restaurants
Restaurant Name	Note	Location	Telephone
Al Bandar	Seafood/International	Doha Corniche	4311818
Albatros	Continental	Al-Bustan Hotel	4398888
Al-Borj	Steaks/snacks	The Diplomatic Club	4839000
Al Dar	Arabic/Asian	Doha Club	4418822
Al Hamra	Syrian/Lebanese	Rayyan Road	4433297
Al Hubara	Theme/International	Sheraton Doha Hotel	4854444
Al Majlis	Lebanese/Arabic	Al Sadd Street	4447417
Al Mina	Sports Bar & Snacks	Doha Marriott Gulf Hotel	4432432
Al Safeer	Fine Dining	The Diplomatic Club	4839000
AI-Shaheen	Fine Dining	Sheraton Doha Hotel	4854444
Amwaj	International Buffet	Hotel Inter-Continental	4844444
Asia Live!	Far Eastern	Doha Marriott Gulf Hotel	4432432
Bangkok Thai	Thai/Chinese	Suhaim Bin Hamad Street	4365423
Beijing	Chinese	Salwa Road	4358688
Bennigans	Irish American	Khalifa Tennis & Squash Complex	4838400
Bukhara	Tandoori	Khalifa Tennis & Squash Complex	4833345
Caravan	Indian/Chinese/Continental	Ramada Junction	4320320
Chingari	Tandoori	Ramada Hotel	4417417
Cielo	Italian	Hotel Inter-Continental	4844444
Corniche	Mediterranean	Doha Marriott Gulf Hotel	4432432
Fuddruckers	American Steaks/Salads	Khalifa Tennis & Squash Complex	4833983
Fisherman's Cove	Friday Brunch	Doha Marriott Gulf Hotel	4432432
Hong Kong	Seafood	Al Dana Club	4834700
Hyde Park	International	Ramada Hotel	4417417
II Mediterraneo	Mediterranean	Doha Golf Club	4832338
Kebab King	Kebabs, Seafood & Tandoori	Ras Abu Aboud	4410400
La Brasserie	Continental	Sofitel Hotel	4435222
La Mer	Fine dining	Ritz-Carlton	4848000
La Taverna	Italian Bistro	Oasis Hotel & Beach Club	4424424
La Veranda	Italian Bistro	Sheraton Doha Hotel	4854444
La Villa	Mediterranean	Sofitel Hotel	4435222
Mandarin	Chinese	Oasis Hotel & Beach Club	4424424
Maxim	Fine Dining	Ramada Hotel	4417417
Palms	International Fine Dining	Doha Club	4418822
Paloma	Tex-Mex	Hotel Inter-Continental	4844444
Pearl Restaurant	Int'I/Oriental	Sealine Beach Resort	4772722
Pirates Cove	BBQ/Thai	Sheraton Doha Hotel	4854444
Pizzeria	Fresh Pizza/Pastas	Doha Marriott Gulf Hotel	4432432
Ponderosa	American Steaks/Salads	Ramada Junction	4655880
Porcine	Italian	Ritz-Carlton	4848000
Salsa	Tex-Mex	Doha Marriott Gulf Hotel	4432432
Shebestan	Persian	Al Sadd Street	4321555
Star of India	Indian/Asian/Continental	Al Markhiya	4864440
Star of India	Indian/Asian/Continental	Al Bidda	4426128
Sultan Ibrahim	Seafood-Arabic/Far Eastern	Hotel Inter-Continental	4844444
Taj Rasoi	Indian Cuisine	Doha Marriott Gulf Hotel	4432432
Thai Noodles	Authentic Thai & Asian Food	Opposite Souq Asiery	4434220
The Admiral's Club	Seafood	Ritz-Carlton	4848000
The Italian Job	Italian	Ramada Hotel	4417417
The Old Manor	Steak-house	Sofitel Hotel	4435222
The Place	French Cuisine	Doha Club	4418822
The Lagoon	International	Ritz-Carlton	4848000
The Tea Garden	Tea/Coffee/Light Meals	Hotel Inter-Continental	4844444
Under the Stars	Oriental, BBQ Grill	Doha Marriott Gulf Hotel	4432432
FAST FOOD OUTLETS
Arby's	Roast Beef/Burgers	Ramada Junction	4657333
American Fried Chicken	Chicken/Burgers	Ramada Junction	4650022
Burger King	Burgers (Chicken, Beef, Fish)	Suhaim Bin Hamad Street	4431391
Dairy Queen	Burgers/Grills	Ramada Junction	4320982
Pizza Hut	American Pizza	Ramada Junction	4657744
AlTazaj Fakieh	B-B-Q Chicken	Ramada Junction	4657657
Taco Bell	Mexican	Ramada Junction	4657800
Macburger	Burgers/Grills	Ramada Junction	4650022
MacDonald	Burgers	Suhaim Bin Hamad	4355401
Nandos	Flame Grilled Chicken Rest.	Salwa Road	4356756
ICE CREAM PALOURS
Baskin Robbins	Dairy Ice Cream	The Centre	4440202
Dairy Queen	Ice Cream/Sundaes	Ramada Junction	4320982
TCBY	Frozen Yoghurt	Ramada Junction	4321122
COFFEE, PASTRY SHOPS
Al Hubara	Coffee/Pastries/Meals	Sheraton Doha Hotel	4854444
Cafe Batteel	Coffee/Pastries/Meals	Salwa Road	4441414
Cafe Trottoir	Coffee Shop & Takeaway	Doha Marriott Gulf Hotel	4432432
Coffee Shop	Coffee/Pastries/Meals	Doha Club	4418822
Drive-in Pastry	Coffee/Pastries	Hotel Sofitel	4435222
Espresso	Hot and Cold Beverages	Doha Marriott Gulf Hotel	4432432
Eli France	Coffee/Pastries	Salwa Road	4357111
Internet Cafe	Coffee/Snacks	AlKhaleej (Gulf) Street	4350070
La Dolce Vita	Pastries/Teas & Coffees	Ritz-Carlton	4848000
Opera Cafe	Coffee/Pastries/Meals	The Mall	4678885
Palm Garden	Coffee/Pastries	Ramada Hotel	4417417
Sandwich Cellar	Coffee/Snacks/Meals	Ras Abu Abboud Street	4357559
Starbucks	Coffee/Snacks	Landmark Shopping Mall	4880565