What to eat Qatar? culinary specialties and gastronomy

As most restaurants are located in hotels, they enjoy a wide range of opening hours, and even continuous service when located by the pool or on the beach, for example. Dinner service can be late, as Middle Easterners like to go out late when the cool of the night is pleasant.

The Souq Waqif is home to a number of restaurants that are open very late at night, which comes in handy when you arrive in Doha hungry after a plane journey. At weekends, the malls and their food courts have long opening hours to satisfy the stomachs of night-time shoppers.

Be aware that restaurants are quite expensive, although there are some inexpensive and authentic local addresses in Souq Waqif. But you should also be aware that portions are gargantuan, so don't bite off more than you can chew. If this happens to you, don't be tempted by indigestion: everything can be taken away in a doggy bag in all restaurants.

Service is included in the prices indicated on menus in Qatar, but don't forget the tip, usually 10-15%, which is always much appreciated.

The service is so fast and efficient that sometimes your plate will be taken away from you as soon as you finish. Don't take it the wrong way, it's part of the professionalism of the restaurants.

It really is taboo and forbidden here: never eat with your left hand. Left-handers will have to put up with this for the duration of their trip to Qatar, as this hand is reserved for intimate hygiene. Right hand only in popular restaurants where you eat with your hand, but let's face it, restaurants are globalized and you have elegant cutlery and glasses on well-laid tables most of the time.

Lounges are reserved for families without men, to respect the privacy of women who often find it difficult to eat without removing their niqab. A hellish din usually signals these reserved corners, full of wild kids. Apart from this inconvenience, the Qataris, who are not always very chatty, may be willing to exchange a few words with you on the morally painless and therefore harmless subject of children.

If you're allergic to smoke, it's often possible to smoke shisha inside many restaurants. In this case, ask to be seated away from potential tables or on the terrace. Cigarettes are perfectly acceptable outside.

Cafés, often located in hotels, also have long opening hours. They open early in the morning and usually close before dinner.

The bars themselves are only located in hotels, as consumption is strictly regulated and not tolerated in public spaces. You'll find plenty of dry bars in Souq Waqif, for example. Alcohol consumption is not permitted under the legal age of 21.

Qataris and foreigners living in Doha love to get together at tea time to enjoy fine pastries and traditional coffee or tea in sophisticated lounges in hotels and malls.

Children are welcome in cafés, of course, and have no business in bars open at night.

You can smoke both shisha and cigarettes in cafés and bars, but often only shisha inside certain places.