Dubai… how expensive to eat out? Or half board?

[Namechangerinamanger]

Half board is about £20 day for the evening meal… or how does this compare to eating out please? What can you get for your money? Thank you … what round you do??

£20 per day is a bargain compared to eating out!

Going Dubai is not one of those trips where £200 will last you a week. It's an expensive place, everything is imported. Food will be cheaper if you go out of your way to the more modest places but I assume you'll be in the more tourist hot spots. It's not cheap so don't assume you'll find a burger joint where you'll pay £3 for a burger chips and drink (you won't).

Agree with PP!

£20 is a bargain. Eating out in Dubai is expensive.
I recommend you check the entertainer app. Lots of BOGOF offers on there.

£20 per day for half board? That is exceptionally cheap, where are you staying?

Do half board or all inclusive , they have the best all inclusive in Dubai

tbh the food in dubai is awesome. if you avoid the expensive touristy places the food is not that expensive. if you get half board then you won't really get a chance to enjoy the local cuisine.

have a look at mark wiens in dubai on youtube for ideas of where to eat

You could spend £20 on an ice cream in Dubai (only slightly exaggerating)!!

And don’t forget Op, you’ll have the cost of a taxi both ways on top of the price of your meal. Honestly, if you’re hesitating at the cost of 20 pounds for a half board evening meal you’re really going to struggle to afford the meals you’ll eat on holiday.

It’s about £15 for a glass of wine, let alone any actual food.

My friend is just back with tales of spending £800 on two bottles of champagne, although I suspect that could have been avoided 🤣

Not hesitating
just wondering on a like for like basis how it compares that’s all. If it was similar we wouldn’t do the HB that’s all I meant …

Which hotel is it? HB in some of the big chains is actually only for the main buffet restaurant, or very limited set menus in their other restaurants. We have done this and still ended up with a large bill at the end due to ending up choosing other options..

As pp said, most hotels will limit half board guests to their 'buffet' style restaurant. Hotels that let you choose the a la carte restaurants usually get very busy and you'll probably need to book in advance.

Oh and they don't include water/drinks

My son went on a cricket tour last October and he had half board. He got a buffet breakfast including a cooked breakfast and fruit. Then he ate out in the evenings. He spent about £20 an evening. He said cold drinks were expensive and it was hot.

Hi OP.

In Dubai, more than likely that meal is a buffet so maybe check that and look at reviews.

I second buying the Entertainer book for the vouchers as it works out to be much cheaper if used.

Thats really cheap for Dubai. You'd be looking at about £10 a starter, £30 main in a mid range restaurant. Drinks can be £8 a soft drink.

My friend who used to live there visited recently and commented how expensive it was. And he’s incredibly well off and not known for being frugal!

We booked the half board and plan to eat out too, can maybe switch the evening meal to a lunch option anyway. Seemed a great price to me!

Good in dubai is expensive, but they have everything you could possibly ever want.

I would eat out as there’s do much choice

I went to Dubai 2 years ago with one of my dds to see what it was like ( it’s a strange place and we wouldn’t go there again). It cost us at least £100 per day for food. Although, we were dining in nice restaurants rather than fast food, but it is an expensive place.

We stayed in a very posh hotel in Dubai as a friend got us a great rate with some sort of loyalty thing. The Pullman, I think it was. Right next door was a beautiful Pakistani buffet restaurant with unlimited food and (non-alcoholic) drinks for about £20.

As we drove around we found several other places to eat that were not expensive at all. You just have to avoid the rich jet-set types and eat where the large numbers of Indian and (non-Gulf) Middle Eastern middle-class families do. If you want to sit on the 20th floor of a 5* hotel and eat International Cuisine with alcohol then yes, it will be expensive.