Specialized Groceries Options in Dubai
Most of your needs will be met at one of the supermarket chains in the city. If you are looking for something a little different, however, you may be able to find it at one of the stores below.
CM Supermarket
Karama
If you want to prepare your own South East Asian dishes, you should take a trip to CM Supermarket. Most of the products are imported directly from Thailand and the Philippines. This maybe the only place where you can find baby eggplants, chili, taro leaves, fresh mangoes and coconut water all under one roof.
Lifco
Al Garhoud, Zabeel
http://www.lifco.com
This supermarket stocks all the products you would expect to find in any supermarket. However, its deli counter makes it worth a visit. There is a wide range of Lebanese dishes including carved zucchinis, stuffed vine leaves, and Lebanese bread.
Organic Foods and Café
The Greens, Dubai Mall
http://www.organicfoodsandcafe.com
Although you can get organic food in other supermarkets, such as Spinney’s and Waitrose, this very popular store is proud of its reputation as the only place in the UAE where all the food is free of chemicals, pesticides and fertilizers. They also have a good range of gluten-free items.
Spice Souk
Deira
The Dubai Spice Souk first opened in the 1830s. It is a traditional market selling fresh Arabic spices, herbs, dried fruits and nuts straight out of open-mouthed sacks. You can buy all the herbs and spices you need to make Arabic, Indian and Asian dishes. The Iranian saffron is particularly popular. A trip to the narrow lanes of the Spice Souk is an assault on all your senses with the aroma and color of the spices, combined with the hustle and bustle of this busy market as buyers and sellers haggle over prices.
Wafi Gourmet
Wafi
This is a Middle Eastern delicatessen which stocks an incredibly wide variety of fruit, spices, sweets and specially prepared regional dishes. The extent of the selection available can be understood from the fact that they have sixteen different kinds of dates, seventeen different kinds of olives and fourteen different kinds of nougat. In the beautiful surroundings of this exclusive mall, you can discover a tastes unfamiliar to most Western palates.
