A food lover's paradise

Anyone who knows me, knows I love food- especially spicy foods.  In Doha, there is food from almost every country...Egypt, Lebanon, Italy, India, Turkey, Thailand, France, UK, China, Japan, Austraila, New Zeland, South Africa, Germany and even America.  From hummus to souffle, your tastebuds can enjoy flavors of the world at a price you can afford.

Lebanese food seems to be the most 'local' if you had to specify a type of food that is central to Qatar.  Everywhere you go you will find hummus,  unleven bread, and shawarma.  Shawarma is my new favorite.  This is basically grilled meat of your choice (chicken/beef/lamb) with lettuce, tomato, and a garlic yogurt sauce wrapped up in a thin piece of arabic bread.  Its cheap, available everywhere, and hits the spot.  There is a place right next to my office that prepares shawarmas in the window when you order.  The chef has a huge grill that holds up two metal posts that are wrapped in meat- one chicken, one lamb.  These posts rotate to cook the meat evenly and when an order is placed the chef shaves off the meat, lets it fall to the grill where it browns and warms up, and then places it in the wrap with all of the yummy yogurt sauce.  The next step is wrapping it in a thin waxy paper over and over again...making it hard to get into quickly for starving food junkies like me.  Each time I order one, it always feels that I will never get the paper off and I have to do it as fast as possible or else the shwarma will disappear.  Believe it or not these shawarmas are only 5 Qatari Riyals each, which is about $1.50 in the US.  Needless to say, this is part of my diet atleast twice a week.
 

Preparing shawarma

Seafood is also really, really fresh here and also quite tasty.  Hammour would be considered the most popular local fish.  Its a white fish and you can find it in nearly every restaurant.  (Although, I dont see what is so special about it)  One of my favorite fish, that I have had here, has been king fish.  Regardless of the fish you fancy, it is all prepared and grilled to perfection here and is often served with a variety of freshly grilled vegetables, rice, and a simple salad with a light vinaigrette dressing.  If ordered at the right restaurant, a plate that would cost you $25-35 in the US is only about $10-15 here.

Let it be stated that as cheap as the food I have found is, there is also very expensive food at all of the four star hotels.  (which is also the only place you can drink and dine) To give you a ballpark figure, last weekend I spent over $150 on dinner for just me!  It was well worth it though and the food was mouth watering...tuna tartare with avocado cream, salt & pepper prawns served over grilled pineapple, chicken pad thai, and a lemon coconut salmon that melted in my mouth.  (I split this with a friend...I could never eat all of this myself)  Oh yea, there might have been a half a bottle of wine and a mojito or two on that same ticket.  I justified this meal as a celebration for getting my Qatari driver's license.

Indian food can also be found everywhere here.  Lucky me- I love spices and Indian food is defined by the spicy addiction that follows the first bite.  For American food, there are many American chains here such as: Applebee's, TGIFridays, Dunkin Doughnuts, Starbucks, Macaroni Grill, KFC, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Papa Johns....(the list goes on, please dont make me continue)  I have also found a 'mom & pops' type of American restaurant called "Ric's Kountry Kitchen" that serves cheeseburgers, sweet tea, and plays Garth Brooks and Kenny Chesney on repeat to create that oh-so American atmosphere.  The greasy juices from the cheeseburger and fries are just like Dorthy's red slippers- they bring me right back home.  One rule of thumb I have learned to go by here is, stick with the food that is from the country the restaurant specializes in.  I ordered a pepperoni calzone from a Lebanese restaurant the other week...what I got was a folded piece of dough with cheese and a chopped up hotdog.  I love hotdogs, just not in my Italian cuisine.

Food, food, food...Doha could very well be a food lover's paradise.  It is also known for the 'Doha Dozen'...much like the common 'Freshman Fifteen'.  Many come without it, and leave with it.  Lets hope I can manage to not do the same.  My apartment has a gym on the bottom floor, so I have no excuses.