PRIVATE Food Tour: The 10 Tastings of Dubai With Locals

Horrible

We were not able to make the tour because Ali the tour guy gave us incorrect information. It took us over 2 hrs from our hotel to get to the destination and he said it would be 30 mins. He yelled and told us off after. We did not make this tour and he refused to refund our money.

perfect tour tailor made for us

The food was amazing, Ali is very good to work guide. He took us to the places we wanted to go and help us negotiate. He was very willing to accommodate us for what we wanted to do. We tasted a lot of new foods and had a great time. I highly recommend booking this tour with Ali.

Guide did not show up

Guide did not show up at the meeting point at the agreed time. There was no response to chat messages via the app. 20 minutes later a call came that he had another appointment in abu dhabi and wanted to send someone else and we should wait another hour at the meeting point. After consulting with the support team at withlocals, this would violate the guidelines, as only guides employed there are allowed to conduct the tours. So the tour was canceled and we were left standing. No accommodation from withlocals for the inconvenience. The money was not returned despite cancellation by the institution and had to be collected via Paypal buyer protection. Never again with this organization!

Awesome night in Dubai backstreets

Sandy was the perfect guide. He offered the right balance of history, culture, and fun! We totally enjoyed our tour and highly recommend it to anyone.

Delightful food tour

Ali was a wonderful guide and the food was delicious! The tour was the perfect mix of history-walking through Old Dubai and the souks- and delicious local dining. We ate food that we probably would not have chosen on our own, so we were thrilled with the experience. We’re already wondering where we can find this delicious food back home when we return. Spending time with Ali was like hanging out with a friend- he was kind and funny, he made sure we were always comfortable, and he stopped to inquire if we needed anything. If you’re looking for a private tour and a fun and novel way to enjoy both dinner and an educational tour, then the local food tour is perfect. We are so happy we did it! Thank you Ali!

Must try!

Ali was incredibly informative and personal. We would not have tried any of the places we visited if it weren’t for the tour!

Very disappointing - NOT recommended

We did not get anywhere near value for money on this tour. This was supposed to be a food tour, but we spent more time being pressure-sold tea and spice (very expensive) than eating. During the tour, we were told about the ‘highlight’ at the last stop - Camel Burger. This was built up as a major part of the tour throughout. When we arrived at the restaurant, it was closed due to an electrical problem earlier in the day. The guide told us we would go to the restaurant next door (not sure if camel burger was on their menu), only to find it was closing time. With that, the guide said, ‘well, this brings us to the end of the tour’ and placed us in a cab. There was no apology nor was there any alternative to the non-camel burger offered. We were simply sent back to the hotel. The food we had was nice, but was the equivalent of one starter course each. It consisted of some dips and bread, and some deep fried items only. We had a small cup of ice cream and that was it. We paid almost $500 Australian for this tour. For this, we could have had a lavish meal in a restaurant and still had change. We do food tours in every location we visit and after tonight, I feel very ripped off and let down. I would hope the operator would contact me to offer some refund on this tour.

NOT WORTH THE PRICE!

Our tour guide Mario was punctual, professional and extremely knowledgeable! The title of the event is very misleading. Sure we tasted 10 different food options but not at 10 establishments. Your Oren’s include falafel, hummus, cucumber salad, a shot sized cup of tea, camel burger and French fries, eggplant dip, camel milk Gelato, saffron drink. These are all rather small portions and meant to be shared. In between meals, we went to the SOUK. If you are unfamiliar with what the SOUK is, to me, it’s similar to a flee market. Many businesses compiled side by side where the vendors stand outside and try and get you into their shops. They say it is where the most gold is located in the world! To be quite honest, I didn’t see much trying to suck and dodge all the shop vendors. Mario took us to very specific locations where he and the vendors continuously pressured us into buying items even if we said no multiple times. They took us to a ship that sold knock off luxury bags (which I enjoyed). We left the gold SOUK for the SPICE SOUK where I received my shot glass sized tea drink. We then piled into a small catamaran to get across the River for the next restaurant. We were pressured to finish everything on the plate although we were not interested. We went to our final location the Local House where we had Camel Burger. From the river to the local house is about a 10-15 minute walk in the blazing heat. Make sure to bring an umbrella and wear sunblock. Mario helped us find a taxi from there and we went on our way. I probably wouldn’t do this one again because the emphasis of the food tour was buying items from the SOUK and not actually on the food.

Efficient way to experience local food and the Souks in Deira neighborhood

Had a knowledgeable tour guide who spoke excellent English which is critical to have in one’s native language whatever it may be. Temps and humidity were oppressive so walking tour is not that fun. Be sure to try the camel burger. Overall a good experience and worthwhile to do on your first trip to Dubai.

10 tastings with Ali was amazing

Our tour guide Ali was amazing. He showed us around, gave us an experience of a lifetime. The food was wonderful. He was very informative. I will recommend this to all my friends, and I will go again without a doubt.

Great foodie tour experience in Dubai

We had a great time with Ali tasting all the different dishes of Dubai. Our guide Ali was very personable and also shared so much history about the culture and destination. By the end of the tour we were stuffed in the best way possible.

To get to know Dubai, you must spend time with those that KNOW Dubai 👌🏾

So... we all know or have heard of that one person whom everyone knows and has respect for. They're the type of person who'll lead you down random alleys and show you the finest lunch or dessert destinations. They know the owner usually and said owner probably owes them a favor, so you're treated like royalty. Ali is THAT GUY here in Dubai. Anything we needed to know or wanted to try, Ali knew the places everyone else would go and the places only locals would go, which is exactly where he took us. We learned so much from Ali in a short amount of time: history of the city, the vast culture of the land and its people, modern-day politics, and of course, the art of the bargain. Anyone looking to get a true view of Dubai and the people who live there. This is the tour for you. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.

Feeling adventurous? Don’t hesitate to book this tour! You will love it!

What an amazing way to experience old Dubai! My husband and I wanted to have an authentic Dubai experience, and this food tour didn’t disappoint! More food than you can possibly fit in, our guide Ali was so generous! We didn’t just eat food the whole time-we also visited the gold & spice souks, had a personal tour of a spice shop and a perfume oil demonstration. We also had a traditional Abra ride across the creek at night, which was quite beautiful with the lights. The range and quality of the foods we ate were excellent. I honestly loved every dish, especially Kunafah. This is a must-do tour for all foodies out there! Just make sure you are hungry!

Not as advertised, ruined our first day tour in Dubai

I tried to give Viator a chance and this With Locals tour operator up to 3 weeks to resolve our issue with this tour but to no avail, very disappointed as we booked all our Dubai tour via Viator, but they left us hanging and my family felt cheated with this 10 food tasting private tour. First, Lucy, the tour guide seemed confused and thought she was giving us street food tour with just a few food to sample. Until i spoke up and mentioned that i thought we’re trying up some camel burgers, saffron ice cream and arabic coffee or grape vine leaves or prawns cooked in spices…she clearly didn’t have those food on her plans for us to sample. Ofcourse, we showed her the description and what we were expecting from this tour and she was clearly surprised because thats not on her agenda. She was upset and tried to give us what was described but ofcourse she couldnt fulfill everything. We told her we are going to complain because it was not right that we were promised one thing and we’re given another and shortchanged us with the other food tastings which were clearly the reason why I specifically booked this tour. We went back to our hotel feeling cheated with this tour and like I said, this Withlocals or Viator would not even email me back after several follow up emails to atleast give us a partial refund since we didn’t get all the food that was promised by this tour. Again, no prawns cooked in spices, no grapevine leaves, the coffee museum is closed( which before they give the tour, the operator should know if its open or not and disclosed this to the guests) therefore no coffee tastings, no camel burgers, only substitute dish were given and most important of all, was our mood that day that was ruined because we felt cheated of the amount of money we paid for a family of four, we felt we were ripped off and no one would care to resolve our complain on this tour. Withlocals and Viator, we rely on you to give us what we paid for, please revise your description so your guests will not feel cheated going forward. And please, whether you agree or not, the guests deserved to get a response from you when we emailed you. We paid you our hard earned money and we wanted to make our family enjoy this tour that we booked on your website, please be a trustwothy travel companies/guides so you’ll continue to be successful.

Awful

Our tour guide was Michael and we had an overall very disappointing experience. There was hardly any food although it was supposed to be a food tour. We felt ripped off because he took us to a mart where people kept trying to sale us things but we weren’t getting any samples of food. We felt dehydrated because we didn’t eat much and did a lot of walking. Very unsatisfied and unhappy please don’t waste your money!

Great experience

Our tour guide Sandy was great, He was very knowledgeable and patient with all of our questions. He gave us pointers on negotiating at the gold and spice souqs. All of the of the foods offered were great. The only disappointment was that we did not go to the coffee museum or have the saffron ice cream. However, we got other stuff, for example camel milk tea, which was delicious.

Great tour with a great guide

From discovering the old souk of Dubai to the culinary treat Great way to jump on a different culture French m camel ice cream and many many more

Brilliant, absolutely fabulous few hours, would definitely reccommend

Orlina was brilliant, not only knowledgeable but very engaging. Every eatery was welcoming and the food was great, thoroughly enjoyed the spices and looking forward to drinking my tea.

Great valentines day food tour, was super full at the end!

We did our tour on Valentines day, just my wife and I, we started at 2pm and were met at the meeting point early by our guide Ali. He was FANTASTIC! Very knowledgeable, made sure we were satisfied after every stop. Took us to some places we would of never been and tried food we never thought we would, everything was excellent. The Saffron tea in the spice souk was the best tea we've ever had! We were so full at the end we couldn't eat supper or anything else the rest of the night.

Informative Tour of Deira Dubai Creek area

Orlina, our guide communicated with us prior to the tour to meet earlier than the originally scheduled time. During our tour she shared both historical and current information about Dubai. We made multiple food stops and were able to make a couple shopping stops. The food highlight was the camel burger, it was delicious! We would recommend this tour when visiting Dubai.

Great experience

Sandy the guide was personable, helpful, knowledgeable, and very pleasant. He helped orient us to a little history, culture, food, and shopping in old Dubai.

Ok but not great value

Tour was pretty short and not too many food options. Also, it was very Hard to meet up with the guide due to mix up in metro stations

Quite Poor for the price

We paid 270 EUR for two people. As a private tour we were expecting to pay more, but thought the food and the experience would more than make up for it based on the reviews. In total, we only had two stops for food. The first being a restaurant that had a heavy tourist presence, but that’s ok when the food is good and it was. We had Chicken biryani, hummus and an eggplant dip along with some sweet dessert balls. Plus a tiny small rose water based beverage. All very nice. No other beverages were offered. From there we walked the gold Souk and we’re brought directly to a store we believe the guide had a relationship with, did some quick shopping. From there walked to one specific location in the Spice Souk, didn’t walk the area, just straight to the one store. The people there were lovely, that interaction was probably the nicest. From there we caught a boat across and we’re directed to a a small Indian street food stall where we had a vegetable based samosa, one meat based, one onion and a sweet tea. Probably 2 EUR worth of food. That completed the tour. Camel Burger was not offered, no ice cream or milk dates, no falafel as per the things mentioned in other reviews and the website. We could have done this ourselves for far less than 270 EUR. Tour guide was lovely, but this was a very poor experience for the money we paid. We Messaged the official website to ask after the above, received no reply so far, 48 hours later. Maybe our experience was a one off, but left us feeling ripped off.

Fantastic and informative tour, full of delicious food!

Fantastic tour and so very interesting! We went with elementary school kids who enjoyed every moment of the walking and eating tour despite being (we thought) slightly fussy eaters. The stories the guides told about the history, culture and food really pulled our entire family in and we wanted to try everything! Note though that you may not able to eat for the rest of the day due to all the goodies they ply you with during the tour! Thank you so much! We loved it and have recommended it to our friends who will be traveling to Dubai soon too!

Very nice food and chat like with a local friend

Very enjoyable tour with Melvyn. We got insights into the life and historic restaurant of Dubai like from a local friend including showing us the Arabic food specialities. Everything went smooth no queues, no hurry, nothing to worry and always interesting facts to know. We can recommend. We had a great time.

Excellent way to see older parts of Dubai

I traveled with my two adult daughters and a friend. We had a great time seeing the souks and eating the food. Great way to see another part of Dubai. Just FYI—we were a group of 4 females. We felt extremely comfortable during the tour. I only write that as I had been concerned about this prior to the trip 😀

Great food tour!

Great tour with Sandy! He was so patient when we were late meeting with him due to our taxi being stuck in traffic. He waited for my husband to buy stuff at the souk. The restaurants and food he chose for our tastings were really good and the restaurants were clean with a good atmosphere. I love that he chose locally owned and well established restaurants. Old Dubai is so different from new Dubai! So interesting. High recommendation for this tour, especially with Sandy!!

A fantastic start to our Dubai holiday

We booked this tour for the evening of our first day in Dubai. What a wonderful way to get oriented and to learn some of the local customs,, see the famous souls, and taste some delectable cuisine. Manish was a knowledgeable and interesting guide. He helped me learn to barter!

Wonderful experience

Our tour guide Waseem was amazing. He not only provides the information about the food but also the history behind it. He explains the different tastes and why he doesn’t hem in the specific order. I didn’t know what to expect but he made it a wonderful experience. I highly recommend Waseem while in Dubai. He is the best.

Great Family time!

We had a great time! We went with a 2.5 year old and she had a blast too! The food was delicious and tel hey served a lot! He was even offering us to buy us more if we wanted! My advise would be to just pace yourself because we we’re so full after the 2nd stop 😅 Thank you again for the time!

Well worth putting on your travel itinerary

The guide was great, very personable and showed me a lot of interesting places and history of old Dubai. I am very glad I took this detour from my many tours in newer Dubai. Thank you for everything I learned and ate. I loved it all, especially the Camel Buger.

Dubai Tastings

Sandi was responsive to our preferences and so helpful in giving us the inside scoop on Dubai. Fun and tasty evening! Loved the camel milk ice cream.

Great experience

Sulqain was great and as an added bonus, fantastic photographer! Very fun and knowledgeable guide. Would definitely recommend this tour.

Recommended

A good tour - interesting food that’s quite different to what we are used to; a knowledgeable guide; an easy route that took in key parts of old Dubai; and the timings were flexible to suit.

Amazing experience with Melvin

Our guide Melvin was fantastic and showed us another side of Dubai we would have been able to see in our own without a local guide. He is friendly and helpful and we had an absolutely wonder and amazing food tasting tour.

Highly recommended local food tour in Dubai

My wife and I came to Dubai on the 2nd leg of our honeymoon and began our stay with a local food tour led by Sandy. Sandy is an excellent tour guide who not only showed us great traditional food, but also was able to give a lot of insight into the history of Dubai. He was also smart, funny and taught us lots of things we used during our stay - such as how to use the local water taxi (Abbra) to save both time and money. We are glad we started our trip with this tour and would highly recommend With Locals and Sandy to anyone visiting.

Wonderful Food Tour!

Our food tour was excellent. Suqlain was a wonderful tour guide. He was knowledgeable about Dubai, its culture and history. We not only ate great food, but we learned a lot about Dubai. Our hotel was in JBR and, with early evening traffic, it took 1 hour and 20 minutes to get to the meeting spot by taxi. We arrived late, but Suqlain was very understanding. We did well over 10 tastings and we also visited a local spice/tea shop and Suqlain gave us a great tour of the local markets. Overall, it was a great experience.

Loved the Tour

Fantastic Tour! Vibha was outstanding and she really took her time to share so many wonderful things about Dubai! Cannot wait to visit again and go on a different tour with her! Thanks you Vibha for being so wonderful!

A filling tour

Ali is a great guide, very friendly and knowledgeable. We visited a lot of very different places that we probably wouldn't have done if we were solo. We tasted 14 different things not just the 10 advertised. It's certainly a very filling trip and not solely based around food. Well worth it. Make sure you are hungry when you go you will be full at the end without doubt.

Perfect Tour with the Perfect Guide

Food was delicious and inviting. Our host was amazing. Very knowledgeable, kind, and considerate. Im not adventurous when it comes to food but that was amazing and I definitely would recommend this tour to anyone who visits Dubai.

Great food tour

We enjoyed our food tour with Sandy, who met us at a metro station exit. All the food was tasty and we had no problems finding seats. He was very knowledgeable about Dubai and told us about history as well as the specific foods and restaurants.

This experience was...

This experience was really awesome! The tour guide was excellent, Fun, interactive, professional and just overall great! We had a really good time! I will definitely be booking him again when I return next summer! He was amazing and if you plan on doing a tour, I definitely recommend doing this tour it’s well worth it!

Fun food tasting!

Orlina was very personable and knowledgeable! She made our experience so much fun. We learned so much about Dubai. Thank you!

Great foot and great sites!

This tour with Orlina was nothing shot of amazing! The food was delicious and we went on a boat ride across the marina that was included in the price. It is definitely worth it and really cool learning the history of Dubai and tasting the delicacies of Dubai. 100%recommend!!

Great tour!

We had a great time going around Dubai with Orlina. Learned a lot about the history and culture of Dubai and are a variety of good foods!

no show guide

The guide never showed up, as he was in a different town and could not do the tour. Then he had his friend contact me to do it but needed to pay in cash only...disappointing and a little sketchy.

Wonderful food tour experience

The tour guide was amazing. She was knowledgeable and friendly and flexible! The food was fantastic!

A great time with Ali Sultan

Our tour guide Ali Sultan was excellent! He provided so much information about Dubai and the UAE. Well worth the cost. Brought us through old parts of Dubai and different Souks as well as a boat ride across Dubai Creek. We tried the camel burger and camel milk gelato for the first time. Would recommend this tour to anyone!

Not as advertised

Our guide was nice enough but he was over 15 minutes late and he ended the tour half an hour early. We did not do all the tastings advertised which was disappointing.

Local food fare and background into life in Dubai

We were able to taste different foods of Dubai….while getting into sites and facts along the way! Walked through parts for old Dubai, took wooden boat across the creek and strolled through the Gold and Spice Souks. Exactly what we wanted! Michael Peter was accommodating and informative. He stepped up tor a guide who couldn’t make it and we are glad he did!