ThebestcheapbreakfastinDubaiisacheesemanakishfromaLebanesebakery—aroundAED5,readyinfourminutes,betterthanmosthotelbuffets.Afterthat:daalpakwaaninMeenaBazaar,parathasinKaramaunderAED10,EmiratibalaleetforaboutAED28,andapropercafefry-upifyouwanttospendAED60.Fourteenspotsbelow,everypricewrittendown,vegetarianoptionsmarked(V).
I’vebeeneatingbreakfastinthiscitymyentirelife.Notresearchingit—livingit.Sothisisn’talistofplaceswithgoodlighting.It’salistofplacesI’dactuallysendmycousinat8amonaSaturday.
Onerulebeforewestart:inDubai,breakfastpricehasnorelationshiptobreakfastquality.TheAED5manakishwillout-performtheAED98brunchroughly70%ofthetime.I’vedonetheresearch.Reluctantly,onbehalfofeveryone.
UnderAED10:wherebreakfastactuallyhappens
RoknelMuthala,MeenaBazaar—daalpakwaan,underAED10(V)
Starthere.Daalpakwaan—crispfriedpakwaanwithspicedchanadaal,tamarindandonions—isoneofthegreatcheapbreakfastsinthiscity,andRokndoesitrightinthemiddleofMeenaBazaar,myfavouritepartofDubaitobeawakeinearly.Eatit,thenwalktothecreek.Bestvaluemorninggoing.
AlMukhtarBakery—cheesemanakish,AED5(V)
Thisistheanswer.It’salwaysbeentheanswer.AcheesemanakishcostsaroundAED5,comesoutoftheovenblisteredandfoldedintopaper,andisthesinglebest-valuebreakfastinthiscity.AlMukhtarismygo-to,butthetruthisthere’saLebanesebakerywithinwalkingdistanceofwhereveryou’restanding.
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