All important question – drinking (and i do not mean water) in Dubai

By Ksenya  

wineOne of the first questions people ask me is “can you drink alcohol in Dubai?”. Let’s face it , we all like to party and for majority of us partying includes few glasses of  red. Or white (my personal favourite).  So the answer is: yes, you can drink alcohol in Dubai however there are few limits as United Arab Emirates is a Muslim country that practices Sharia law.  

Only the restaurants and bars in the hotels serve alcohol – so if you want a beer to go with your TFI Friday’s steak during your lunch in your favourite mall – make it non-alcohol one!! That said there are loads and loads of restaurants and bars in Dubai hotels so plenty of choice. Once you have that glass or two make sure you take a taxi home or order a safe-driver (a chauffer that drives (inebriated) you in your own car so you do not need to taxi back to the bar tomorrow morning to collect your car).  There is a zero tolerance for drinking and driving  – so even if you had just one glass and you feel like you can drive – don’t! That can land you with one month jail sentence at least (no kidding)!

In you prefer throwing your own parties or you like to have an aperitif before your  dinner, you can buy alcohol in the specialised alcohol shops (there are no alcoholic drinks in regular supermarkets, not even “soft alcohol drinks” e.g. beer or wine). To buy alcohol in one of those stores you need to have a alcohol licence, which you can obtain only if you are not a Muslim and if your employer agrees with it!! Certain professions like drivers cannot get this license at all. Also emirate of  Sharjah is completely dry  – local jargon for not serving alcohol anywhere (not even in hotels). 

The way around red tape (and here it seems there is always a way around!) is to go and buy your alcohol in the famous (or infamous)  ”Barracuda” – a huge supermarket with rows and rows of all possible alcohol drinks.  It’s located in Ras al Khaimah (one of the emirates in UAE) and I think every single expat had been there at least once in their UAE expat life! :)

All in all, even with certain limitations,  drinking is very much a part of the UAE life!  Salute!

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