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A few weeks ago I was invited to the very new Waterfront Market at the Deira Corniche in Dubai – it’s a great place to visit and buy food. Much cheaper than the local supermarkets (these vendors often supply the supermarkets) and fresher (but always check yourself).

Apart from restaurants, cafes and some retail outlets, this new mall encompasses 3 massive separate fresh food areas – fish, meat, fruits, vegetables as well as a herb section and some dry foods. There’s also a huge selection of dates.

Almost on the water’s edge – just off the roundabout linking Al Khaleej Road and Abu Hail Road – this delightfully bright, colourful area has restaurants and coffee shops BUT the difference in this particular mall are the three the huge shopping areas for fresh food.

Beautifully clean and temperature controlled,  the fish market is closed only for 1 hour in every 24 (23.00-0.00) every day for cleaning otherwise you can wander round and see the massive selection of fish at any time. On our visit we saw baby sharks, plenty of seafood and other fish I’d never seen. There is also a large water tank where some fish are swimming by completely unaware that there number may be up very shortly! At least you’ll know they’re fresh! How to choose fresh fish – have a look at this link.

Lines and lines of fish. Listen to the guys there and they’ll tell you more than you’ll ever need to know about the on display.

Each stand is owned by a different company and the men working on the stands are all dressed in a blue uniform so at least you know you’re buying from a bone fide fishmonger.  They will try to sell you their produce so there’s a bit of haggling going on which makes it all the more interesting. 

There’s a large, very clean, cleaning area in the building so take your bag of goodies to them and the guys will clean your purchases for you.

Close to the fish area there is a fruit and vegetable area – another huge warehouse – beautifully clean with stands which are built on vegetable boxes and trays so I guess you could call it a ‘moveable feast’. Again, the guys working here are wearing a uniform (green) and they’ll sell you whatever they have on their stands. There is a herb section at the back of the warehouse (during our visit the price was AED 1 a bunch – plenty to use over a few days. My only gripe was that I asked for some soft fruits from a vendor. I’d already chosen a couple of mangoes. The vendor chose the fruits and when I got home only two (out of six) were fresh. Very disappointing. BUT lesson learned – chose your own!!

Then the meat section. This area has individual stands, separated by glass panelling. There are some interesting cuts of meat including lamb trotters piled high. Huge carcasses hang in some and in others the butchers are chopping up cuts of meat ready for buying. Meat comes from Australia and other countries. Always ask if you prefer meat from a certain country. All meat sold here is halal.

The Waterfront Market is definitely worth a visit, easy to reach by public transport or car, take a day off and sit idly in the many waterfront cafes. It’s still relatively quiet but it’s gaining ground as an interesting (and low priced) place to buy your fresh foods.

After an interesting visit, take yourself to one of the nice eateries on the waterfront and enjoy the food and drink on offer. By the way, there’s a Costa coffee shop in the main mall.

I only saw one fly during the whole of my visit!

 

 

 

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