Ranked by TableJourney editorial score.
Gahwa is Emirati Arabic coffee, lightly roasted and spiced with cardamom and saffron, poured from a dallah into small cups and served with dates as a welcome.
Arabic coffee, qahwa in Arabic and gahwa in the Emirati dialect, is brewed in a dallah and served in small cups, almost always with dates, as a gesture of hospitality. In the Gulf, qahwa khaleeji is light roasted and takes a bright yellow colour from heavy use of saffron and cardamom. The UAE, with Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar, had the tradition inscribed on UNESCO's intangible heritage list in 2015. At Qasr Al Hosn, Bait Al Gahwa shows each stage from roasting to serving, and Abu Dhabi Dates Market vendors hand out dates and coffee to sample.
2 editor picks for Gahwa with dates in Abu Dhabi, ranked by editorial score. All Abu Dhabi signature dishes · Gahwa with dates across every city.
Coffee Architecture is an Emirati-owned specialty cafe on Mamsha Al Saadiyat, Abu Dhabi, brewing espresso, V60 and Chemex; its founder has run it since 2018.
TipFounder Nooran Albannay serves gahwa to anyone who walks in, as a symbol of welcome, and recommends the manual iced Chemex.
Abu Dhabi Dates Market in Mina Zayed is a run of shops selling dates, dried fruit and nuts, where vendors hand out dates and Arabic coffee to sample.
TipA vendor told The National (February 2026) that khalas is the top seller in Ramadan; visitors mostly buy medjool and ajwa, mainly from Saudi Arabia.
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