North African Street Food in Dubai

This isn't one restaurant but a stretch of street along Al Fahidi that houses three or four Egyptian canteens side by side. They compete with each other and collectively serve the best Egyptian street food in the city. The koshari at Al Koshary El Sharif is the benchmark; the ful next door is arguably better. The hawawshi (spiced minced meat in bread) is a late-night staple.

Come early morning for ful and ta'amiyya (Egyptian falafel) with warm baladi bread. Come at lunch for koshari. Come late night for kofta and hawawshi. The area never really sleeps.

Two canteens within two minutes' walk of each other in Al Karama provide Dubai's best Tunisian and Algerian street food respectively. Cham does the brik — and the version here with tuna, capers, parsley, and a perfectly runny egg is definitively the best in Dubai. The harissa-spiked merguez on the side is properly made, spiced with red pepper and coriander.

Maghreb Corner, around the corner, serves Algerian mhadjeb and merguez baguettes. The mhadjeb here is thinner than you'd expect, the filling more complex — the tomato-onion mixture is cooked for over an hour before filling. The merguez baguette comes with homemade harissa and frites.

One of the few spots in Dubai serving a proper Moroccan breakfast spread: msemen or meloui (coil-shaped flatbread) with argan oil and honey, plus harira soup and sfenj (doughnuts). The msemen here is made fresh throughout the morning — you can watch it being prepared on the griddle. The argan oil is genuine (check the bottle).

This is where Moroccan taxi drivers eat before their morning shift. That's the only recommendation you need. Open from 7am; the fresh-made msemen window runs until around 11am when they sell out.