What to Eat in Qatar: Lunch

quickwhittravel

July 27, 2018

Updated June 25, 2020.

I had the best food in Doha at the Assaf home. My friend Sharifa’s mom makes the most flavorful, freshest, most delicious food, and I got to watch her make parts of it, too! So here it is, this is what I ate for lunch in Qatar.

Fish Heads

You may have seen whole fish on my “What I Ate” blog posts before in Guam and the Baltics, but I’m here to tell you, this one tasted the best! I am still working on my deboning skills, but I didn’t let that stop me! I asked what made the rice such a bright yellow—saffron, perhaps? But I was wrong; it’s turmeric! The stew was a little too spicy for me on its own, but the rice made all the difference!

The Spread: tomato, cucumber, and cilantro salad; spicy tomato and fish stew, turmeric rice, and whole fish!

Seasoned whole fish!

My plate.

Spicy stuff—way too spicy for me!

Lamb and Okra

This was an incredible meal. I wasn’t even hungry when it was served, but I got served two helpings, and I didn’t complain! The red soup in the photo below is stewed tomatoes with okra—a Southern delight and something I was excited to see! The yellow stuff in the bowl in bone-in lamb in its own broth. The big portion of rice in the middle is not just rice… the little brown bits are noodles! Maybe everyone else knew that, but I thought it was a special kind of rice. Take a closer look… it’s chopped up noodles mixed into the rice!

Also, I did get a spoon with this meal, but mostly we used our fingers! How do you use your fingers to eat stewed tomatoes? You pour it over the rice and noodles to get soaked up, and you pick it up with pita!

Stewed tomatoes with okra, lamb in broth, rice and chopped noodles.

My plate!

Gyro from GRK

I got hungry exactly one time while I was in Doha because there was always so much food around! But about 1:30 or 2:00 on Sunday afternoon, I got really hungry for something packed with protein. Usually I crave sweets… when I crave protein, that means my body needs it! So I found a great little Greek takeaway restaurant at the Festival City Mall called GRK and ordered the most Mediterranean and Middle Eastern item I saw: lamb gyro! It definitely hit the spot.

Lamb Gyro with tzatziki sauce.

Friday Dinner

Because Friday is the Muslim world’s holy day, as Sunday is for the Christian world, lunch with Sharifa’s family on Friday was the equivalent of Sunday Dinner in the American South. Preparations started the day before, and cooking started hours in advance. Here are some behind-the-scenes photos along with pictures of the finished product!