Dubai food tours: two street food walks and four dinners, compared

Both walks cover the same ground: the Al Fahidi district, the souks, street food along the way and a crossing of Dubai Creek on a traditional abra. Both cost $24. If you came looking for a Dubai street food tour, these are the two listings with the words street food in their names.

The differences are small and worth knowing. The Al Fahidi walk (2.5 to 4 hours, 11,339 reviews at 4.8) leans on the souks: its description promises local guides, the back alleys of Al Fahidi and shopping without being overcharged. The other walk (3 to 4 hours, 7,614 reviews at 4.9) adds a visit to an Emirati heritage house. They are run by different operators.

Neither description lists the dishes or says how many tastings there are, so treat these as guided walks with food on the route, not as a tasting menu. The walks are also compared with the buses and the full-day tours on the city tours page.

On a boat. The Marina cruise is 90 minutes for $58 with live music, an open bar and live food stations, rated 4.7 across 6,093 reviews. It sits next to the other dinner boats on their own page.

In the desert. The $127 safari is six hours: a drive over the red dunes, live performances and a BBQ at a camp, which the listing’s name calls gourmet. It is rated 4.9 across 1,419 reviews. The $531 safari is seven hours with a wildlife drive in a Land Rover Defender, a falconry show and a four-course dinner under the stars, which its name calls Michelin-curated; 46 reviews at 4.8. A camp BBQ can cost far less: the safari with BBQ dinner options starts at $30 (22,800 reviews at 4.9) and is compared on the safari page.

In the air. Dinner in the Sky is a three-course meal of your choice at a table suspended by a crane 50 metres above the streets, with Dubai Marina and Palm Jumeirah in view: 90 minutes, $219, 4.8 across 1,458 reviews.

For the walks, the case is arithmetic. $24 buys up to four hours with a guide, the souks, the food and the abra, and 18,953 people have rated the two listings, at 4.8 and 4.9. Of the fifteen sightseeing tours by land on this site, they are the two most reviewed.

The dinners are a different sum. On the cruise you pay $58 for 90 minutes. In the desert, $127 covers six hours, about $21 an hour for the dunes, the shows and the BBQ together. In the air, $219 covers 90 minutes, about $146 an hour, and most of that is the crane and the view.

What no description here gives you is the dishes in advance. Street food, BBQ, live food stations, three courses of your choice: that is as specific as the Dubai food tours on these listings get, so if a particular cuisine or diet matters, read the inclusions on the listing before paying. The rest of the 68 tours are on the main page, sorted by price band.