"Is Ajman cheap" is the wrong question. Ajman has two price levels about four kilometres apart, and which one you pay is a decision rather than a fact about the emirate.
Here is the whole thing in numbers, including what we charge, so you can check anybody against it.
The two Ajmans
The seafront and the hotels. The Corniche has four kilometres of promenade, hotel terraces and a genuine view. Published business lunches in Ajman start around AED 69 a head, and dinner upward of that. That is a fair price for what it is — you are buying the setting as much as the food, and the setting is real.
The industrial area, four to five kilometres inland. The Sanaiya. Workshops, spare parts yards and the accommodation behind them. A full meal is AED 10 to AED 35 a head. There is no view and no decor budget anywhere in it.
The food is not worse inland. It is frequently better, because when there is nothing else to pay for, the cooking is the only thing left. More on that split.
What things actually cost
Ours, in full, as the reference.
Bread and basics
| AED | |
|---|---|
| Tandoori roti | 1 |
| Sada paratha | 1 |
| Karak chai | 1 |
| Roghni naan / butter naan | 2 |
| Samosa | 2 |
| Shami kabab | 2 |
| Desi paratha | 2 |
| Soft drinks | 3 |
Plates under AED 11
| AED | |
|---|---|
| Daal of the day | 5 |
| Vegetable of the day | 5 |
| Lahori chana | 5 |
| Samosa chat, small | 5 |
| Lassi | 5 |
| Anda shami burger | 6 |
| Kulfi | 6 |
| Pakistani shawarma | 7 |
| Kheer / gulab jamun | 8 |
| Daily salan, small | 8 |
| Chicken biryani / pulao, small | 10 |
| Mutton paya / beef nihari | 10 |
| Chicken tikka | 10 |
| Matka falooda | 10 |
The main card
| AED | |
|---|---|
| Zafran chicken karahi, half / full | 15 / 30 |
| Chicken white or Peshawari karahi, half / full | 18 / 32 |
| Chargha, half / full | 18 / 35 |
| Tandoori boti / reshmi / chicken kabab | 22 |
| Zafran chicken handi | 24 |
| Malai boti / butter chicken / achari handi | 25 |
| Chicken white handi | 26 |
| Zafran mutton karahi, half / full | 30 / 60 |
| Mutton Charsi or white karahi, half / full | 32 / 62 |
| Mutton Shinwari or Peshawari, half / full | 34 / 64 |
By the month
| AED | |
|---|---|
| Mess, one meal a day | 200 |
| Mess, two meals a day | 350 |
| Mess, three meals a day | 450 |
At AED 200 for one meal a day, the mess works out at about AED 6.70 a meal. More on the mess.
The two numbers to remember
AED 19 feeds two people. A half Zafran chicken karahi at AED 15 with four tandoori roti at AED 1 each. This is the single best value order on the card and the number to measure any other restaurant against.
AED 7 is a full meal for one. Daal of the day at AED 5 with two roti. Not a snack — a real plate of food. More under AED 20.
How to tell if you are being overcharged
Three checks, in order of usefulness.
1. The bread price. A plain roti is flour, water, salt and a hot wall. There is nothing in it to upgrade, which makes its price almost pure signal. AED 1 is the Sanaiya rate. A place charging AED 4 or AED 5 for plain bread is recovering margin somewhere you were not looking — and a table of four gets through a dozen of them. The full bread test.
2. Compare like cuts. A chicken tikka is a leg or chest piece on the bone. Ours is AED 10. Published prices elsewhere in this emirate for a comparable charcoal grilled piece run roughly AED 15 to AED 21. That is a real spread for the same thing. More on the grill.
3. Check what half means. "Half karahi" is not standardised anywhere. Ours feeds two with bread. If a half somewhere costs the same and feeds one, it is twice the price and the menu will not say so.
What a cheap price does not mean
Worth saying, because the inference runs both ways and the wrong one is common.
Cheap does not mean reheated, but reheating is the cheapest way to run a kitchen. The cheapest way to be cheap is to cook once and warm through for three days. So the question is not what it costs but when the pot went on, and the useful test is whether a kitchen will tell you something is finished for the day. One that says "that is done until tomorrow" cooked a batch. Most people read that as a bad sign. It is the opposite.
And expensive does not mean fresh. AED 5 for a roti buys you nothing at all except a roti.
A day in Ajman, costed
Per person, eating three times in the industrial area:
| AED | |
|---|---|
| Breakfast — paya or nihari, paratha, chai | 13 |
| Lunch — biryani, or a karahi shared | 10 to 34 |
| Dinner — charcoal BBQ with bread | 20 to 35 |
| Total | 43 to 82 |
Under AED 100 a head for a full day of proper meals, which is the quiet argument for this emirate. More on a day in Ajman.
Finding us
Shop 8/1, ground floor, Amman Street, Ajman Industrial Area 2, beside Nesto Hypermarket. Free street parking directly outside, step free from the pavement, indoor and outdoor seating, families welcome at every table.
Open 7:30 am to midnight, every day. Call or message 050 720 8707. Cash and card both accepted, and the price on the menu is the price at the table.
We do not deliver, which is also why there is no aggregator commission built into any number on this page. The full menu with every price is on this site.
Common questions
- How much does it cost to eat out in Ajman?
- It depends entirely on which part of the city you are in. In Ajman Industrial Area 2 a full meal runs AED 10 to AED 35 a head. On the Corniche and in the hotels, published business lunches start around AED 69 a head. The distance between those two numbers is about four kilometres.
- Is Ajman cheaper than Dubai or Sharjah?
- Generally yes, and the industrial area is the cheapest part of it. A tandoori roti at AED 1, a small chicken biryani at AED 10 and a half chicken karahi at AED 15 are all below what the equivalent costs in most of Dubai. The gap is widest on everyday food and narrowest on hotel dining, which is priced similarly everywhere.
- What is a fair price for a roti in Ajman?
- About AED 1 for a plain tandoori roti and about AED 2 for a naan. That is the going rate in the industrial area. A restaurant charging AED 4 or AED 5 for plain bread has told you where its margin comes from, and bread is the fastest way to read a menu before you order.
- How much is a meal for two in Ajman?
- Between AED 20 and AED 40 in the industrial area for two people eating properly. The reference order is a half chicken karahi at AED 15 with four tandoori roti at AED 1 each, which feeds two for AED 19.
- What is the cheapest full meal in Ajman?
- Around AED 6 to AED 7. Daal of the day at AED 5 with two tandoori roti at AED 2 is AED 7. Lahori chana at AED 5 with a sada paratha at AED 1 is AED 6. Both are real meals rather than snacks, and both are vegetarian.
- Why is food in the industrial area cheaper?
- Because it is priced for people eating out five nights a week rather than once a month, and because there is no view, no decor budget and no rent premium to recover. The trade is real, in both directions, and worth understanding before you decide where to eat.
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The kitchen is open every day from half past seven in the morning until midnight.