The Sanaiya is not where anybody tells a visitor to eat in Ajman. Guides point at the Corniche, because the Corniche has a view and the Sanaiya has spare parts yards.
It is also where most of the good desi food in this emirate is, for the straightforward reason that it is where the people who eat desi food every day live and work. This is a guide to eating in it.
What the area actually is
Ajman Industrial Area 2, locally the Sanaiya, is workshops, fabrication yards, spare parts dealers and the accommodation blocks behind them. Amman Street runs through it, and Nesto Hypermarket is the thing everybody navigates by.
The food follows the workforce. That means Pakistani and Indian kitchens, open early and late, priced for people eating out five nights a week rather than once a month. It also means there is no decor budget anywhere, and you should not go looking for one.
When to come, and for what
7:30 to 9 am, breakfast. The busiest and best hour of the day in the Sanaiya. Paratha, chana, paya and nihari, eaten quickly before shifts. If you have never eaten a desi breakfast, this is where and when to do it. A sada paratha is AED 1, mutton paya and beef nihari are AED 10 each, and karak chai is AED 1.
12 to 2 pm, lunch. Fast and functional. Biryani and plate food, because nobody has time for a karahi. Small chicken biryani AED 10.
7 to 10 pm, the evening. The charcoal comes into its own and families come out. This is when to order a karahi or BBQ and actually sit with it.
After 10 pm. It thins out. The useful thing to know is that most kitchens stop cooking well before the shutters come down, so the question after ten is not which place is open but which is still cooking. Ours is, until midnight.
What a fair price looks like here
The Sanaiya is the cheapest place to eat in Ajman and the prices are the test. These are ours:
| AED | |
|---|---|
| Tandoori roti | 1 |
| Karak chai | 1 |
| Daal of the day | 5 |
| Chicken biryani, small | 10 |
| Mutton paya / beef nihari | 10 |
| Zafran chicken karahi, half | 15 |
| Seekh or boti off the charcoal | 22 |
| Mutton Shinwari karahi, half | 34 |
| Chargha, full bird | 35 |
The number to remember: a half chicken karahi at AED 15 with four roti at AED 1 each feeds two people for AED 19. If somewhere in the industrial area is charging far above that, ask what you are paying for.
A restaurant charging AED 4 or 5 for a roti in the Sanaiya has told you where its margin comes from, and it is not the cooking. There is more on the best Pakistani restaurant in Ajman, dish by dish.
How to eat well for under AED 20
Genuinely easy here, and not a compromise:
- Daal of the day + roti — AED 6
- Lahori chana + sada paratha — AED 6
- Chicken biryani, small — AED 10
- Beef nihari + two paratha — AED 12
- Half chicken karahi + four roti, between two — AED 19
The weekly menu is the cheapest hot food we cook: a different salan every day from AED 5 small and AED 8 large, with a daal and a vegetable running daily. Cooked each morning in one batch, so come before it runs out.
If you are eating here most days, the monthly mess at AED 200 for one meal a day works out at about AED 6.70 a meal.
Getting here and parking
Shop 8/1, ground floor, Amman Street, Ajman Industrial Area 2, next to Nesto Hypermarket. Free street parking directly outside, ground floor, step free from the pavement.
From the Emirates Road take the Ajman Industrial Area exit towards the Sanaiya, keep going past the tyre shops, and turn onto Amman Street. About eight minutes from the exit.
We are a dine in restaurant and we do not deliver, so everything here assumes you are coming over. If you are driving in from another part of Ajman, each area has its own page with the route and the landmark to aim for. Visiting the emirate rather than living here? This page is written for you.
Common questions
- What food is Ajman Industrial Area 2 known for?
- Desi food, overwhelmingly. The Sanaiya is where most of Ajman's Pakistani and Indian restaurants are, because it is where the people who eat that food every day live and work. Karahi, biryani, charcoal BBQ, nihari and paya are the staples, and prices are the lowest in the emirate.
- How much should a meal cost in the Sanaiya?
- Between AED 10 and AED 35 per person. A small chicken biryani is AED 10, a tandoori roti is AED 1, and a half chicken karahi that feeds two with bread is AED 15. If you are paying much more than that in the industrial area, you are paying for something other than the food.
- What time do restaurants in the Sanaiya get busy?
- Breakfast runs from about 7:30 to 9 am as shifts start. Lunch is sharp and fast between 12 and 2. The evening peak is roughly 7 to 10 pm when families come out. After ten it thins out, and the places still genuinely cooking at that hour are the ones worth knowing.
- Is the Sanaiya a good area to eat in if I am visiting Ajman?
- Yes, if you want the food rather than the view. It is an industrial neighbourhood with no seafront and no scenery, which is exactly why the cooking has to be good and the prices honest. The Corniche is about four and a half kilometres away if you want both in one evening.
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Hungry now
Order it instead of reading about it
The kitchen is open every day from half past seven in the morning until midnight.