While the best food is generally found in hotels, Chinese, Indian, Persian, Thai  and Western cuisine is also available. All the major hotels have good public restaurants and most offer outside catering of high quality; waiters, crockery and cutlery will be provided on request. There are a reasonable number of places to eat in Doha, including snack bars serving fast foods. Restaurants are scarce outside the capital.

Things to know: Alcohol is prohibited and should not be consumed in public, though some international hotels may serve alcohol.

National specialities:
• Traditional Levantine shawarma.
• Egyptian foul and taamiyeh.

Tipping: A service charge is often added to bills in hotels and most restaurants, otherwise 10% is appropriate.

Public entertainment is rather limited. Doha has a cinema showing English-language films, and there is also the National Theatre. Live entertainment is infrequent, but some international artists do perform in Qatar.

There are several large modern malls, with cinemas, restaurants and other facilities as well as brand shops. The old souks remain popular for bargains.

Shopping hours: Generally Sat-Thurs 0800-1200 and 1600-1900 or later, with the malls open until 2100 or 2200. Some shops close on Friday.