What Is Alfaham? Dubai's Favourite Charcoal-Grilled Chicken, Explained
30 June 2026 · 3 min read
Alfaham shows up on almost every Arabic restaurant menu in Dubai. Here's what actually makes it different from regular grilled chicken.
'Alfaham' (الفحم) literally means 'charcoal' in Arabic — so when a menu lists 'chicken alfaham', it's telling you exactly how the dish is cooked, not what spice it's in. It's become shorthand across the Gulf for whole or half chicken, marinated and grilled directly over live charcoal rather than in an oven or on a flat grill.
Why charcoal changes the result
Charcoal burns hotter and more unevenly than gas, which does two things a controlled oven can't: it chars the skin in patches for real smoky, slightly bitter contrast, and it renders fat fast enough that the skin crisps while the meat underneath stays juicy. That contrast — crisp, smoky skin against tender meat — is the entire point of Alfaham.
The marinade
Before it touches the grill, the chicken is typically marinated for hours in a blend built around garlic, lemon, and a house spice mix — paprika for colour, cumin and coriander for warmth, sometimes a touch of turmeric. The marinade seasons the meat through, while the char does the rest of the work on the surface.
How it's usually served
Alfaham is almost always a shared dish — a whole or half chicken split for the table, served with grilled vegetables, bread, and a tangy sauce (often the same daqoos used with Mandi) to cut through the richness. It's common to order it alongside Mandi rather than instead of it, since the two complement each other well: fragrant, smoke-infused rice alongside charcoal-crisp chicken.
Our Alfaham is finished live over charcoal to order — never pre-grilled and reheated — which is really the only way to get that crisp-skin, juicy-inside contrast right.