Does the price of water in the UAE restaurants make your blood boil?

A pair of UAE residents, frustrated with paying inflated prices for imported bottled water at restaurants, have created a website highlighting venues that sell the cheaper local brands, UAE daily The National reported on Tuesday.

The website, idrinklocal.com, was created by brand consultants Jae Hwang and William Shintani as an interactive guide to help people avoid paying more than they need to, the report added.

"Some places say it doesn't fit within their brand concept or that they are high-end dining, so local water doesn't work," said Mr Hwang.

In Abu Dhabi's Al Wahda Mall, for example, Bloomsbury's charges AED 13 ($3.53 ) for a large bottle of Aqua Panna or AED 15 ($4 ) for a large bottle of San Pellegrino, the report added.

"The imported water we serve is connected to a contract, so we cannot sell local water," said a waitress at Bloomsbury's.

Meanwhile, an unnamed member of staff at a Starbucks coffee shop said it was also contractually obliged to sell bottles of Highland Spring.

But there are restaurants in the UAE where expensive bottles of imported water are placed on all tables, but staff will replace these with cheaper local brands if the customer asks.

"Everyone should be entitled to local water," Dubai resident Omar Aker told The National. "But many shops that sell local water usually serve you imported first.

"It's misleading to customers because they sometimes don't ask our preference."