Meeting friends for coffee is now one of life’s most frequent and least complicated forms of entertainment. The only real challenge is to choose a venue.
Jones the Grocer – Khalifa Alif
Jones has managed to capture the look and feel of the age with their interior decor. It reminds me of my Mac AirBook or my iPad – aluminum, rounded edges, stylish in a totally minimalistic and utilitarian way. Even the table staff look as though they just stepped fresh from shooting a Gap commercial. I particularly like the way the managers get to wear black, possibly the coolest looking table staff anywhere. As for the coffee, Jones does not disappoint. Their mocha, my caffeine carrier of choice, is delicious and gives a strong kick, despite the addition of quality cocoa. Jones has a great ambience – no TV screen, no overpowering music, just gentle, socially-lubricating background chatter. In addition to the edible exotica, it is a great place for coffee with friends, although the table staff can occasionally be a little overzealous in terms of service and pseudo-friendliness.
Aska Cafe – Al Raha Mall
Aska is great little cafe, right at the heart of Al Raha Mall. The bright, Ferrari-red, design elements make the place totally unmissable. The seating is super comfy, an obvious enticement to fatigued shoppers to stop and rest their weary legs. Two TVs spew a constant stream of entertainment upon patrons; soccer and MTV are proverbial favorites. The coffee is excellent. For their mocha, they add chocolate syrup rather than cocoa powder but the result is dreamy – probably my favorite mocha in the UAE. In many coffee shops, the beverages are disappointingly variable; the taste, strength and even the temperature are too often left to the whims of the individual baristas. Aska have mastered the art of consistency and their mocha is first rate – always. A minor gripe is that the air conditioning is often too high so, depending upon where you sit, you may need to wrap up. Also the smoking section is ill-defined and you may find it gets uncomfortably smoky, even in the non-smoking section.
Caribou Coffee – Masdar
Visiting Masdar is an experience in itself. You get to ride the futuristic, driverless electric cars to your destination, whilst imbibing the raw, unpainted elegance of the world’s most sustainable city. This Caribou is small, but given Masdar’s current population (a few hundred students and workers), space and fast service is not an issue. Caribou has an impressive menu of drinks, including dark, milk or white chocolate mochas. Dark is my favorite and Caribou rarely get the drink wrong although, sadly, consistency is an issue. The best thing about Caribou at Masdar is that you’re likely to run into a scientist or two at one of the tables. On my last visit, a few science-types, complete with science hair and thick rim specs, were demonstrating state-of-the-art robots to a group of enthralled students.
Costa Coffee – Al Wahda Mall
For me, the fully mature, illness-free Costa would have been the undisputed king of caffeine, if only they could be consistent. More often than not, the drinks will deviate from the prescribed recipes. However when they do get it right, it is worryingly good. I say worryingly, as I fear addiction; beware of anything that creates an appetite for itself – as the Mormon church once said about caffeine.
The Wahda Mall Costa is like Costas the world over, the same décor and characteristic coffee-colored soft furnishings. Their coffee bean logo – which looks suspiciously like a pair of full-lips, if you turn it sideways – emblazons everything from the windows right down to the frothy head of my mocha. Despite the corporate sameness, Wahda Mall Costa has recently undergone a regime change. Overnight a whole new team has appeared but they seem up to the task; on my last two visits, the mocha has been perfect but it’s still too early to judge.
Photo credit: Shaikha Al Tunaiji
