Al Samadi Café and Sweet Shop

We check out the Lebanese cafe and sweet shop in Dubai Discuss this article

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Al Samadi Sweets is hardly new to the region. The 37-year-old Beirut chain glimpsed the promise in Dubai as early as 1982, which is when it opened its first Dubai outlet. Throughout its UAE tenure, however, it has been strictly a street shop – that is until last month, when the Lebanese brand opened a café in the Old Town. It’s not the easiest spot to find. It’s kind of tucked away in the Burj Residences, which may be one reason why it’s pretty much desolate. And though Lebanese in focus, there is something slightly Parisian about the decor. Mahogany finishes, tiled floors and marble tables give it that little bit of French class.

As is to be expected from a brand that made its name in sweets, the dessert menu at this café is miles long. The savoury offerings, while comparably limited, comprise an appealing selection of salads, sandwiches, mezze and saj. And as my date and I soon discovered, what Al Samadi does, it does well. A caesar salad opener was large, fresh and loaded with generous portions of crisp, home-baked croutons and chunky shards of parmesan cheese. It was also perfectly anointed with a zingy dressing. Bad versions of the salad often come drowned in overly saccharine or gloopy dressings, but this, you could tell, was made fresh in the kitchen. Baba ganoush was a chunky dip loaded with pomegranate seeds, a nice touch that gave it added zest. We were equally pleased by the cheese sambousek – fritters stuffed with creamy, mint-laced cheese.

In spite of the promising openers, my date and I couldn’t stifle our fear that this, perhaps, would be the peak (too often, weak mains have dashed the hopes set high by strong starters). As it happened, our anxiety was unfounded. A kofta burger – made from lamb – came on a fluffy bun coated in sesame seeds. It was juicy and moist, augmented by pickles, tomatoes and a healthy topping of gruyere cheese. My date’s halloumi sandwich was better still. The cheese had a sultry, smoky taste, and some rocket leaves gave it a peppery edge. But what really made the dish was the olive baguette that held all the ingredients together.

For me, the most impressive dessert was the saj, or soft bread, stuffed with banana and honey. The nectar was sweet, musty and full of complexities – a sure sign of good quality. The pastries, however, were surprisingly mixed. Baklava fingers were light and flaky, though a bit dry, and pistachio basma came in the form of sweet, treacle-coated pistachios sandwiched in a slightly tough shell. There were other less exotic sweets that may have pleased more – truffles made by Dubai-based Swiss confectioner Chocolat, for instance. Still, as a whole the meal was delightful, and perhaps the most reasonable the Old Town has to offer.

The bill (for two)
1x Large bottle water Dhs15
1x Banana juice Dhs20
1x Caesar salad Dhs27
1x Baba ganoush Dhs13
1x Kofta burger Dhs38
1x Halloumi sandwich Dhs28
1x Banana and honey saj Dhs18
½ kilo baklava Dhs45
Service (10 per cent) Dhs20.40
Total Dhs224.40

Time Out reviews restaurants anonymously and pays for meals. Of course, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or independence of user reviews.