Dubai, Umm SuqeimThe surf café, açai and smoothies by the beach

By Karen Brown, Glowcation Editor
30 August '18

 

The Surf Café is a rare thing in Dubai. A chilled out haven with great food and a genuinely casual vibe just two blocks from the beach.

Whether suited and booted for the office or still sandy in flip flops from the beach you’ll be welcome.

The location

This café is one of the increasing number of artisan eateries on the bustling Jumeirah Beach Road. It’s handy for Kite Beach, the Wild Wadi Amusement Park and it’s close to the spectacular Burj Al Arab.

The space

The eatery is on the first floor and you can take the stairs or a lift. Although you can’t see the nearby sea, the light, airy design more than compensates. It has chic surf-styled decor, hanging plants and even the odd tree or two.

Two walls are virtually all window and white-washed brick completes the rest of the space.

There are lots of tables and a handful of tables outside, (although I don’t know if it would ever be cool enough to sit at them and it was 40 degrees when we visited). There are a couple of sofas downstairs in a long hallway where you can wait for your friends or a cab. There’s WiFi, and some tables have plug sockets.

The little things that make a difference…

The friendly staff, the speedy service  and the quirky cacti ceramics on the tables. We also liked the cool music track.

The fresh juice test

There’s a choice of five juice mixes.

We went for the Orange Kicker, a perfect combo of carrot, orange and ginger which arrived in its own decanter.

Plus, we ordered  a simple orange juice from the choice of five fresh juices. There’s also a wide smoothie selection including three açai varieties.

 

We we ate

The Surf Café has a massive menu which is displayed on a tablet for ease. It features: an extensive açai bowl (eight plus a make your own option) and sushi menu; and a breakfast selection with GF and vegan pancakes, oats and toasts alongside more traditional fry ups. We visited at lunch and chose from the “lunch and dinner” menu which adds poké bowls, a variety of pan-Asian options, Tacos and salads into the mix.

With menus of this size, quality often suffers, but that’s not the case here.

We chose two salads-  a goats cheese and rocket salad with fresh figs, caramelised walnuts and honey vinaigrette and a quinoa and pesto salad mixed with romaine, yellow peppers, red onions, cherry tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella. Both were delicious, but the goat’s cheese salad was a bit light on the cheese and not as filling as the quinoa salad. So we added a side of sweet potato fries to fill up. They were super crunchy and did the trick.

What we’d go back for…

We’d love to try the breakfasts, especially the açai bowl selection and the smoothie choice was very tempting. And we loved the chilled vibe.

 

The bill

Orange Kicker  28AED
Orange Juice  24AED
Goat’s cheese salad  63AED
Quinoa salad  63AED
Sweet potato fries  21AED

 

 

Surf Café

Jumeirah Beach Road
Umm Suqeim 2,
Dubai
United Arab Emirates

043466292
@thesurfcafeuae
visit website
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