Restaurant Awards 2011

Café Arabia

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Housed in a beautiful converted villa, the decor in Café Arabia is almost as interesting as the food, filled with colourful local art and magnificent Arabic furniture. Even the menu has a personal touch, with recipes attributed to the owner’s  family members. Serving both Arabic dishes and Western fare, this lovely café was designed as a cultural meeting space and, given the mixture of people that visit and the constant hum of conversation, it has succeeded.

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By Time Out Abu Dhabi staff
Time Out Abu Dhabi, 4 October 2011

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User reviews:

Posted by: Erum on 13 Apr ' 13 at 10:21

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Brunch served
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

Really nice place , great food, good service! In short great value for money.

Posted by: Rania on 21 Feb ' 13 at 07:44

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Family friendly
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

Edited by TimeOutAbuDhabi.com

With the little options we have in Abu Dhabi, this is a welcoming cafe for lunch. The decor and ambience are a great midday distraction from the busy work day. Having said that, the food in itself is mediocre at best. For the prices they charge you'd expect good quality ingredients, but no. Don't go for the Steak Sandwich and stick to simple arabic dishes (salads, kebbeh etc..) If anything just go for coffee.

Posted by: ReeRee on 04 May ' 12 at 19:23

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Family friendly
• Would you go back to this restaurant? No

I ate at Café Arabia two times during the last several months and swore I would never go back due to the dreadful service. Colleagues and friends had similar experiences, regardless of time of day or number of people in the café. However, I continued to read ongoing glowing reviews from TOAD, most recently about the café’s delicious and reasonably priced Friday brunch, and decided to try one more time.

As during my earlier visits, I found the artistic décor and Middle Eastern theme attractive and welcoming. I was happy with the unique and light brunch offerings for AED65 (coffee not included). The staff, however, were not attentive, were slow, bumbling and unsure of themselves. The overall feeling was that they were disorganized, untrained and unhappy.

The owners obviously pay a lot of attention to detail as seen in the décor, food presentation and events calendar – if they would please listen to their customers and train their staff to a higher standard, Café Arabia could be a true gem. I wish them well.

Posted by: Virginie Lapendry on 19 Apr ' 12 at 09:27

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Family friendly
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

Very nice venue!
I really enjoyed the roof top area in winter! inside it is cosy and art-deco. Particularly enjoyed the photos and the overall decor of all the floors. The menu is design for all tastes, staff is friendly and price are reasonable!
A good spot for a nice cafe break/lunch/brunch time with friends and family

Posted by: Hunter Munter on 04 Jan ' 12 at 05:28

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Business lunch
• Would you go back to this restaurant? No

Verry bad place to eat verry disapointed

Posted by: Karim Diaa Eldin on 14 Dec ' 11 at 15:43

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Family friendly
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

The place is very nice but the service is really bad the people un professional

Posted by: Eva El Mouallem on 20 Oct ' 11 at 03:50

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Family friendly
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

Posted by: Colin Howie on 31 Aug ' 11 at 11:27

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Brunch served
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

It is not difficult to start something that is 'different'. The challenge is to maintain that difference against those who would copy your ideas. Aida has succeeded in keeping this haven of traditional hospitality with great value completely within her original concept. Cafe Arabia remains deliciously different. Vive la difference! I'll be back.

Posted by: Maria on 24 Jul ' 11 at 01:14

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Family friendly
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

Amazing place with amazing food, specially the breakfast, but the service is HELL SLOW & not friendly staff at all.. but still i would go there again, but have a low expectations service wise

Posted by: stephanie miller on 01 Jul ' 11 at 05:44

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

Really great place and what the article doesn't mention is that they provide wifi internet service for free. Great place to relax and get some work done on you laptop in a no stress environment.

Posted by: Jinky Nocon on 04 May ' 11 at 10:34

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Family friendly
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

The best place to have coffee with friends and family in Abu Dhabi.

Posted by: rasha on 24 Apr ' 11 at 06:49

OverallDecorService

FoodAmbienceValue

• Best for: Family friendly
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

lovely place , very nice and relaxing atmosphere , nice food and great value for money