Best breakfasts in Abu Dhabi

All breakfasts, no hotels. Time Out hits the streets in search of the best way to start a day in the capital 10 Comments

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Around the world in eight breakfasts

Arabic
Layali Zaman: This is essentially a shisha café, so the service may err on the relaxed side. The waiters laugh heartily with regulars while sweet smoke wafts across the room. The Oriental breakfast is a toothsome mix of foul (a tasty, beany spread), labneh, two boiled eggs, bitter olives and flatbread. Try washing this down with an Egyptian tea of fenugreek, a floury warm concoction rather like a sour Ovaltine. Alternatively, just grab a Turkish coffee, some shisha and wile the morning away.
For those who don’t want their morning to end

Egyptian
Abu Shakra: ‘Do you serve Arabic breakfasts?’ we ask. ‘We serve Egyptian breakfast,’ comes the hot retort. Inside, queues of labourers and cab drivers grab an early morning take away. Meanwhile, we shuffle through the crowd to sit in the fresh, cool restaurant. Foul and falafel are staple breakfasts at dirt cheap prices. It’s a good deal, too. Just sit back and wonder if Tutankhamun’s coffee ever tasted this good.
For those who want to work like an Egyptian

Filipino
Oriental Korner: ‘Tapsilog? Where did you here of that?’ the waitress demands, as if we’ve uncovered the Filipino secret to ultimate happiness. In reality, it is a dish with all the polite decorum of a kick to the face. Forget croissants and tea, tapsilog is a greasy, force-10 occupation of the lower intestine. A fried egg accompanies sugar-sweet, deep-fried strips of beef and a mountain of stodgy fried rice. The habitual banana sauce ups the tooth-rot factor to new heights, but essentially it is a Filipino translation of the good old British fry-up, and just as enjoyable. Just don’t expect to live much past 30 if you make it your morning ritual.
For those who think hardened arteries happen to other people

French
La Brioche: We like the Khalifa Street branch – a fine people-watching spot – but in fairness, La Brioche is more Franglais than French. The presence of a tasty full-English on the menu bears testament to that – there isn’t even any French bread. The petit déjeuner is worth a punt, though, even if our chocolate and pistachio Danish arrives microwave warm. Still, add to that decent coffees, a good 70 per cent hot chocolate and some juicy omelettes, and you’re set for the day. While La Brioche might not be the full Sarkozy, it’s a decent Clouseau.
For those who believe Peter Sellers was actually French

Indian
Chettindad: Set in a grungy downtown neighborhood populated largely by stray cats and tat merchants, it’s a relief to step inside Chettindad and find it clean and air-conditioned. The restaurant is quiet in the morning, except for a radio broadcasting prayers and a handful of diners slurping cups of chai tea. There are a few breakfast offerings, but most diners opt for the dosas, paper-thin crêpes usually stuffed with curried potatoes, dusted with chilli powder and smeared with ghee. On the side are a few chutneys for dipping and a dish of sambar, a thin, watery concoction of lentils. It’s hearty fare, but maybe not for a delicate stomach.
For those who want to begin the day fanning their lips and slurping water

Pakistani
Karachi City Restaurant: There’s no shortage of decrepit cafés in Abu Dhabi, but the KC is cheap, clean, cheery and the grub is tasty. Huge discs of chewy flatbread are used to scoop up mild chickpea curry and keema, ground mutton in a thin red sauce flavored with garlic, onion and a touch of chilli. The bread in particular is delicious, if greasy. It’s crisp on the outside but with a soft and chewy centre. Wash this down with a cup of milky chai tea and try to ignore the stares of other diners. Non-regulars are a novelty here and are usually escorted upstairs, where those over 5 ft 8 in will feel like they’re taking breakfast in Lilliput thanks to a peculiarly low ceiling.
For those who appreciate curry at 5am in the morning

Romanian
Transilvania: Don’t expect to be battling the crowds at Transilvania. Romanian breakfasts are clearly as popular here as Vlad the Impaler at a blood drive, so at least the newbie stare factor is low. Inside, the decor is neat, if a little dark, and the atmosphere laid back. A starter of toasted bread with melted cheese, olives and tomato whets the appetite, but cold cuts are the order of the day, served with salami, mushy eggplant, a light salad and cheese saltier than a sailor’s vocabulary. Certainly the cascaval (a briny Romanian sheep’s milk cheese) is a shock to the system, but it is filling and not a bad way to start the day.
For those who fear daylight and a salt shortage

Swedish
IKEA Restaurant: A sudden willingness to abandon all hope is the only reason to ever enter the IKEA canteen. It is a grim affair, with limp, cling-wrapped dishes peering out from behind (one imagines) bulletproof glass. Dishes of gravadlax and salmon wave the flag for homesick Scandinavians, but it’s the dull heartache of the Swedish Plate, a mix of pale salmon, rock hard meatballs and a potato salad which can only be described as ‘cruel’, which irks us most. No wonder Scandinavia has such high depression statistics.
For those who want to end it all