Dubai: Sophie’s Cafe in Palm Jumeirah

I was invited to try out Sophie’s café in Palm Jumeirah last month. I have been hearing a lot about it for the past few months now but have never really gotten a chance to visit it. I kind of hate myself these days as my “adventurous” side is being overpowered by my laziness to explore new restaurants and things to do around the city. I must shamefully admit that I didn’t want to venture out of my comfort zone these days when it comes to dining so the invitation to try out Sophie’s Café was more than a welcome change for both the boyfriend and I. The boyfriend’s mother tagged along with us for that lunch.

Sophie’s Café serves home-style fresh and natural food and uses local and organic produce. It sounds incredibly boring right? Well at least for me, whose cholesterol level is probably 5x more than the normal. I’m not one of those people who counts the calories that they will take or who will eat only half of what’s served on their plate. I’m not very health conscious which is definitely the reason why I’m always sick (and fat) but I’m happy this way. I’m happy to eat tasty food with or without the grease. Lol. So when I saw Sophie’s Café mantra of: Eat Well. Live Well. Be Well. – it made me think that it’s going to be one of those boring cafes which will serve tasteless food with little portions. Well, I was wrong. Dead wrong!

When we arrived at the café, we were welcomed by two very quirky servers as soon as we walked in. The boyfriend’s Greek mother immediately asked me: “they are Filipinos, right?” to which I replied “yes, why did you ask?” She said: “because they’re happy, Filipinos are always happy.” Well, they truly were and they were more than happy to explain the whole concept of this café to us.

They do not have a proper menu, as the dishes change everyday. To order, you have to go to the deli counter and just tell the server which dish you want. Kind of like a school cafeteria style of ordering, yes? The waitress gave us these options: one main course + 2 salads OR 5 salads without a main course. The boyfriend and I took the first option and the boyfriend’s mother took the 5 salad option. They have a fresh juice menu or you can also create your own mix. I chose pineapple, green apple & ginger from their menu as I still had a flu that day and my throat wants to have that soothing ginger taste. After placing all our orders, we were then asked to wait on our table.

The café is located at the basement parking of Shoreline 8 in Palm Jumeirah, the location kind of put me off. They have made up for it though by putting in bright furniture, lights all around the café and waterfalls as a wall paper. There was even a fake grass on one of the walls – all these gave out an illusion of having an airy and larger room. The décor was actually nice once you’ve gotten used to it, it’s very homey and down-to-earth. Quite literally.

Waterfalls wallpaper

Grass-covered wall. 🙂

Our food arrived in no time, I ordered baked salmon after the waitress recommended it to me when I asked her what is their best-seller. For my side salads, I had quinoa salad and string beans. Everything that you see in this plate tasted good! I was very surprised myself. The portions were very huge as well.

YUM!!!!

The boyfriend was very happy too with his Milanese chicken and was happier when he found out that it’s gluten-free. Yeah, he is the health-conscious between the two of us. The boyfriend’s mother was also satisfied with all her 5 choices of salad. With all the tasty food they served, it’s very easy to forget that I’m eating healthy. Lol.

After the meal, Agnes our server brought an array of desserts to our table – double chocolate, melba cake and carrot cake – all these were the best-sellers as per Agnes. Now I am not very much into sweets. In fact, I never ever order desserts but holy molly, these were delicious! I specially loved the melba cake which is just oh so yummy! Still, I can’t believe it’s done the “healthy” way because as far as my taste buds are concerned, it’s probably tastier than its unhealthy counterpart. Agnes also insisted that we try one of their coffees together with the dessert so I had a latte while the boyfriend had cappuccino. The boyfriend’s mother had enough and just asked for water instead. The coffees came in huge mugs so I had to ask the servers if everything they serve in their café are of huge sizes, I was unable to finish it of course.

It was a very good and tasty meal. We had a look at their breakfast menu which is served from 7am-11am on weekdays and 7am to 1pm on weekends, the breakfast options looks promising so we’ve already decided that we will try it out for our next breakfast weekend. I already know what I will order by then: Sophie’s breakfast.

Before we left, Agnes offered to give us some free desserts for take-away but since I was already very full from the hefty lunch that we just had, I declined the offer. When I went back home that night and was editing the photos I took of the restaurant, I came across the melba cake photo and my mouth immediately watered. I mentally kicked my arse for not taking that take-away offer.

Note to self: Never refuse an offer of a free cake. NEVER! Specially if it’s from Sophie’s Cafe

I never knew that healthy food can taste good until Sophie’s Café, if only they can open another branch with an outdoor seating. Food-wise, it’s fantastic! This is definitely going to be frequented by yours truly if their breakfast meal is as good as the lunch that we had.

Note:
Price ranges from AED50-80 per main dish with salad.
Salads are priced between AED18-60 depending on how many you choose.
Price differs if you are to have it as a dine-in or take-away, the latter is cheaper by AED3.00.

Sophie’s Café’s Website
Sophie’s Cafe’s Facebook page
Open daily from 7am – 9pm
Contact them at 044515982

For more photos, please do visit my Facebook page: Sophie’s Cafe Album
All photos taken by yours truly with an iphone5.