we went there on its opening day, back in november last year. the parking lot looked like an abandoned construction site, and the inside was like a huge deserted shopping space with empty shops barred with wooden planks that says "opening soon".
the best part of the almost-boring opening day was that i found a classy cafe called 'shakespeare & co'. i absolutely love the concept, the decor and the overall feel of the cafe. however, the food was just okay - memang sedap but they could've done way better considering the price and the already awesome setting.
go if you're a hopeless romantic like me! read about my review here.
going there again yesterday (yes, it's only been my second time - as our frequent malls are mall of emirates and ibn battuta mall - which are both closer to dubai marina) the crowd itself speaks volume of the huge number of stores, restaurants and cafes already open and flourishing. it's definitely different than the first day it opened.
the mall's dubai aquarium, has the 'largest arcrylic panel' - imagine an aquarium glass bigger and wider than the wall of your house - it's amazing to watch different sea creatures in an aquarium that big. there were even divers feeding the fish! we didn't take any pictures as we're kinda turned off by the heavy crowd. it's impossible to take a picture without having someone's head in it!
yesterday was the final day of the 'festival @ the dubai mall' which is basically the mall hosting a 'shopping sale' and some other entertainment gigs and activities for shoppers. one of the entertainer is perfoming LIVE at caffe nero.
at one glance, caffe nero is not a creative, attractive lepak place to me - as it looks like any other abc or xyz cafe yang berlambak kat dubai mall ni but we lepak here because we wanna catch this jazz-pop act, jonas desai acoustically perform here that night.
this italian-style coffee house is said to have the 'best espresso' ever, placed in any coffee-based-drink - yeah, great. best espresso? way to go to win me over, the coffee-hater.
and they have the usual sandwiches in variety of breads - paninis and focaccia (which i'm not a fan of - i prefer croissant any day). also like in starbucks, san francisco coffee and any other coffee house - a selection of muffins and cakes.
the song selection is quite awesome, though. jazz and latin beats croon you as you hang back in those soft brown leather couch, watching the crowd goes by. especially so since it's strategically located right next to the dubai ice-rink.
so for those who wannna hang back in a quiet cafe and get away from the crowd might not like this particular location...
we got a fusion of pineapple + apple + banana ice-blended and a slice of carrot cake. while i'm not too crazy about the ice-blended, the carrot cake was delicious!
i like carrot cake, but most of the carrot cakes that i tried have this heavy cinnamon taste that is a turn-off. but this one has a nice blend of taste - oh, so moist, carrot-y, a pinch of cinnamon and not too heavy on the cheese. just perfect!
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hmm. we've got 2 more hours before jonas desai comes on. kahfi can get very cranky and khaleef would get doubly restless. and i can easily be both cranky and restless. things could get ugly! so much to mr. khairul's disappointment, we finished out drinks and munched our last bit of carrot cake and left. some other day, jonas desai!
btw, i noticed a really funky, purply makan place in dubai mall called 'switch' which at first glance i thought spelled 'witch' - aptly so because of its darkly, gloomy, wizardy interior. cool! probably trying this one next!
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