Abu Dhabi boasts a large range of cafés in which you can relax with a nice coffee and have a bite, so we weren’t expecting anything out of the ordinary from Fauchon Le Café. Located on the ground floor of Avenue at Etihad Towers, this Parisian café serves up decadent French delights. Make sure you take a long look at all of the treats in the cabinet before making your choice and enjoy the rows of colourful, pristine macarons, not to mention the striking desserts and éclairs with edgy designs.
Fauchon keeps the décor simple yet original, with a trendy vibe throughout the place. As we took our seats at a white glass and metal table on a comfortable, bright silver couch, we couldn’t help but notice a pink glimmer on top of the table. The facing chairs are very cool made out of a tight black and white whicker, all in keeping with the black, white and pink Fauchon theme.
To start we decided on mushroom soup and a Caesar salad. The soup was a small portion served in a cute cup with delicious field mushrooms on the side. As soon as we tasted how rich and creamy it was we understood why it’s only a small serving. The Caesar salad was interesting. It comes with chicken and slices of duck breast and instead of the classic romaine, this salad was made with leaves of little gem lettuce which added nice flavour, and a ball of breadcrumbed and deep fried goat’s cheese – the only gripe we had is that the dressing is served on the side, and since Caesar dressing is so thick it was difficult to adequately distribute it around the salad. We prefer our Caesars ready dressed. All in all though, this is a superior salad that we would definitely order again.
After much deliberation over so many amazing desserts, which are pristinely presented, we went with the vanilla mille-feuille and the lemon tart. The mille-feuille had just the right amount of dense cream, which was buttery and airy with a deep vanilla flavour. The crispy sheets of caramelised puff pastry were perfect and we finished this delightful treat very quickly. The lemon tart was also a hit, served as a square of crumbly biscuit casing and the most amazing lemon curd centre.
To top off an already wonderful afternoon we decided to indulge in some of the wide range of teas and coffees on offer. Fauchon boasts their own range of Parisian brews and, on this particular day, we chose Paris in the afternoon tea, which was floral with tender notes of rose and sweets, refreshing and robust it was exactly what an afternoon tea blend should taste like. The café latte was delightfully presented with the layers of milk, coffee and froth unmixed.
This café is definitely worth a visit, with attentive staff and decent food. Don’t leave without picking up a box of Madeleines, éclairs, macarons, tea or coffee, all packaged up in stunning Fauchon gift boxes.
The bill (for two)
Paris in the afternoon tea Dhs39
Café latte Dhs39
Caesar salad Dhs63
Mushroom soup Dhs44
Vanilla mille-feuille Dhs45
Lemon tart Dhs45
Total (excluding service) Dhs275
