What’s the score?
Where do Dhabi’s up-and-coming café crowd park their SUVs and buy their coffee tables? The answer: in a small patch of tower blocks just across from Corniche Beach. Its central landmark is Al Hana Tower, noteworthy mainly for a couple of decent dining options; but around it, a growing number of beret-and-baguette-style cafés, together with the odd small boutique, signals a primordial lunge in the direction of a cultured hideaway.
In particular, the variety of interiors stores makes it a neat alternative to the obligatory mall crawl, while the beach lies temptingly just across the road. Of course, the ‘village’ illusion is rather shattered by the massive tower blocks and ongoing building work. Nevertheless, if you’ve got a few hours to kill without wishing to brave the sun for too long, it’s well worth exploring its shaded passageways.
Where to shop…
Fashion
There isn’t a huge choice, but women will no doubt begin on Khaleej Al Arabi road with Veneto, home to the likes of Just Cavalli, Ferre and Moschino. Cheap and chic appears to be the motto, although the former is entirely relative. Follow this up with a visit to the Cesare Paciotti boutique, opposite Al Hana, for some shoe and bag therapy. The Italian designer, famous for his dagger logo, does a good line in dressy chic, as well as slightly camp T-shirts for men. Next door is the tacky, if good fun, Hollywood Magic – trust us, the only fashion spell it’s likely to cast on you is a curse. But parents should definitely check out the impossibly cute L’enfant Chic, near La Brioche. It specialises in clothing and playsets for children aged one to four. We couldn’t resist the Beatrix Potter puppet theatre in the window (for our kids, naturally). Opposite is Mauzam, a traditional Arab dress and perfume shop, but fashionistas should stay clear of the rather rundown Rotana Mall – unless eye-scratchingly gaudy clothing is your thing.
Interiors
Al Hana Tower is home to both Azwaq, a dinky, traditional Arabic furniture shop, and the rather enigmatic Ajmal Eternal, packed with ‘exquisite objects and perfumes’. Alas, modesty is out of stock, whereas curious glass sculptures are very much in. Behind the building, be sure to check out Koreana, a decent furniture store where enormous chests of drawers dominate the floorspace. Next to this lies the Oriental Carpet House, although the area isn’t short on rug stores. There are at least three – including the rather enigmatic Persian Carpet Exhibition – in Rotana Mall alone. But this is only worth visiting as a curiosity. Instead, we recommend heading to the Centre of Original Iranian Carpets, nearby on Khaleej Al Arabi. Originality doesn’t come cheap, with prices from Dhs2,000 for a small rug going up to Dhs18,000 for a large silk carpet, but they look amazing.
For a bargainous alternative, head to Nefertiti Furniture, behind the Volkswagen garage. Good used furniture stores are a rarity in the UAE and inside you’ll find everything from white goods and M&S tables to ominous, leering (and possibly cursed) African head statues, usually at a decent price. They also buy old furniture, which tends to come in handy during the summer exodus, so now is a good time to visit. But if you can’t resist the lure of the new, The One furniture store is just a short walk across Sheikh Zayed The First Street. It’s huge, and a haven for style mongers seeking a new look, or better still, a Dr Evil-style swivel chair.
Look your best…
It’s not long since Sugar opened and this trendy, new, woman-only nail salon remains pretty busy. The staff do a mean mani-pedi, but we recommend the massages, with body treatments starting at Dhs120. Elsewhere, both men and women should head to The Curve Health Club in the Oryx Hotel. Membership is rather high at Dhs5,000, but treatments are only Dhs20-30 extra for non-members. Expect the usual array of facials and massages, but they also specialise in an array of unusual Moroccan bath treatments well worth checking out.
Where to eat…
Al Hana Tower houses two of the best dining spots in the area. Amassi is a stylish, velvety Italian which does just about everything right. Moody, romantic, secluded, the service is a bit lax but the quality is spot on, if not pricey. Alongside it is Café Le Roi, a popular symbol of the café culture ambitions of the area. It serves great cakes but, again, is a bit costly. A cheaper option is La Brioche, which is always good for breakfast and the odd pastry. Having said that, within easy walking distance is Time Out favourite The One Café, which, for our money, is still the best café in the city.
Elsewhere, above Tche Tche, lies the Chillax Restaurant – for people who don’t have time to say ‘chill and relax’. Despite its irritating name, it is surprisingly good and genuinely peaceful. The schizophrenic furniture may change style every two metres, but the food is decent and it has a kind of charmingly messy chic. Another surprise is the rather stylish Al Casa Café in Rotana Mall which does the whole pizza-pasta-Arabic thing quite well. The only blot on the dining landscape is the Oryx Hotel’s hugely overpriced Horizons restaurant. If you’re going to charge Dhs110 for jumbo prawns, they’d better be the best in the city – ours weren’t.
The nightlife…
You know your neighbourhood’s getting a bit uppity when even the sports bars sound pompous. Spirit of Idioms is hardly a symphony of jockdom – and having two televisions and no license makes it an unlikely destination to watch the football. It’s more a café/shisha joint anyway, and is always dark and smoky. But, oddly enough, it does do an amazing milkshake and the pizzas are both decent and affordable.
Across the street, Tche Tche is a better bet and an Abu Dhabi institution to boot. It’s a bustling shisha café and is usually packed with both locals and expats sampling the likes of liquorice-flavoured hubbly bubbly. Its only real rival is the Special Café, opposite the beach, but it’s a bit too warm at the moment to go alfresco. Elsewhere, for the precious few who pass the rather old-fashioned no T-shirts, no trainers, no ripped jeans rule, head to the Blue line Bar at the Oryx Hotel. Clearly not many do: it’s rarely packed. The drinks selection is poor, the lighting gloomy and the food is lousy but, being a hotel, it is at least licensed so every cloud has a silver lining.
Need to know…
Taxi: Ask either for Corniche Tower or the Oryx Hotel.
Daytrippers: A great place to kill an hour or two without having to walk too far. We can’t resist Nerfertiti and The One. Hit Amassi for lunch or just chill at Tche Tche.
Living there: The amenities are good. It’s a minute’s walk from the corniche or Family Park. The Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank also has a branch here. There is a Choithrams supermarket on your doorstep, but both the mighty Abella and Khalidayah Spinneys are just down the road. Building noise can be an issue, but it’s a slick address nonetheless.
Can you afford it? If you can find anywhere not already rented by Etihad, two-bedroom apartments begin at around Dhs150,000 a year, though these are rare. It’s mostly three-bedroom apartments, which cost around Dhs300,000 a year and four-bedroom flats which range from Dhs400,000 up to Dhs1million.
