The first thing that strikes you about this popular café is the décor. The shabby-chic styling with its frilly, lacy, pastel-hued theme looks a little like your eccentric great grandma’s house – but in a nice, warm and inviting way.
Shakespeare and Co. has an extremely loyal following, and you will usually find the place busy whether you pop in for breakfast, lunch or dinner. The menu offers up a range of cuisines, with Thai curries, Lebanese breakfasts and Italian dishes all on the menu. They also serve a wide selection of drinks including fresh juices, pink lemonade, creamy coffees and a huge range of super cute treats from the in-store patisserie.
We decided on starters of lamb skewers in garlic and chilli with satay sauce and roasted tomato soup. The lamb skewers were tender and juicy, not over cooked and it came as a very generous helping for a starter. The satay was the perfect side and it also came with potato croquettes. This could have been passed for a main and was a very tasty dish. The roasted tomato soup however was average. Again, it came as a huge serving but was lacking flavour and perhaps could have been mixed with something else, such as basil or garlic to give it a bit of spark. The crusty bread and herb butter that it came with were spot on.
We then chose the beef burger and the bresaola and rucola pizza for our main courses. The beef burger was delicious and came neatly served with crisp fries. The toasted bun was fresh and crunchy and was filled with a generous meat patty, rocket, Swiss cheese, pickle and mayonnaise.
The pizza was good but it didn’t blow us away. This however is probably our fault for ordering pizza at a café as opposed to an Italian restaurant.
The ingredients were fresh but the base was a little light on the tomato sauce and a little under cooked.
We could not resist dessert and went for the tiramisu and cheesecake. The tiramisu was very light but still packed a punch with just the right amount of coffee flavour. The cheesecake was also delightful and again it was rich without being too heavy. It had a buttery biscuit base with a lemon flavoured filling and was topped off with a strawberry jam layer.
In spite of the arguably very girly décor, both branches seem to be most popular with men, whiling away whole afternoons on the frilly chairs and getting through cup after cup of Shakespeare’s coffee (which, incidentally, is terrific). Drink the coffee, eat the cakes and stick to a few dishes on the menu you know you like – then you’re guaranteed a top notch visit. Staff are friendly and on the ball and if you’re lucky enough to get the right waiter, you’ll be slipped a few free homemade chocolates with your bill.
The bill (for two)
Roasted tomato soup Dhs59
Chicken satay Dhs39
Bresaola and rucola pizza Dhs79
Beef burger Dhs79
Tiramisu Dhs29
Cheesecake Dhs29
Total (excluding service) Dhs314
