I was up before 9 am last Friday, which is a huge achievement for me. Most weekends, I roll out of bed post noon and remain a bedhead for the greater part of the day.
Last Friday was different; I was catching up with my girlfriends, the same three gorgeous girls I hung out with during my Amsterdam trip!
We had a number of reasons to celebrate. Friday marked a milestone since we first met, but more importantly, it was a countdown to Neha’s birthday. Neha was my roomie in Amsterdam, and it was so much fun sharing the space with her, a fellow blogger on the lovely Mintberry Dubai blog. Today is her day, so Happy Birthday Minty! (Oops! I mean Neha! xoxo).
Here I am with Birthday Girl wearing matching minty necklaces. Her mint obsession is rubbing off on me!
We met up at Markette Cafe right infront of the Dubai Aquarium. Given its rustic, European market kind of vibes, it was the perfect setting to reminiscence about our unexpected win to Amsterdam.
11 am and the cafe was brimming with activity. People actually wake up on Fridays!
From AED 36 onwards, Markette’s breakfast selection includes a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice, and a choice of tea or coffee.
Markette has an interesting line-up of breakfast options, but given my friends Heena and Amarpreet are vegetarian, they don’t seem to fare very well in that department.
Our host for the morning was very accommodating and went through several options with them on how to redesign certain sandwiches to make them vegetarian-friendly.
Mine was a far easier order, albeit a little exotic. I had the Shakshuka.
Shakshuka is one of my favorite ways of having eggs for breakfast. Two runny poached eggs float in a bowl of tomato-beef sauce, and is topped with chopped sausage and halloumi.
It is served with khubus, labneh and fattoush salad on the side.
I didn’t need much of the sides, the bowl of Shakshuka is a complete meal on its own. I loved the hearty goodness of the tomato-beef sauce, and the sausage and halloumi cheese added the drama of saltiness to every spoonful. And look at how perfectly runny my eggs were:
You can also opt for the traditional breakfast fare of scrambled eggs, sausages and baked beans.
We are usually a very loud, chatty bunch but when food hits the table, there’s pin-drop silence 🙂
One of our best memories from the Amsterdam trip was the amount of Nutella we managed to eat! Surprise, surprise, Markette has Nutella Crepes too!
Here’s a look at Markette’s Nutella Crepe:
We were pretty stuffed with our large plates of breakfast and therefore decided to share Markette’s Nutella Crepe.
How did it fare compared to the ones we had in Amsterdam? In my opinion, not so well. The crepe was overflowing with Nutella, so every mouthful was a Nutella overkill. I couldn’t taste much crepe here.
Also, adding the chopped banana cost us an additional AED 5 which I think is a rip-off for something that served more as a garnish as there simply wasn’t enough banana on the plate.
We drowned out the sweetness with frothy cups of coffee.
Overall, breakfast at Markette is a great idea. For AED 36 and above, you get a filling plate of breakfast along with freshly squeezed orange juice, and a cup of coffee of your choice. Will definitely be back for more… if I manage to get there for breakfast again!
Post-breakfast, we decided to do some window shopping, and a walk around Dubai Mall did us a whole lot of good. Add shopping and girlie chatter to the mix, and the day gets even better!
Apart from the color mint-green, Birthday Girl Neha has a Parisian obsession, and chose to take us to La Duree for macaroons.
Here’s Neha with her super pretty macaroon birthday cake:
Fresh raspberries sandwiched between two very decadent raspberry macaroons #omnomnom
We also got ourselves a plate of select macaroons.
To say that the macaroons at La Duree are good is an understatement. La Duree has perfected the art of macaroon baking, and this is their main forte. Each macaroon is wonderfully light, with the perfect amount of chewiness on the inside, and the outer layer is delightfully crisp.
My favorite was the Earl Grey macaroon. With the delicate flavor of Earl Grey, the macaroon managed to be subtle on the sweetness quotient.
And here is how we shared all four macaroons… sharing is caring after all!
We had a wonderful catch-up session, and our breakfast date went on till 5 in the evening! With great company, the time just fizzles by.
This definitely beats sleeping in on Fridays, hands down! Must do this more often girls 🙂
The Tezzy Files 