Best Cafes in Dubai for Great Coffee and Good Vibes: Unknown to many tourists who hop from one attraction to another, Dubai has a vibrant café culture that has only grown, rather simply exploded, in the last five years. In a city where locals spend a good part of the year indoors thanks to the brutal afternoon heat of the summer months, Dubai’s best cafés have, quite organically, become places to work, catch up with friends, or simply steal a few quiet moments to yourself during the day.
The thing about the best cafés in Dubai though, is that you won’t necessarily find them in the shopping malls or while checking out tourist sights and attractions. In my opinion, the coolest cafés in Dubai, which are more substance than hype, are located in quiet residential neighborhoods such as Jumeirah or the art and culture-heavy district of Al Quoz, sometimes in unassuming villas and bougainvillea-strewn courtyards.
There are plenty of cafés where you can get a sense of non-touristy Dubai, whatever style you’re into – minimalistic, hipster vibes, so-elegant-it-makes-you-feel-rich, laptop-friendly, cafés with epic views, garden cafés where you can curl up with a book, or coffee shops that roast their beans in-house.
Then, of course, there’s the influence of Instagram; Dubai loves all things with great visual appeal anyway, so there’s no lack of instagrammable cafes in Dubai – think cafés with gorgeous interiors and decor straight out of some kind of urban fairytale (or nightmare, depending on your perspective).
Best Cafes in Dubai
The Climbing Goat Roastery
I happened to discover this cafe by chance while wandering around the Depachika Food Hall in Nakheel Mall on Palm Jumeirah (an excellent place to go for specialty coffee and sweet and savory baked goods from a variety of stalls that set up shop here, some permanent and some temporary).
Boon Coffee
Another hidden gem in Depachika Food Hall, Boon Coffee is a firm favorite among true coffee lovers in Dubai. This is a homegrown brand- which means it’s based in the UAE, and that’s something we locals are extremely proud and supportive of in Dubai, a city where imported cafe chains were once all the rage. Boon Coffee was founded by Orit Mohammed, an Ethiopian woman who is passionate about showcasing directly sourced Ethiopian coffee as specialty coffee and changing the narrative of Ethiopian coffee.
At Boon Coffee, you’ll find a wide range of quality single-origin coffees sourced directly from farms in Ethiopia. The beans are roasted in-house and they also create their own blends. They’ve got a couple of other locations in Dubai, but the one at Depachika Food Hall has the advantage of you being able to pair your coffee with baked goods from another cafe or vendor, plus it’s quite lively on the weekends. Bookmark this place if you’re a coffee lover visiting Dubai.
Milk Bar
Another personal favorite, so much so that at one point, this is where you’d find me every Friday afternoon, Milk is a Swedish-inspired cool cafe and bakery that does good coffee, excellent breakfasts, and delicious baked goods. The bright minimalistic space does a great version of Scandi-cool, i.e. effortless but still stylish (except for the proudly displayed issues of Kinfolk).
Nightjar Coffee
In the hip neighborhood of Alserkal Avenue, surrounded by art galleries and indie venues, Nightjar Coffee is a must-visit if you fancy a quality cup of specialty coffee or some fantastic cold brew (they’ve got it on tap, as well as heavenly cold brews with ice cream) in what is an effortlessly cool and unpretentious cafe. They source their single-origin coffee directly from farms and roast the beans in their in-house roastery. Their coffee beans are also available for sale.
Among the best coffee houses in Dubai, it also serves some great breakfast fare (such as ricotta pancakes), available all-day, as well as interesting meals that are a happy mix of what Dubai likes to eat, across its old and new neighborhoods, from avocado-topped sourdough toast and salads to scrambled eggs with paratha (it’s divine) and veggie lasagna. There are also baked goods like pies, muffins, and cakes. If you go on a weekend, you’ll have the best vibes with live music by a DJ.
Pekoe Tea and Bread Bar
Also in the hip quarter of Alserkal Avenue in Al Quoz, Pekoe Tea and Bread Bar has smart, minimalist interiors, fragrant teas, amazing breakfast sandwiches, baked goods, and a surprisingly delicious Iced Mocha (it’s a tea bar after all).
This is the kind of place you’d meet friends, read for a while, eat, but probably not sit long enough to work. They’ve got great breakfast/ light lunch options—the Egg and Cheese Sando, and the Green Fields Sandwich (avocado, cucumber, lettuce, sprouts, yogurt, mozzarella) are both favorites.
La Fabrica Foccaceria
I know, I know you might say this is not strictly a cafe, it’s a focacceria, but listen, this one is a real insider secret, I’m telling you. And it’s a great one. La Fabbrica Italiana Focacceria is Dubai’s first (and to my knowledge only) focacceria, where the heavenly aroma of freshly baked focaccia hits you the second you walk through the doors.
At this family-run place, on the menu are burrata, focaccia sandwiches and focaccia loaves with a variety of toppings- I’ve tried them all at this point: the truffle and cheese (soooo good) and the tomato and olives, but there’s also onion, prosciutto, and butternut squash, among others.
