Saving the best for last isn't always a good idea. When I decided to have what seemed to be the most luxerious breakfast for our last breakfast at the beach in Scheveningen, that turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. And waiting until our last Monday morning in Sidi Bou Said to enjoy the stunning view at the otherwise rather dodgy Café des Delices wasn't a good idea either: the rain forced us to choose another venue. Dubai is no exception. I thought it would be nice to have our last breakfast in the Arabian Teahouse in the Bastikiyya district - one of the few districts in Dubai built in tradtional emirati style. However, it rains once a year in Dubai and today was that once. And, unfortunately, the Arabian Teahouse only has an outdoors courtyard for seating.
Luckily, the Bastikiyya district has more fancy places for breakfast and we ended up at the XVA Café. XVA is a gallery too, and when we entered its courtyard, we were greeted by a small army of rather scary looking showroom dummies. Apart from them, the courtyard was empty, but after a while we discovered a small corridor that let to another courtyard, where people were eating.
Dubai houses aren't built for rain. The courtyard was flooded and drainage was virtually absent - but of course, nobody cares about drainage if it is only necessary once a year. With the possibility of sitting at tables in the courtyard itself gone, the patrons were confined to a series of tables in the pillared galleries that lined the courtyard, most of them rather small. There was a pleasant atmosphere, though. In the middle of the courtyard was a large tree, with bits and pieces of art and decoration in it. On the walls of the galleries hung art pieces and crafted pieces of cloth were hung between several pillars.
Rihanna Gaga was in a bad mood. She didn't enjoy the long metro ride from Jumeirah Lake Towers, where we live, to Bastikiyya at all. Every once in a while, she complained loudly about some thing or another - often it was unclear why she was shouting angrily at me or my girlfriend, who joined us today.
Things improved when the orange juice was brought. This was part of the breakfast that looked quite promising in the menu: fuul, thick yoghurt, bread, fruit, orange juice, coffee or tea or a choice of either pancakes or eggs. Rihanna Gaga brightened up further when fruit was brought to our table, of which she particularly liked the slices of apple. And she really liked the flat, Arabian bread that came with the breakfast.
The food tasted very good, but was a bit meagre compared to some other Arabian breakfasts we had the last few weeks. Rihanna Gaga became more at ease, although she whimpered every time the waiter - who could be described as effective but rather blunt and stone-faced - walked past her. Lately, she's become scared of everything and everyone, especially children. Because of this, she also doesn't want to walk alone anymore, which before she did enthusiastically. She wants to be carried whenever she's somewhere she doesn't know - and often in places she does know too. However, once she's had a chance to get to know a place, she will walk around a bit, as she did now in XVA café. At a certain moment, she threw over a flower pot containing a plant, spilling all the water that it contained, after which she had great fun stamping in the water with her bare feet, dipping her hands in it and spreading it all over her face. Which was remarkable, considering how much she hates being washed.
XVA has a small shop selling art books, decorations and souvenirs, which I checked out together with Rihanna Gaga, but we didn's see anything we wanted to buy. We walked around the courtyard a bit. Our fellow patrons were a mix of Emirati women in black abayas and the hotel guests, who struck me as the kind of people who used to be backpackers on a tight budget when they were young and now when they are older still like to travel and prefer these kind of boutique hotels with a slightly alternative vibe.
After our breakfast, I had a Turkish coffee and then it was time to go. My girlfriend was on her way to work and Rihanna Gaga and me walked towards the creek, to catch a boat to the other side.
Luckily, the Bastikiyya district has more fancy places for breakfast and we ended up at the XVA Café. XVA is a gallery too, and when we entered its courtyard, we were greeted by a small army of rather scary looking showroom dummies. Apart from them, the courtyard was empty, but after a while we discovered a small corridor that let to another courtyard, where people were eating.Dubai houses aren't built for rain. The courtyard was flooded and drainage was virtually absent - but of course, nobody cares about drainage if it is only necessary once a year. With the possibility of sitting at tables in the courtyard itself gone, the patrons were confined to a series of tables in the pillared galleries that lined the courtyard, most of them rather small. There was a pleasant atmosphere, though. In the middle of the courtyard was a large tree, with bits and pieces of art and decoration in it. On the walls of the galleries hung art pieces and crafted pieces of cloth were hung between several pillars.
Rihanna Gaga was in a bad mood. She didn't enjoy the long metro ride from Jumeirah Lake Towers, where we live, to Bastikiyya at all. Every once in a while, she complained loudly about some thing or another - often it was unclear why she was shouting angrily at me or my girlfriend, who joined us today.
Things improved when the orange juice was brought. This was part of the breakfast that looked quite promising in the menu: fuul, thick yoghurt, bread, fruit, orange juice, coffee or tea or a choice of either pancakes or eggs. Rihanna Gaga brightened up further when fruit was brought to our table, of which she particularly liked the slices of apple. And she really liked the flat, Arabian bread that came with the breakfast.
The food tasted very good, but was a bit meagre compared to some other Arabian breakfasts we had the last few weeks. Rihanna Gaga became more at ease, although she whimpered every time the waiter - who could be described as effective but rather blunt and stone-faced - walked past her. Lately, she's become scared of everything and everyone, especially children. Because of this, she also doesn't want to walk alone anymore, which before she did enthusiastically. She wants to be carried whenever she's somewhere she doesn't know - and often in places she does know too. However, once she's had a chance to get to know a place, she will walk around a bit, as she did now in XVA café. At a certain moment, she threw over a flower pot containing a plant, spilling all the water that it contained, after which she had great fun stamping in the water with her bare feet, dipping her hands in it and spreading it all over her face. Which was remarkable, considering how much she hates being washed.XVA has a small shop selling art books, decorations and souvenirs, which I checked out together with Rihanna Gaga, but we didn's see anything we wanted to buy. We walked around the courtyard a bit. Our fellow patrons were a mix of Emirati women in black abayas and the hotel guests, who struck me as the kind of people who used to be backpackers on a tight budget when they were young and now when they are older still like to travel and prefer these kind of boutique hotels with a slightly alternative vibe.
After our breakfast, I had a Turkish coffee and then it was time to go. My girlfriend was on her way to work and Rihanna Gaga and me walked towards the creek, to catch a boat to the other side.
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