I always felt a close connection with BookMunch Cafe, as it’s the first book cafe in Dubai. While conceptualizing for this blog, for a long time I considered doing book reviews as I’m an avid reader. I later decided that the pressure was way too much with the travel as well as the health & wellness parts of my blog. (Also, I enjoy reading for myself.) However, if you are interested in what I read, I regularly feature my #currentlyreading on my Instagram account.
Best book cafe in Dubai – Bookmunch Cafe – A great place to collaborate
BookMunch is also a place where I held my first poetry experiment. Surprised? Me and my friend Sriya in 2015 decided to hold our first ‘Rorshach Poetry Experiment’ at their Al Wasl branch. It gave birth to our club called the ‘Ink Spilled Poets‘. Dareen of BookMunch at the time was exceptionally kind to let us hold the workshop in her cafe – that too, the only book cafe in Dubai! We really did have a wonderful time. 🙂 Back then, their Business Bay branch wasn’t open yet.
Check a scene from the day below!
So last to last week when F.C. and I found ourselves in the heart of Business Bay at Bay Square, it wasn’t a surprise that we wanted to head on straight over to BookMunch. It was around 8.30 pm when we came in and we were disappointed to see that they had no dinner. 🙁 Very begrudgingly, we left. The next day when I saw a beautiful post on my Insta feed, I expressed how upset I was that I missed dinner with them. (Yes, I can be cranky sometimes.) They then agreed to let me try out their menu at their Business Bay branch. So I took my brother for the tasting.
First of all, may I comment how adorable their interiors are? It makes you feel like you’ve entered Alice in Wonderland’s Mad Hatter Party (which I believe is exactly the look they are going for.) A lot of white, pink and greens give it a very cheerful look. Whilst the BookMunch Cafe in Al Wasl is ideally for children with a gorgeous little reading nook, this one is noticeably one for adults. Lots of coffee table books surround you in this branch.
Both my brother and I were starving, so we combed through their extensive menu for drinks first. He opted for a very healthy ‘Green Goblin’ juice, which had a combination of kale,cucumber, celery and spinach. Even though it might sound a bit odd, but we both really enjoyed this one. I went all southern and ordered a Peach iced tea. It was a little too exceedingly sweet for my taste.
We then tried the jerk chicken, the chicken avocado salad and their sweet potato poutine. My brother and I were very divided on both the main courses. However, both portions were generous and big on flavour. Their jerk chicken was the right combination of sweet and spicy with a delicious mango salsa paired with the coconut rice. The chicken avocado salad had a very creamy dressing; the granny smith apples provided a great crunch to the very tasty grilled chicken and went well with the spinach. The sweet potato poutine was very heavy and I find that I would’ve preferred just regular potatoes instead. I was happy to wear my “fries before guys” shirt with this. 😀
As dessert, we opted for the sticky toffee pudding. Ok, I admit. I am a sucker for dessert and sticky toffee pudding is my kryptonite. The flavours were excellent, but the pudding in itself was not soft enough for me to push through with my spoon.
Overall, the service at BookMunch Cafe was great too, with very attentive staff who gave in to my photography idiosyncrasies. I would recommend visiting this book cafe in Dubai during the day to truly appreciate it. I did miss friendly barista Freddie and the warmth from the Wasl branch though, but I must say do swing by for a cuppa, quiet read, soothing music and delicious food.
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