Emma Haylan Hall: REVIEW: Lunch at The Hamptons Cafe

Emma is not a morning Bear.

I don't do mornings unless I have to.

If there is a legit reason to be up before the sun then I can manage that. Valid reasons include

holidays
holidays
holidays

I therefore thoroughly impressed myself by making it to an early morning yoga class ON A WEEKEND with Mr G.

After conquering our Bikram session, like true morning bosses, we jump in the car, aka the 'G mobil', and set off to reward our healthy yogi bodies with an epic breakfast. We swing round the marina and pick up Yorkie from her place and try to decide on a suitable venue worthy of our presence.

Yorkie: My friends have been raving about this new place called 'The Hamptons'

We 'google map it' and find that 'The Hamptons Cafe' is a 15 minute car ride from marina.

EHH: Umm.... that's far guys.

Yorkie: It's not.

EHH. Yeah you are right. Lets go.

We head down the Jumeirah Beach Road and pull up in front of a three storey white building supporting a quaint little sign that reads 'The Hamptons Cafe'

Hamptons Cafe, Dubai

“We are here!!!!” I shriek! And throw myself out of the 'G Mobile' and into the desert sun (I really hate being in cars)

The building is super cute with an old fashioned wedding car sat outside. #picturetime

Me on the outside of a car

After my photo shoot we head inside and are immediately intrigued by the deco. If you spend any longer than 6 months in Dubai you will understand how hard it is to be impressed by anything here. We are inherently spoilt on views, service, and pretty much anything else your heart could wish for.

The Hamptons has a clean white nautical theme is a stark contrast from the usual slick glitzy venues. Smiles from Mr G and Yorkie echo my thoughts - Its so pretty in here!

We head up one level and are seated at a quaint table by the window and are promptly handed iPads with digital menus. I'm a nerdy tech lover, but if you can't order via an ipad I see little point of them. I'm also not a fan of pictures on menus ...however, the photographic quality is impeccable and the visuals are actually making me hungry. There is a breakfast section, sandwiches, salads, many main courses and desserts. I'm having a hard time deciding. It all looks so good.

High tech menu time

We order drinks and the presentation is too cute for words.

Jasmine Green Tea. Note the cute egg timer on the left

Coffee for a captain?

Then disaster strikes! We are informed they are only serving from the breakfast menu until 12:15pm That's 25 minutes away!

AHHHH!

After much (read MUCH MUCH), debate we had all selected dishes not from the breakfast section.

We just did 26 jedi bikram poses in a 40 degrees studio. Do you not understand we want to eat, like, NOW!?

Drats.

We rationally decide to order some bread to tide us over.

A beautiful selection arrives with butter and preserves and they happily served our request to toast a few of the slices with absolutely no fuss.

I take the spare time to explore the venue. First the bathrooms...

Judge a place by the bathrooms?

I then head up to the top floor and the view is beautiful – a panoramic view over the white villas of Dubai with a desert background. #pretty I take some pictures. I come back down and Yorkie decides (after seeing my picture slideshow) we should relocate upstairs as it's surprisingly empty. The waiter then informs us that all tables are reserved. God damn regulars and their 'in the know' knowledge. #nexttime #forsure

Beaten to the best tables

The Hamptons Café describes itself as a venue with “informal, casual etiquette serving creatively fine cuisine with a touch of gastronomic audacity.” with food “rooted in the European and American vein with an underlying touch of the Hamptons casual refinement. These sentiments ring true and are reflected in the food, the venue and also the dress code of their staff.

Mister Manager

After my exploration I sit back down and catch up on the latest with Mr G and Yorkie. The food eventually arrives. The wait was a little longer than seemed necessary (even after the 12:15 lunch time wait) and we were so hungry that ever time the kitchen door opens we were whipping our heads back and forth like tennis crazed Pavlovs dogs.

However, it was well worth the wait...

We drank:

Banana Strawberry Smoothie

Iced Black Americano

Jasmine Green Tea

Skinny Cappuccino

We ate:

Air - dried Spanish beef crostini with aged parmesan, home made onion marmalade, rocket and blue cheese cream

Italian burrata crustini, cherry tomatoes on the vine, home made basil pesto & rocket

Buttermilk fried chicken with home-made slaw and triple-cooked chips

Sweet potato wedges

The ingredients in both crostini dishes were exceptionally fresh and complimented each other beautifully.

I feel icky when I eat too much bread so I ended up scooping my topping off the brown whole wheat toasted crostini. I curse myself for not ordering an entire buratta on its own as the cheese was so creamy and delicious with the basil pesto.

My burrata crostini

Spanish beef crostini

Yorkie loved her air dried Spanish crostini which was picture perfect when it arrived. The buttermilk chicken had a crispy flavorsome batter coating the succulent pieces – and was of such an epic portion Mr G couldn't finish it. I took him up on his offer of a taste and quickly crowned it the winning dish on the table.

Buttermilk Chicken

I would recommend ordering a few dishes for the table, especially if you go for main courses, and sharing them. This way you can sample all the beautiful dishes The Hamptons Cafe has on offer. Or ... you could just come more than once – which is exactly my plan.