Dubai Walking in to Maison Bagatelle on a weekday morning for a late breakfast or an early brunch may be a perilous affair if you, like me, have an office to get to. The old-world Parisian ambience and the amazing French fare at this chic restaurant opened earlier this summer at the foot of the Address Downtown will simply not let you wander out in a hurry, let alone reach your desk.
“The idea is to make this café look straight out of the old streets of Paris. We have done our best to give Maison Bagatelle that look and feel and the food compliments well. Chances are you may well end up thinking you are on a holiday in France,” chuckles restaurant manager Antonio Tatarek in his native Polish slur. I found out what he meant soon enough.
Bright (or should I say white?) and naturally lit during the day, Maison Bagatelle is classy to the bits and resplendent with a series of tastefully done giant lifesize magazine posters staring at you. The stunning backdrop of Address Downtown and Burj Khalifa few metres away should add to the night-time glitz of the location. But then that’s only half the reason why you would want to step in and spend as much time here.
The other half, naturally and as should be expected of a true “Parisian style café patisserie bakery concept”, is about the food and as a bonus the beverage it serves.
Get going
Let’s start with the drinks then. From the normal lattes to smoothies it had all the popular drinks but the draw should be one of the single origin coffees or the single estate teas on offer. Not an avid tea-drinker, I went for the Jasmine Pearls tea (Dh21) for a change and I was pleasantly surprised. Perhaps it’s my ‘tea-gnorance’ but I thought I haven’t had a tea with a pleasanter flavour and waft.
Time for the actual breakfast and I was welcomed by a Petit Dejeuner Complet a l’Anglaise (Dh62) or a Full English Breakfast complete with two eggs sunny-side up, sautéed mushroom, baked beans, grilled tomato, sausage and beef bacon. You may have done all that the English way, but it’s a tad different when you have that French style.
Pain Perdu (Dh32) or Wasted Bread at Maison is another wonderful take on what we call the French Toast otherwise. Made with freshly baked brioches (breads highly enriched in butter and egg that gives it a brownish tender crumb) that are soaked in beaten eggs and then light fried, it tastes subtly sweet thanks to the maple syrup on top.
Oeufs Benedict (Dh46) or Eggs Benedict is a must-have. Made of two halves of an English muffin, topped with turkey ham, poached eggs, and Hollandaise sauce – a tangy mush of an emulsion of egg yolk and liquid butter, seasoned with lemon juice and pepper, it tasted just as good as it appeared. The sauce is fresh, as if made at home (Maison, by the way, means house in French) and the muffins perfectly round, flat and soft as if just baked.
Then there’s a treasure trove of sandwiches and salads befitting a perfect light lunch. There are signature crepes too - savoury and sweet - for your afternoon tea. You can’t miss out on the burgers as well I am told, but after a ‘breakfast like a king’ I chose to look elsewhere. However, I couldn’t stop myself from trying a slice of the creamy chocolate cake for a perfect ending. You sure haven’t had one like that anywhere in Dubai.
Breakfast for two: Dh210
Location: Base of the Address Downtown
All-day dining from: 9am to 11pm
Call: 04 420 3442
We recommend: Jasmine Pearls tea, Oeufs Benedict, Pain Perdu
