Superfood cafe Pineapple Express opens in JLT

Can you make ice cream out of coconut water? The folks at Pineapple Express, an Australian “superfood” cafe that opens this week in Dubai’s JLT, say yes, and it’s called Coco Whip.

The product is one of the health-focused items available on the menu, which skews towards vegan, paleo and raw diets.

Coco Whip isn’t just made from coconut water, of course: Its website also lists coconut oil, coconut powder and vegetable sourced stabilisers (it contains xylitol, for example). It’s also fermented, and hence contains probiotics. (If you’re a number cruncher, there are 96 calories, 7.2g of sugar and 3.7g of fat per 100g bowl.)

The location, in Almas Tower (a bigger location is due soon, we’re told) serves acai bowls, Dh39, such as the Gym Junkie, with coconut water (what else?), mango, banana, vegan protein, twice-baked granola, coconut and seasonal fruit. Smoothies are Dh27, and juices Dh19.

Want something solid? The poke bowl (pretty much the hottest food trend, despite it being cold cubed fish with seasonings originating in Hawaii) is Dh50, or there’s a Dh20 avocado toast. Of course there’s avocado toast — this place is deeply hipster, with fancy coffee, sunshine-beachy interior design and an app that lets you order ahead of time.

The Dubai franchise is the brand’s first overseas venture; it’s open Saturday-Thursday, 6.30am-10pm, and Fridays 6.30am-8pm.