Elli's Cafe, Dubai: A long way to go for a good kosher meal - review

There’s only one drawback to Elli’s Café and Bakery – you’ll have to fly to Dubai to try it. But given the fact that Emirates and Fly Dubai are continuing to fly despite the war, Dubai is a good destination to get away to before it gets unbearably hot (although that ship may have already sailed).

Here’s what happened to me. I was flying back from Japan to Israel and a mechanical problem with the flight kept us on the ground in Tokyo for three hours, meaning I missed my connecting flight to Israel. My husband and I were starving, and then I remembered that since the last time I had been in Dubai, Elli Kriel, who also runs a catering company out of Abu Dhabi, had opened a café.

Elli’s Café and Bakery is in the Golden Mile Galleria mall, in the upscale Palm Jumeira area. The Golden Mile runs between hotels on one side and residences for expats on the other. Behind the mall is a large park and if it’s not too hot outside, you can eat on the terrace. Inside Elli’s Café is one of a series of restaurants on the entrance floor of the mall. There is no sign saying that it is kosher although she has certification from both the O-U and the EAKC (the Emirati Agency for Kosher Certification) which is run by the local Chabad.

The décor is light and airy with a pizza oven behind the counter and lots of plants in the room.

“We want to be a feel-good place for families regardless of whether they keep kosher or not,” Elli Kriel told me. “It is a beautiful environment with a relaxed Mediterranean feel and contemporary food that matches our environment.”

We started our meals with smoothies – I chose the berry blast (NIS 35) which had strawberries, blueberries, bananas and orange juice, while my husband went for the choco-peanut butter (NIS 40) which had banana, peanut butter, cocoa, cinnamon, maple syrup, chia seeds and almond milk. Both smoothies were delicious.

For appetizers, I was intrigued by the pesto arancini (NIS 55) which were three large balls of cheese and pesto fried and topped with mango salsa, accompanied by harissa aioli. We also tried the mushroom wedges, deep-fried mushrooms that were delicious.

Eating through force

By now we were getting full but we powered on. My husband chose the crusted sea bass (NIS 135) which was a baked sea bass with a lemon and parsley bread crust. I could only manage a bite or two but he polished it off. I chose the pizza ortolana (NIS 99), a pizza with lots of vegetables. Fresh from the oven, it was excellent.

A word about the portions and the menu. Both are huge. The menu ranges from breakfast puddings to fish to salads, and there is a separate vegan section. The portions are quite large, and we took most of the pizza on the plane with us.

“You have to try the Tunisian orange cake,” Elli had advised us. But alas, we were too full to manage dessert. I guess we’ll have to go back to Dubai soon.

Elli’s Place

Golden Mile Galleria, Palm Jumeireh

Hours: Sunday-Thursday 8 am to 11 pmFridays 8 am to 4 pmSaturday open after ShabbatKashrut: O-U and EAKC

The writer was a guest of the restaurant.