D'ORET PATISSERIE & CAFE

Finally, managed to upload some pics from Istanbul trip. This is where we had our very first breakfast in Istanbul. We stayed at a lovely apartment in Cihangir (promise, more on this later!) that's only a two minute walk away from d'Oret Pâtisserie & Café. Runs by two lovely girls, it is cutely located at the left end of rows of apartments in Cihangir Caddesi, just a short walk up the hill from our place. We woke up that morning really hungry, not knowing what to expect in the surrounding and in desperate need of coffee. I can get really cranky in the morning without caffeine, like everybody else :P

Ambience of the cafe is really laid-back. I could imagine myself coming back here with an empty tummy and a good book. Loving the bits and pieces of furniture and accessories here...especially the "stamped" timber flooring and that long console table in turquoise.

As I mentioned earlier, this patisserie is run by two lovely girls. One of the girls helped us to understand the breakfast selections because I had suspicions of why the traditional breakfast menu for 1 person had such loooong description and since we were really hungry, we just wanted to make sure if we should order one or two traditional breakfast. And then it came...small plate by small plate filling up our entire table. It's what I could only describe as a feast of happiness in the morning! I've never had such elaborate breakfast before, I mean like these entire items are indeed meant for one person's first meal of the day.

Had to ask like 3 times just to make sure that the sliced meat weren't pork and made sure she understood what I was enquiring, she was surprised when I asked and said "No, no, no!"

Fresh cherry tomates and cucumber in olive oil goodness with herbs

Peanut butter, Nutella, sundried tomato paste, sugar frosting, name whatever spread you want..but I am in LOVE with this marmalade-cream cheese spread!

 Boiled to perfection

Mom and I just pointed whatever we saw in the cookie jars and stands...all too tempting!! Here are the crescent moon shaped apple pies, nut cookies (reminded me of polvoron), and savory sesame seed ring shaped cookies

Coffee was surprisingly good (or maybe it's just the Turkish coffee in general) Hmmm,cappuccino!

 A novel.....not

Ta-da! Another cute bill holder!

Other than the photos above we also had Borek and some other pastries...all very lovely. Verdict? I would definitely come back in a jiffy. With better Turkish, of course. Or at least a better dictionary ;)

d'Oret Patisserie & Cafe

Cihangir Cad. No 1/A | Cihangir, Beyoğlu

Istanbul, Turkey

SHAKESPEARE AND CO.

When you're in Abu Dhabi's The Souk Central Market be sure to stop by this cute cafe called Shakespeare and Co. Cafe & Restaurant! It was recommended by the then-groom-to-be few nights before when we stopped by on our way for fitting his suit. He told me that every piece of the furniture in the space is related Shakespeare's stories. I didn't pay too much attention to this when I was eating there because we were rushing like mad to catch our bus to Dubai (I could only describe the process of eating as shoveling food to our face). So when you stop by, do lemme know what's the story behind the furniture :)

The space is located at one of the corner of Central Market, on the side area (okay, that's vague enough). But surely you won't miss it because their shabby chic Victorian chairs will definitely catch your attention. One could say that the interior is such an eye-sore or eye-candy because there's too much to see in every inch of the cafe. I figured most of the customers must be female although I spotted some guys in kendouras and keffiyeh sipping coffee outside. Interesting view :P

 They have branches in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Al Ain and RAK

 Cozy sofa setting reminds me of the familiar FRIENDS' Central Perk cafe

 This one especially...I really could imagine Ross, Monica and the rest of the gang would walk into the space at any second and hang out here!

 A superbly ornate corner

 Did I mention this place is very ornate?

 Mocha. The symbol of my loyalty to Melbourne memories haha. It was nice, the right amount of bitersweet. Mom's cappuccino was also nice too.

 Complimentary butter cookies

Halal eggs benedicts. Loved everything in this dish except the hollandaise sauce which was a bit too runny for my liking.

Mango lassi and Love potion

 And your bill comes in this cute folder!

 Oh yes, of course they made it to Time Out Abu Dhabi!

 Some of their cakes selections

 Managed to save something for the trip to Dubai...

 ....which was totally forgotten along the way and I ended up eating these on the evening.

 Caramel, pistachio, chocolate, rose and vanilla

The rose macaron was a bit dry while the rest were still okay. I'm not sure what LuxBite has done to me, but I still found their macarons to be the best that I've tried haha

THE GRAND MOSQUE

One of  Sheikh Zayed Mosque's dome in the female ablution room

So the elaborate planning that I mentioned last time was the entire trip to Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Istanbul. The main point of our UAE trip was to attend the wedding of a couple, two dear friends of mine. We spent five days in Abu Dhabi, where I met the then-groom-to-be before we head out to Dubai for the Mehendi and wedding celebration. It was super warm at 38C when we arrived at midnight, so imagine the blazing heat during the day. Z has warned us about the heat and I was still in shock anyway during the first direct contact with the temperature.

Anyway, as it is one of the prominent examples of contemporary Islamic architecture in the UAE, we definitely couldn't miss visiting Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and in fact dedicated an entire morning to spend in the mosque. I haven't been to Makkah/Madinah (just yet) and I know the feeling was probably nothing to compare about, but that feeling of praying inside this mosque...just...Masha Allah!

My friend told me that what we see today is only 25% of the initial plan. Had it been completed, then truly a grand display of opulence it would be!

Bright lights lit up the mosque, made tourists like me go "ooh-aah!"

Those are 24K gold at the the top of each dome and minaret

Loving all the details!!

Colorful marbles from 10 different countries, cut in vine-y floral pattern

With 7 Swarovski chandeliers in total, this one's the biggest weighing 9.5tons!

The mosque can cater up to 40,000 prayers at once and it is open for visit to non-Muslim visitors too. And upon arrival, we can borrow headscarf and abaya for free (refer to the mosque manners/dress code from the photo below). Have to bare in mind to keep the head covered at all times inside the mosque. I joined the free one-hour tour that's available at 10am, 11am, and 5pm and got fully informed with the magnificent facts about the mosque. The tour starts from the entrance and finishes at the main praying room which is used for Eid prayers and taraweeh (yup, the one with the extravagant chandelier in the middle).

That's it for now. More Dubai and Istanbul posts soon!

RAMADAN KAREEM!

It's been over a month since the last time I posted. Time has passed by too quickly sometimes I wished there's a pause button somewhere (look where we are, it's already Ramadan again :)

What I've been up to? I just came back visiting some dear friends of mine. Will shortly update you guys (hopefully) after suhoor. Now, happy fasting to all Muslims in the world...may Allah make everything easy for us and bless us every step of the way :)

RAMADAN KAREEM!!!