Eat Drink KL: Le Pain Quotidien @ Mall of the Emirates, Dubai

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Le Pain Quotidien @ Mall of the Emirates, Dubai

Founded in Brussels nearly 25 years ago, the Le Pain Quotidien brand of bakery-restaurants has spread across the globe, from New York to London, Mexico City to Mumbai to Moscow, Istanbul to Tokyo to Sydney. Its outpost in Dubai's Mall of the Emirates is a fiercely popular lunchtime spot; if you succeed in securing a table, you'll be fast rewarded as a friendly server comes around with complimentary bread & a sampling of spreads, from speculoos cookie butter to sun-dried tomato paste. 

With a menu this extensive, there are bound to be both hits & misses - we'd ecstatically endorse the thick, steaming-hot lentil soup & the creamy, chilled chia seed porridge with oranges, yoghurt & honey, as well as the tartine topped with grilled shrimp, guacamole & parmesan. The Angler Brunch surfaces as a satisfyingly hearty platter of smoked salmon & soft-boiled egg with with croissant, baguette & granola parfait, while the scrambled organic eggs come spiced with harissa, capsicum & tomatoes. Pumpkin soup proves encouragingly well-tuned in both taste & texture, while salmon is paired with quinoa risotto that's pretty punchy in flavour. We'd probably skip the lacklustre beef bourguignon though, & we'd certainly shun the sourish hummus.

Surprisingly, most of the desserts we sampled were disappointing - the mixed berries tart, chocolate eclair, oatmeal-banana cake & cream mille-feuille all tasted either past their prime or poorly stored. The only one we liked was the plum-quinoa tart. Coffee is available, but for something more interesting, go for the hot saffron tea.

Le Pain Quotidien
Mall of the Emirates, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

The Eat Drink KL mobile app is now available, connecting restaurants & customers to promote a positive spirit of community.
Every restaurant on this app rewards users with a 6 percent discount, instantly & conveniently, everyday, all day long. 
In return, users share photos of their experiences at these eateries, creating a new community of restaurant lovers.
For every transaction, at least RM0.20 will be channelled to a charity of the month.

Stay up to date: The Eat Drink KL newsletter is sent by email to subscribers every Monday; it's the Klang Valley's foremost weekly round-up of new restaurant openings, F&B promotions & other tasty tidbits.
Subscribe to Eat Drink KL Weekly for free via this following link: 
Note to subscribers on Gmail: The newsletter will be in the Promotions folder of your inbox.

Check out the latest edition of Eat Drink KL: 100 Favourites, with 100 recommended restaurants for May-August 2015. This eBook is available to read or download at this link: http://eatdrinkkl.cld.bz/2015 

Buckle your seatbelts: Eat Drink KL is partnering with Uber to take restaurant lovers on new adventures across KL & Selangor!
If you haven't used Uber yet, it's time to begin! For new users, just follow the steps below to redeem free rides:
1. Download the Uber app from the App Store, Play Store or Windows Store - and register your Uber account.
2. Apply the code EATDRINKKL as your first promotional code & you'll receive 2 Free Rides worth RM30 each.
3. Request a ride through the app and ride for free to any destination (with two ride values of up to RM30 each).