Café du Port

Crêpes, bowls and coffee by the marina

The counter at Café du Port runs to the daytime end of French seaside eating: crêpes, bowls, pastries and coffee, ordered without ceremony and eaten looking at the water. It sits at Pier Club in Dubai Marina, which is the setting the menu is written for, and the register is Riviera rather than Gulf spectacle. Come for breakfast or a light lunch. The kitchen is built for both and not for much beyond them.

A bright daytime room on the water

The room is bright and casual, pitched at the hours when the marina is at its easiest, with the waterside position doing most of the design work. It suits a slow breakfast as readily as a fast coffee, and the format stays relaxed either way. This is a daytime café rather than an evening destination, and it is better for it: the pace matches the hour instead of straining against it.

Order a crêpe, then a coffee

A crêpe is the most characteristic order, sweet or savoury depending on the hour, with the coffee after it rather than alongside. Bowls cover the lighter, later end of the morning, and the pastry case handles everything in between. Keep the order simple and take it outside if the season allows.