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Shaghf Cafe brings a touch of Dubai to El Cajon
A UAE enterprise has a passion for coffee and desserts, including Dubai chocolate
Cold coffee drinks and desserts at Shaghf Café
I've taken a couple swipes at what I perceived to be overly sweet food over the past couple weeks, so in the interest of proving I’m not a sugar-hating troll, I visited a shop where dessert is the point.
Technically, Shaghf Cafe is a coffee shop. Actually, it's part of a coffee chain based in United Arab Emirates, with outposts in New York, Texas, and Ontario. And apparently, it's new El Cajon location is the first in California.
Shaghf is the Arabic word for passion, and the gist of the company web site is that it embodies a passion for coffee-making and "the essence of Arab coffee culture." Which, to be fair, is one of the world's oldest coffee cultures. I can't read a lick of Arabic, but Shaghf's beautifully illustrated logo makes it clear that the Greek and Roman alphabets are blocky and unimaginative in comparison.
First California location of a UAE brand
What first drew me to the new cafe was the presentation of its cold coffee blends. Its lattes settle, unblended, so its coffee and creamy layers create. gradient colors within their artfully designed plastic cups. My Habibi Latte ($6.50) was flavored with vanilla and hazelnut: sweet and delicious.
Sweeter still, its frappes are served in can-shaped cups and even capped with pop-tops. I tried a pistachio frappe ($9.50), and it was so thick with sweet goodness that it almost drank like a milkshake.
Pistachio and ricotta cheese cake
However, my sugar tooth was not content with just beverages, and what I discovered is that Shaghf Cafe is an excellent dessert spot. It starts with what is currently very popular concept: Dubai chocolate. The largest city in UAE has given its name to this creation, in which the inside of the chocolate bar is filled with knafeh (crunchy phyllo dough shreds) and sweet pistachio cream. Not only does Shaghf make its own Dubai chocolate bars, but it models a variety of desserts on the concept.
A "sweetheart" mousse
For example, the Dubai croissant, stuffed with knafeh and drizzled with a combination of chocolate and pistachio cream. Or the Dubai strawberry, which turns strawberries and cream into something with a bit of chocolate pistachio crunch.
I also tried the "sweetheart" ($10) a sort of chocolate mousse wrapped in heart-shaped red coat with a cake in its base — a little like a small, reformatted pie, with satisfyingly chunky little candies surrounding its base. Even this riffed on the Dubai chocolate flair: a bright red outer layer gave way to contrasting chocolate within.
Inside the "Sweetheart"
And because I really do love sweet food, I followed that up with a beautifully layered pistachio-ricotta cake ($8) that looked a bit like a big baklava, but was decidedly less intense.
I wouldn't expect any other United Arab Emirate restaurants to open here any time soon, but if there had to be one, I'm grateful it serves coffee — and a world of appropriately sweet sweetness.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Shaghf Cafe brings a touch of Dubai to El Cajon
A UAE enterprise has a passion for coffee and desserts, including Dubai chocolate
Shaghf Cafe brings a touch of Dubai to El Cajon
A UAE enterprise has a passion for coffee and desserts, including Dubai chocolate
Cold coffee drinks and desserts at Shaghf Café
I've taken a couple swipes at what I perceived to be overly sweet food over the past couple weeks, so in the interest of proving I’m not a sugar-hating troll, I visited a shop where dessert is the point.
Technically, Shaghf Cafe is a coffee shop. Actually, it's part of a coffee chain based in United Arab Emirates, with outposts in New York, Texas, and Ontario. And apparently, it's new El Cajon location is the first in California.
Shaghf is the Arabic word for passion, and the gist of the company web site is that it embodies a passion for coffee-making and "the essence of Arab coffee culture." Which, to be fair, is one of the world's oldest coffee cultures. I can't read a lick of Arabic, but Shaghf's beautifully illustrated logo makes it clear that the Greek and Roman alphabets are blocky and unimaginative in comparison.
First California location of a UAE brand
What first drew me to the new cafe was the presentation of its cold coffee blends. Its lattes settle, unblended, so its coffee and creamy layers create. gradient colors within their artfully designed plastic cups. My Habibi Latte ($6.50) was flavored with vanilla and hazelnut: sweet and delicious.
Sweeter still, its frappes are served in can-shaped cups and even capped with pop-tops. I tried a pistachio frappe ($9.50), and it was so thick with sweet goodness that it almost drank like a milkshake.
Pistachio and ricotta cheese cake
However, my sugar tooth was not content with just beverages, and what I discovered is that Shaghf Cafe is an excellent dessert spot. It starts with what is currently very popular concept: Dubai chocolate. The largest city in UAE has given its name to this creation, in which the inside of the chocolate bar is filled with knafeh (crunchy phyllo dough shreds) and sweet pistachio cream. Not only does Shaghf make its own Dubai chocolate bars, but it models a variety of desserts on the concept.
A "sweetheart" mousse
For example, the Dubai croissant, stuffed with knafeh and drizzled with a combination of chocolate and pistachio cream. Or the Dubai strawberry, which turns strawberries and cream into something with a bit of chocolate pistachio crunch.
I also tried the "sweetheart" ($10) a sort of chocolate mousse wrapped in heart-shaped red coat with a cake in its base — a little like a small, reformatted pie, with satisfyingly chunky little candies surrounding its base. Even this riffed on the Dubai chocolate flair: a bright red outer layer gave way to contrasting chocolate within.
Inside the "Sweetheart"
And because I really do love sweet food, I followed that up with a beautifully layered pistachio-ricotta cake ($8) that looked a bit like a big baklava, but was decidedly less intense.
I wouldn't expect any other United Arab Emirate restaurants to open here any time soon, but if there had to be one, I'm grateful it serves coffee — and a world of appropriately sweet sweetness.