Or more accurately, the five best cups of coffee. It’s a very personal thing, of course, as evidenced by the absence of chains like Starbucks (coffee comes as oversized, over-wet, and over-weak: but some people like it) and even Costa (generally up to the mark strength-wise, but a bit variable in terms of taste). Coffee tastes best when freshly made from freshly ground beans that start with decent flavour; the temperature of the water is critical to bringing out the taste; and service with a smile helps too. Here are our current preferences:

1.    THE one The upstairs café/restaurant at the Khalidiya store does an espresso or Americano with bags of taste.

2.    L e Brioche. Hidden away in the cluster of towers on the Corniche at the end of Khaleej al Arabi. A good, well-flavoured coffee (and a great breakfast too).

3.    Zyara Café. This place in the Madinat Zayed is basically an eatery, but does well as a genial near-Bohemian coffee bar.

4.    Café de la Paix. This is a chain, but one that works hard enough on its French branding to provide an excellent espresso a good, rounded flavour. We like the one in Marina Mall for shopping; there’s another near Marks & Spencer too.

5.    Idioms. Quite a hip place for Abu Dhabi, especially for light bites and early-evening eats. The coffee is pretty classy, and there’s wifi too. Very close to La Brioche.

This occasional series offers a personal view of life in Abu Dhabi in list form – five aspects of Abu Dhabi per list. Agreement or alterative suggestions to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

[Originally published in Abu Dhabi Week vol 2 issue23]