A peek into the treasure chest | Tidjoori Vegan Café

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Last week, we were invited to a pre-opening tasting session at Tidjoori in Dubai Marina along with a small group of food bloggers and health enthusiasts.

Tidjoori, which has since opened, is a cute little bio organic vegan café with a terrace that overlooks the tennis courts of Le Royal Meridian Beach Resort and Spa.

The name Tidjoori is a literal translation of the word “treasure chest,” probably intended as a representation of the kind of food on offer at the restaurant, which is not so commonly available in Dubai yet. The restaurant also sells their own Tidjoori brand products including mock meats, veggie burgers, vegan mayo (mayola), and tofu butter, among others.

The interior of the restaurant has a natural feel to it, with an open plan kitchen and one entire wall covered in greenery - definitely a vegan, not to mention “grassy” touch, which we loved! 

The tasting menu we were served was as follows:

Having been vegetarian my entire life, meat isn’t something I miss or crave so I personally wouldn’t have opted for the mock meat dishes. That said, they would definitely be a hit for those who have recently turned vegan or vegetarian and specifically crave that meaty flavour or texture.

Mock meat aside, my favourite savoury dishes from the tasting were the pea soup, the autumn pizza and the risotto, which I would most certainly go back for.  The pea soup had the perfect texture, and of course had no added cream, which allowed the actual flavour of the peas to shine through deliciously. The autumn pizza had the perfect balance – the aubergine and balsamic reduction gave a mild sweetness to the savoury base, and the kale had a lovely baked crunch to it. The lemon and turmeric risotto was a great combination of texture and flavour, and the use of vegan butter made it sufficiently rich. The spinach and aubergine puree served with the risotto pleasantly complimented the dish.

I had always wondered what avocado would taste like in a smoothie and I absolutely loved it in Tidjoori’s soy, mango and avocado blend– definitely something I would order as a breakfast smoothie on another occasion. I sampled just a little bit and even though I was tempted to polish it off, I opted to leave some room for dessert instead, and it’s a good thing I did!

The chocolate ganache cake with dried cranberry was by far my favourite part of the meal – I don’t think I have ever tasted a dairy free AND eggless cake that good before. This one was bound together using apple puree as a dairy alternative, which is what gave it that delicious rich moistness. I could hardly believe it was vegan!

I cant wait to go back and try some of the other new dishes and desserts. The avocado ice cream is definitely on my list for next time!

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