Dubai Cafes: Tom & Serg – A good place for brunch

In spite of the rather odd location among furniture outlets and hardware stores in Al Quoz, Tom & Serg keeps attracting a large crowd of dedicated brunchers.

The people behind Tom & Serg is a chef from Melbourne (Tom) and a businessman from Madrid (Sergio) and the original ambition was to create a place with good food and great coffee, which I think you would agree that they’ve succeeded in doing.

The food is traditional café food plus a couple of fusion items and some plant based options. Portions aren’t the biggest in Dubai, but the good thing about that is that there’s more room for dessert.

The acoustics aren’t optimal, and especially downstairs, in can be a bit noisy. The tables upstairs are better, but they’re also the most popular.

I’m not much of a coffee drinker (I only drink coffee with lots of stuff added), but people seem to like the coffee, which comes in a number of different styles. I always order the salted caramel milkshake, which is really good.

Tom & Serg is located between two metro stations and the stretch of road leading to the café isn’t exactly pedestrian friendly, so the easiest way to get to Tom & Serg is by taxi. Tell the driver to look for Ace Hardware Store, as Tom & Serg is just around the corner from that. If you insist on taking the metro, the station closest to Tom & Serg is Noor Bank.

The signage outside the cafe is easy to miss, but I’ve marked out the location quite exact on the map below, and it’s the only café of that size in the area.

•  Friday and Saturday there’s sometimes a wait to get a table, but the floor space is enormous, and the line moves fast.

•  House water is free. Just pick up a bottle at the water station.

•  Expect to spend around 100AED for a full brunch with an egg dish, a cup of coffee and dessert.

Tom & Serg, Al-Joud Center (near ACE Hardware on Sheikh Zayed Road), Al Quoz, Dubai