Food Blog | Cafe Isan Thai Streetfood & Tea Bar | JLT | Dubai
Really excited to share with you guys the Time Out “Best Thai” restaurant 2022, Cafe Isan at JLT! The food is super delicious and authentic - and a fairly reasonable price point (for a “best Thai” restaurant in a hotel).
Where It Is
Cafe Isan is located at Jumeirah Lake Towers Cluster P. It is in the Armada Bluebay Hotel, first floor (have to take a lift/staircase up). Parking is free (I believe - we parked for free at least) in this cluster for the first 3 hours, so this is a good place to get a quick & delicious bite.
Address: Cafe Isan - Armada Blue Bay Hotel -Cluster P - Jumeirah Lake Towers
Operating Hours:
Mon - CLOSED, Tues to Sun 12pm-midnight (ish)
- First come, first served. No bookings
- Strictly no children after 7 pm
What it Costs
My group of 3 ate for AED242.55 - although I would say that what we ordered is pretty small for 3 people to share.
We ordered the following:
Mussel Omelet (Hoi Tod) - AED44.10
Homemade Vegetable Spring Rolls - AED31.50
Classic Tom Yam - AED44.00
Panang Curry (Red) - AED46.20
Mango & Sticky Rice - AED36.75
Thai Iced Tea - 2 x AED20 = AED40.00
Total - AED242.55
How it Tastes
If you want a short summary of how the food tastes, delicious and authentic are the two precise words for me to describe the food.
I would say the two top Thai restaurants (authentic) I’ve tried soo far would be Cafe Isan and Sticky Rice, and this is still quite a bit ahead.
Starting off with the vegetarian spring rolls, the filling is nice, the pastry is decent, but I would say thiis is the one thing I wouldn’t give a ‘hard recommend’ for among what I tried.
For the mussel omelet, it is SUPER crispy, and I really mean that wholeheartedly. Normally I’m more used to the softer “Orh Jian” - Google it if you haven’t seen it before - but this variation is really tasty as well. There were one or two pieces of mussel that were a bit suspect, but otherwise, I actually found this to be a really good dish.
At first glance and taste, I actually thought the Tom Yam was the curry. I would say that their Tom Yam is definitely a bit more akin to curry than a Tom Yam - but you can definitely taste the Tom Yam element as you eat it. Really tasty regardless, but just keep in mind that it is more on the milky side.
When you see the curry, you will understand what I mean by the tom yam. This is a nice, creamy curry - although I think that the flavors could be a bit stronger.
I definitely think the mango sticky rice is worth an order. The sticky rice has a really nice sweetness and the mango is actually pretty nice as well (especially considering it isn’t really in season right now).
Star Rating
8.5/10. Super yummy Thai food at a fairly reasonable price (for the area). Even better if you drink, etc., and the ambiance is super authentic.