Comptoir 102: A Vegan & Meat Friendly Concept Store With An Organic Café For Healthy Diners…

Nestled in the corner of Jumeirah Beach road among houses and retail stores, Comptoir 102 is a unique concept store and a fancy vegan café hub for postmodern lifestyle liberals and vegan consumers.

The exterior looks like a 1970s Californian bay side villa with intricate beads and a bamboo hammock near the entrance. As we enter, we get a fresh scent of burnt vanilla candles and the interiors look like a yoga guru’s aesthetic paradise. Everything is made of light wood and the seating arrangements are super soft and cosy with earthy undertones and shelves neatly are arranged on the wall to hold extra utensils and lifestyle products for day to day use.

We find an area that sells strictly vegan beauty products, clothes, jewellery and homewares before turning right to enter a spot with light wooden dining tables and chairs where we will have our lunch. On the left side of the entrance, there’s an open fridge that serves vegan snacks. As we browsed the menu, we were intrigued – it’s a very interesting menu and we couldn’t wait to try it.

The menu offered a large variety of food and drinks to choose from, but there was also an additional specials list on a blackboard opposite us. We were seriously impressed as most vegan restaurants do not offer such a large variety of food that is strictly dairy-free, avoiding certain plants.

Comptoir 102 has become a favourite for healthy eating. The philosophy behind the café is to offer a more conscious and healthy lifestyle by bringing more sustainable and nutritious food to its guests, in harmony with our body, our souls and our environment. The Café sources ingredients from local organic farms, which allows keeping the highest standards of quality. The sugar-free and dairy-free, with raw, vegan and gluten-free options menu, changes daily according to harvest, just like at home! The aim is not only to serve better-tasting food but also more nutritious and natural food for the body. The famous smoothies and juices are all vitamin-packed, using locally sourced fruits and vegetables, organic superfoods and homemade nut milk.

We were served a vegan bullet coffee shake and a strawberry shake. Both of them tasted extremely healthy and yet delicious. The coffee shake consisted of almond milk, crushed cashews, saffron and a few other herbs making it taste like a wholesome vegan drink.

We were treated to a delicious bowl of acai soup, avocado bowl, a vegan burger and vegan lasagna. The vegan lasagna was packed with healthy pumpkin and other fresh leafy ingredients with a homemade cream sauce. Not the best but still nice. Our most favourite was the Vegan Burger served with sweet potato fries that tasted like sweet coconut. The vegan patty was super tasty and had a mix of different mashed vegetables to conjoin into a vegan friendly ‘meat.’

After our main course, we were served a cashew cheesecake topped with a blueberry homemade condiment. Unlike your regular cheesecake, it tasted like cashew milk with a taste of warm saffron. Extremely delicious! We can also recommend the chocolate pot mousse which tasted like Nutella’s vegan best friend with real cacao and cashew butter combined to give you a taste of chocolate mud in a bite. It was very original in presentation and its edible craft, a taste not to be found anywhere in the UAE.

Our Final Verdict: We highly recommend this place to all Keto diet lovers and vegans who are looking for an outside eatery in a common healthy hub.