Dessert restaurants in Middle East
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Akbar Mashti Bastani
Akbar Mashti became famous for his ice cream in the 1950s and today his son continues to sell what he modestly describes as ‘the most famous ice cream in Iran and the world’. Try the pistachio bastani (IR7000) and you’ll probably agree.
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Greg Coffee
Decorated with kettles and jars of spices and coffee beans, Greg might remind you of your mom's kitchen back home. Aside from the homy feel, you get excellent coffee and brownies, while laptop users can access the free wi-fi.
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Babette
Waffles and coffee are the specialities of this popular student hang-out, which is just big enough to fit half a dozen standing patrons.
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Gérard's
As soon as you get a whiff of this sweet, hot and sticky place you'll be hooked. It's all about hot waffles, ice cream, shakes, crêpes, frozen yoghurt and iced coffees. Think Brad Pitt in Thelma and Louise - all bad but, oh, sooo good.
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LeNôtre Paris
Think chrome and blue-glass in this hip coffee shop that attracts busy professionals and be-seen sushi-eaters alike. If chocolate is your thing, there's plenty of wickedness in the designer desserts.
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Bekdach
A purveyor of scrumptious ice creams made with sahlab (like semolina powder). The generous servings of creamy ice cream are topped with crushed pistachio nuts. A souq shopping must.
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La Cucina
Eat with the angels at this elegant Italian restaurant under the Royal Beach hotel with its heavenly murals, mood lighting, smooth suede furniture and bougainvillea-draped terrace. Decoration aside, the food is very good, with highlights being the wonderfully thin pizzas and fresh pasta dishes. Deserts such as lemongrass consommé with passionfruit are a refreshing change and certainly worth saving room for.
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Dar Jdoudnah
Down the ramp from Manger Sq and to the left find a wide open bar in this old, stone textile factory and olive oil press. Have a meal or cappuccino with a slice of creamy layaly lubnan (a crustless pudding made from milk, semolina and cream with a touch of rose water). Keys on the wall symbolise the Palestinian return home, in keeping with the name of this place: our grandparents' house.
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Rafaat Hallab & Sons
This is the place to sample Tripoli's famous sweets. You're sure to come across a number of other branches all over town, dispensing, amongst other delights, gooey, sticky baklava, pistachio-topped asmaleyye, crunchy filo aash el-bulbul (nightingale's nests), and tea or coffee with which to wash them down.
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Mahroum's Sweets
Locals say this is the best place in town for baklava and all other honey-soaked delicacies; others raise their eyebrows at the sacrilege of making sugar-free halvah. Several places have the same name, but the original is the one on the corner of Paul IV and El-Bishara Sts nearest to the basilica.
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Café Lilou
This elegant balconied venue, with its velvet upholstery, wrought-iron banisters and polished wood floors, is reminiscent of a 19th-century Parisian brasserie. The Trio du Chef (around BD2) of pannacotta, chocolate brownie and peanut ice-cream is worth missing lunch for.
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Vitamin Sara
Come to this unpretentious juice-shop for Mashhad’s best maajun (IR12,000), a fabulous mush of crushed walnuts, pistachios, ice cream, cream, banana and honey, all whizzed through the orgasmatron to form one of Iran’s most spectacular desserts.
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Habibah
This legendary shop is your best bet for Middle Eastern sweets and pastries. Sweet tooths of all ages line up for honey-infused, pistachio-topped and filo-crusted variations on the region’s most famous desserts. There is another branch on Al-Malek Faisel St.
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Breadz
Serving a deliciously fresh selection of pastries, sandwiches and salads, as well as fresh fruit juices, tea and coffee, the outdoor terrace overlooking the Sharq marina makes this a pleasant spot for a snack. The decadent dessert bar is worth a look.
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Café Batteel
With a range of delicious freshly baked pastries, homemade ice creams and sorbets, and some innovative sandwiches, this café, set in a traditional Qatari house with Arabic cushions and barasti ceilings, is a firm favourite with residents.
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Le Notre
Fantastic views of the Kuwait Towers, a discerning buffet lunch, an exclusive chocolatier, and a landmark building of steel and glass, make this French café one of the chicest in town.
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Al-Baraka Sweets
Don’t miss out on the Arabic sweet shops, like Al-Baraka Sweets where you’ll find round trays of honey-drizzled pastries, some filled with local cheese, other with nuts and sugar.
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Al Afrah Cafeteria
Almost anytime you can pick up dessert at Al Afrah Cafeteria, an ornate, old-fashioned, marble-fronted café where locals line up for the sweets with sugar syrup.
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Delice Café
Catering to Gazans' taste for sweet stuff, this patisserie is always busy and it's a great place to stop for a quick pastry or two and a strong cup of black coffee.
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Al-Baidar
Covered cloisters in this exquisitely restored mansion are worth a stop, even for the special lemonade or a glass of beer. No baklava here. Apple pie, yes.
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Amiran Paludeh
This tiny place specialises in delicious paludeh, a type of sorbet made of rice flour, grated fruit and rose-water (IR1500 a bowl).
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Hani Ali
On a hot day, stop by Hani Ali, a sugar addict’s paradise of traditional sweets and delicious ice cream.
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Al-Motaz Sweets
Arabic pastry shop Al-MotazSweets is a must for those with a sweet tooth.
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Gelato Uno
On a hot day, stop by Gelato Uno behind the Hertz car-rental office.
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