Cafe James — Restaurant in Abu Dhabi

Updated review Sept 2025:

I’ve visited James approximately 10-12 times since my previous encounter and hands down, their coffee is amazing, each time. Their croissants are also delightful. Their food is also delicious.

But, after today’s visit, I will now absolutely refuse to bother spending my money at James if I see a particular server because I will not tolerate him anymore.

In the past year, I’ve been served by him approx 4 times including today - and enough is enough.

At approximately 11:40am, I approached the take away coffee counter and he was there. I don’t know his name but he is of African descent and has a slight accent (same guy from my 2024 review). Thankfully I could see he didn’t have an issue with just me but spoke to his colleagues poorly as well. Their dynamics could show strain between the two of them. I can just imagine what it would be like to work there. Ewww.

I truly do not know why he has such an attitude. When I approached he was busy doing something and glanced at me as if I was a beggar. I waited for him to finish what he was doing and instead of a warm greeting, he just raised his eyebrows at me as if to indicate “what?”

I’d say I have received the worst customer service by guy since living in the UAE.

I do not understand why a business would put someone like him front-of-house!

He is so off putting - he acts as if he owns the place and makes a paying customer feel like they should be grateful to be there. Just rethinking today makes me so annoyed!

Considering there is Cafe Nero, Starbucks, Kettle Corner, and Katrina’s within a stone’s throw, I cannot justify why I should give my money to Jame’s anymore to be treated like a second class citizen!

Coffee 5 stars Service 0 stars

Review from 2024: We came in on a Saturday as a family to dine-in and enjoy the breakfast food and coffees.

The food was outstanding. We ordered a variety of items. The coffees were, as usual, magnificent. Food - 5* Service - 1* Price - 3*

I’ve left a 1* overall because of the way the server made me feel from the moment I entered to the moment I paid the bill. As you can see from above, 1* isn’t a very fair overall rating but nor is it fair that I paid $$$$ to be dragged down in mood by their untrained/unprofessional server.

The service from one of the male waiters - who is African descent - was atrocious. He was dismissive, argumentative and outright unpleasant.

James, you need to do something about this staff member. He is ruining your otherwise good reputation for excellence.

Otherwise, ultimately, customers, who will pay good money for good food will go elsewhere. The reality is that there’s ample good food available in Abu Dhabi (Galleria for instance - which is close by) - James’ food is not that good to suffer being ignored/dismissed and a...

Overrated/overpriced. Good ambience, but looks like a typical "Instagrammable cafe" where you pay for the good lighting and "aesthetic" Service was poor. According to our receipt we were served by Danny. A waiter wasn't very attentive, we asked for the card machine he kept on pointing to the table QR code for us to pay our bill, that's not very accommodating when you're trying to sell the "hospitality" of your restaurant. He seemed pissed we were eating. Considering it was not very busy, couple of diners there, our food took about 30 minutes to get to our table. We were not the only people to complain about how slow the service was. Another table that ordered a salad... A SALAD took as long of a time as ours. The Filipino waiter asked if we wanted table bread, it took 15 minutes for it to be on our table. I don't get the Michelin distinction considering the service and food we got. The food my friend ordered didn't reflect correctly on our receipt and the waiter had to explain why... Shouldn't the receipt have been revised? There wasn't a lot of pasta options, only red sauced pasta? No white, no pesto even? Raviolini/raviolo not available? Food, typical, nothing worth...

Cafe James is a wonderful inviting neighbourhood bistro on Reem Island that I regularly pick up oat milk cappuccinos from using the drivu app (which is great btw) on my way to work. During one of my pickups - I met the lovely Bimala who successfully convinced me to make time for dine-in again as the menu has been refreshed. Due to my dietary restrictions (no gluten, refined sugar or dairy!) I hadn’t dined in at Cafe James in a long time. I enjoyed a fantastic breakfast the next day, the meatball shakshuka and detox fresh juice. I have to mention that bimala’s cheerful service made the experience a lot more enjoyable, she was very attentive to my restrictions, and even suggested I could watch my fresh juice being made right at the counter - which I did! Made by Timothy who offered me the choice of extra ginger for an extra kick in the juice. The modern but warm interior of Cafe James makes it a perfect place when working remotely, with the huge marble-like counter with electrical sockets for laptops, have a coffee and snack whilst working! Thank you again Bimala for the push to dine in again, looking forward to bringing friends along and trying the new...