Shaghf Cafe | Fairfax — Restaurant in Merrifield

This recently opened café, located in Halstead Square, Fairfax, near the Mosaic District and Dunn Loring Station, offers a selection of Arabic coffee, desserts, and other beverages that we were excited to try. The ambiance is clean and inviting, featuring flowers, artificial plants, and modern decor. We particularly enjoyed the rich, creamy Pistachio and Mango Frappes.

While many popular cakes and the Dubai Chocolate were sold out during our visit, the owner kindly suggested the Shaghf Tart, their signature offering. This caramel-covered tart made with dates was distinctive, though we found it a bit sweet for our taste; however, it may appeal to those who enjoy a caramel and date combination.

One aspect to note was the speed of service, as our orders took longer to arrive than we had anticipated. This is an area where the café could potentially enhance the overall...

The space was very clean, but the overall experience was let down by a lack of direction and poor customer service. When we walked in, there was no signage or guidance, and the staff seemed to avoid acknowledging us altogether. It felt unwelcoming and I was left unsure of how to proceed until someone finally took our order. I ordered a salted caramel iced latte, which was extremely sweet, tasty, but lacking enough coffee flavor to create a better balance.

I also tried two desserts, the African pudding and a tart. The pudding was flavorful, but the to-go packaging was poorly thought out, they placed a scoop of ice cream directly on top in a regular box, so it melted quickly and made a mess. The tart, unfortunately, was hard and overly sticky, and I wouldn’t recommend it. While there were some good flavors, the disorganized service and packaging issues made the visit...

Went with my partner and I, she ordered the White Matcha Crack and it was not matacha at all. It was gritty and bitter and wasn't smooth at all. I ordered the Cinnamon Roll Latte, it was okay could have been more cinnamony but the Nutella Waffle was really good. Customer service was okay, waited for our order for a very long time, and was left sitting on counter and with no sticker no name. My cinnamon latte was right next to me the whole time and they didn't say anything, I overheard the manager saying to the barista "I just made that" even though it was sitring there for the past 10mins. The baristas need to speak louder when calling out the order, we could barely hear them. The only nice thing about this place is the aesthetics. Place is overhyped and was underwhelming and felt robbed. Sadly we will not be coming back after this...