An Italian Aussie in Dubai Mall - Dubai

So Tim might have got the job offer of a life time, and yes, it's hot and sunny here year round, we pay no taxes and I can spend hours by the pool, but the real reason we have come to live here in Dubai is the heavenly ice creams and cakes at Brunetti's.

Being Swedish, having coffee and cake is a very, if not the most, important part of the day. We call it 'fika' and to 'fika' generally consists of taking a break from whatever you're doing to have coffee and a piece of cake. In companies in Sweden people would be up in arms if the 'fika paus' was abandoned. At about 10am and 3pm Sweden comes to a halt when it's workforce leave their computers, abandon meetings and conference calls to head to the 'fika' room (yes there is a specific room for this) and happily tuck in to whatever cake a colleague has baked or bought along with a couple of cups of coffee. Across Sweden you will find endless cafes with delicious cakes, a few classics are Princess Cake (prinsesstårta), Vanilla Heart (vaniljhjärta) and Cinnamon buns (kanelbullar).

Brunetti's was the first place Tim and I went to in Dubai on our 48 hour stay here in October last year, and despite it's location in the larges mall in Dubai and next to a rather hideous 'Candylicious' shop and a huge fish tank (what is it with Dubai and aquariums!?) where you are constantly watched by the manta rays, it is a lovely place for coffee and cake. It may sound and look very Italian but this establishment originates from Australian. The chain of cafes only has one branch outside Melbourne and this happens to be in our local mall, the Dubai Mall. However, the founder, Mr. Giorgio Angelé allegedly began his training in Rome aged 10. In 1956, Giorgio came to Australia with the Italian Olympic team as a pastry chef. After working for a few years, Giorgio was then given the opportunity to migrate to Australia permanently and set up Brunetti's.

Their Gelateria offers around 25 flavours of ice cream all made using fresh fruit and natural ingredients.

Mango and Green Apple ice cream at Brunetti's

I don't exactly know what is in this ice cream but something makes it far more smooth but still 'icy' than normal ice cream. I went for two scoops, one of the amazingly smooth mango, and on of a slightly artifically tasting green apple. Tim decided on dark chocolate and strawberry and we quickly decided that mango and dark chocolate is by far the best combination.

Brunetti's cake selection is conveniently divided in two parts, normal sized cakes such as lemon meringue, strawberry tarts and lemon mousse etc on the left hand side of the rather huge counter, and then a tiny bite sized version of the same cakes on the right. In between is the ice cream and also lovely looking chocolates. Having tried most of the bite sized versions I am getting ready to tackle the full sized cakes next, and maybe get some chocolates to take away...

http://www.brunetti.com.au/Default.aspx