Time to hit the pause button…

If you’re on the lookout for a cafe that offers up tranquillity paired with great food and positive vibes, head to plant-based cafe Seva in Jumeirah 1.

Previously known as ‘Life‘n One’, the cafe rebranded in March this year to ‘Seva‘ – an ancient Sanskrit word meaning ‘selfless service for the betterment of the community’.

After a hectic week at the office, we decided that a visit to the mantra-infused garden for a late lunch was exactly what we needed.

Seva outdoors

We chose to sit outdoors in the garden at a low table where we sat on pillows under a canopy surrounded by greenery. Soothing soft music flowed through the garden, which paired perfectly with chirping birds and the cool Dubai winter weather. Should you choose to sit indoors, the ambience is equally peaceful. The cafe even offers up books for guests to read, making it the perfect escapism for bookworms.

With the table sanitized, we scanned the food menu handed over to us and had several dishes stand out.

Seva conscious nachos

For starters, we decided to share the ‘conscious nachos’. The crisp blue and yellow corn nachos came with a delicious melted plant-based cheddar cheese, which tasted just like the real deal and didn’t have us mentally calculating how many calories it had packed in it. 

For our mains, we picked arepas, which is a Venezuelan cornbread packed with South American flavours. It included pulled plantain skin that mimicked beef, vegan mayo and salsa, making for a tasty, filling dish.

For drinks, I decided on a mango lassi smoothie and Sarah sipped an anti-inflammatory tonic packed with turmeric, ginger, lemon and pineapple skin. 

The lassie is prepared with alkaline water, coconut meat, mango, ginger, turmeric and saffron – a delicious and refreshing combination. It was a tad too thick to enjoy when first served but was perfectly refreshing after it thinned out.

For dessert, we were tempted by our waitress to try the cookie dough – a wicked, dense combination of oats, cacao, peanuts and dates. Even though I am not a fan of peanuts, the dessert had me going back for more.

What we absolutely loved most is that we didn’t reach for our phones every few minutes, aside from the occasional photo for the ‘Gram. The vibe invited us to slow down and the serene outdoor setting had us shutting our eyes every so often to take in a few minutes of silence. In a city as non-stop as Dubai, Seva is the pocket of calm we all need.

Images: What’s On/Seva