Review: Breakfast at Nette cafe inside Matcha Club

Healthy, wholesome, Asian-leaning food for shiny, happy people…

Leave it to a trendy café nestled between yoga studios and padel courts to build a wholesome menu. Nette has opened inside the beautiful grounds of Matcha Club in Al Quoz, and is the gorgeous new sister café to the What’s On Award-winning spot Cassette.

The outdoor courtyard at Nette is a real selling point. Alo-clad yogis are mingling pre- and post- classes; sweatband-ready padel players saunter past towards their courts; while spritely young families jostle for a nice booth in the shade. It’s alive and buzzing with shiny, happy people who probably prefer to spend Saturdays in savasana or smashing serves than attacking the brunch buffet.

Onto the food and straight off the bat you’ll notice that Nette leans towards Japanese ingredients – a nod, we assume, to the name of the wellness club it’s housed within. There’s a Japanese breakfast skillet with miso dressing (Dhs62) served with sweet potato, onion, shitake mushroom, ginger and kale. There’s a Japanese inspired avo toast (Dhs58), served on sourdough with baby rocket, yuzu, and roasted sesame seeds. Even the sandwiches and salads have a slight Asian twist – think, avo and seaweed salad sarnies and miso seared tuna salad bowls.

Those don’t exactly sound like your typical brekkie favourites but, judging by the empty plates heading back to the kitchen, they’re a hit among diners.

The miso Benedict (Dhs68) has all the components of a good Bene, plus a few extra ingredients that don’t detract from the good stuff: a hollandaise with a light whiff of miso, two poached eggs that ooze nicely over toasted sourdough, and a sprinkling of dried capers to give it a little salty boost. Meanwhile, our dining partner – a yogi, go figure – has been a fan of the strawberry Matcha acai bowl (Dhs56) since Nette opened. It’s packed with all that nutrient-dense purple goodness you’d hope for, plus banana, strawberry, blueberry, almond milk, flaxseed, and topped with homemade granola, and chia and sunflower seeds.

Do the satisfying dishes and vibe at Nette mean we’re changing our weekend ways in exchange for outdoor padel and overnight oats? No, it just suggests that there are alternatives, and very good ones at that.

Nette at Matcha Club, Al Quoz, daily 8am to 10pm. Tel: (0)4 548 8369. @nettedxb