New cafés Street9 and Delecto get reviewed and rated, plus your guide to the black dishes in the city that are putting rainbow coloured food in the shade

A new café in the heart of Al Forsan Village

street food has been a tour de force in Abu Dhabi the past year, thanks in part to the city’s obsession with food trucks. But a few more stationary outlets have also popped up all over the capital, including Street9, in the heart of Khalifa City.

It’s a welcoming location, with bright, light cream walls, black and white exposed brickwork and chequered floor, plus sand and dark grey coloured sofas

The menu is street food-influenced café fare but with a few twists. There’s a huge selection of coffees, smoothies and milkshakes, plus salads and appetisers such as nachos and stuffed mushrooms, a whole section devoted to French fries and mains such as gnocchi and a prawn curry.

To start, What’s On tried a portion of crispy chicken pop – deep fried chicken goujons with a buffalo sauce – and mac in a cone, a portion of mac ’n’ cheese served in an ice-cream cone. The chicken pop needs a little work. As well as the buffalo dressing, the chicken arrived smothered in a spicy sweet and sour sauce, an ingredient not mentioned on the menu. While not unpleasant, it made the chicken soggy as opposed to the described crispy and adding the buffalo dressing just baffled taste buds. A simple way to improve it would be to serve both on the side. The mac in a cone was much better. The pasta and cheese was covered in a creamy mushroom sauce and while the combo made the cone soggy, it was still fun devouring it in the same way you would an ice-cream. A side portion of fries, also covered in a creamy mushroom sauce, reminded us of a Canadian poutine and excelled – it was top draw comfort food. The main courses were also of a decent standard. A portion of gnocchi in a tomato sauce came with mint, parsley and mushrooms and cream cheese and curiously had an almost masala-like taste to it. Our other main, called Mama’s Prawn Curry, was once again served in a creamy mushroom sauce, and this is where déjà vu kicked in. Street9 really, really like a creamy mushroom sauce, so much so it was in three dishes we tried. The staff at Street9 are great (friendly and they know their menu) but a word of warning that we’d basically be experiencing the same taste in three dishes would have been welcome.

For dessert, that classic American treat a s’more made a welcome appearance – a warm portion of marshmallow, brownie and biscuit was nicely presented in a sea of chocolate sauce. Rich, but again, great comfort food. A Lotus pyramid dessert though split our party – you’ll love it if you’re a fan of the biscuit, but half of our group balked at its dry, crumbly texture.

Street9 has lots going for it: the staff are a delight, the food is generally good, and we like a menu that’s trying to be a different, even if some dishes need a little tweak.

Al Forsan Village, Khalifa City, Abu Dhabi, Sun to Wed 6.30am to 12.30am, Thur and Fri 6.30am to 1.30am. Tel: (02) 3048103. Taxi: Al Forsan Village Spinneys