THE NEIGHBOURHOOD


Wild and the moon is located in an old industrial complex that over time has transformed into one of the trendiest hubs in Dubai; Alserkal Avenue. The area in which it’s located, Al Quoz, is still an industrial area with production going on but Alserkal Avenue has become a haven for the arts. All around the cafe this article is all about you can find art galleries and during art week this place is full of curious and/or savvy, and very stylish, people.

The area has a very different vibe to other parts of Dubai due to the artsy flare as well as being located within this very sandy, asphalt heavy industrial area. It is definitely much more cutting edge even though you can see that a lot of money has gone into this area making it what it is, which is not that different from Dubai at large.

Apart from the galleries you can also find more fringe businesses here. For example Rob and I visited the local chocolate makers Mirzam which you can see in this vlog. There are also a few well curated smaller shops and cafes in the area, Wild and the moon being one of them. I do think it is due to the more progressive bohemian (a la Dubai, i.e. with money, not as we typically know it in Europe) air of Al Quoz and Alserkal Avenue this vegan place can flourish.



THE SPACE


The team at wild and the moon have made a luscious green haven right in the middle of an asphalt jungle and I’m in love. There are more macrame plant hangers in that place than at a trendy grandma’s house in the 70s and for that I love them even more. It’s a perfect minimalism meets bohemia interior that I can’t deny. It is beautiful and if I lived here full time and worked from home this place would be my home.

To match the area it does have an industrial touch with the warehouse like high ceiling and simple white walls. Those very trendy metal type chairs adds to this as well but like I’ve already raved about they bring it all to life so beautifully with all the green plants. It gives the place a very clean and serene atmosphere and the fact that the area at large is quite quiet makes the place perfect for doing some work on your laptop. The fact that there are a billion different seating options also add to the accessibility of this place; there are bar type counters with high stools, tables for two, a long communal table, more group friendly tables up on the loft, a cosy corner with a pillow filled bench and even outdoor seating surrounded by a beautiful kind of long grass. The seating possibilities are endless and exciting. Sorry for being a nerd.

What’s more is that they actually sell some products in the store which always make for lovely decor as well. You’ll find various powder ingredients for sale that they also use in their hot drinks and smoothies such as powdered medicinal mushrooms, spirulina and more. These types of things can be tricky to find in Dubai so this is great if you’re generic cialis online into those kinds of things. And you can even get your own wild and the moon tote bag if you need something to carry all your goodies home.



THE FOOD


Wild and the moon is a mainly vegan place (except for a couple of hot drinks containing ghee, and may I add: why!?) that serves wholesome fresh food. The menu items are centred around whole foods and you find lots of buddha bowls on display for easy grab and go or to eat in. They also serve a hot dish and a soup varying from day to day. When we visited there was a dhal with aubergine that sounded delicious but as it was very hot we decided to go for the bowl option.

The bowls are very fresh and you can see that there’s quite a quick turn over with people coming in for take aways throughout the lunch time. Each bowl seemed to be centred around a grain and the two we had were delicious. The quinoa bowl had some sort of creamy dressing on the quinoa, kale, nori, carrot, avocado and sesame seeds. And the Beirut bowl, which was a special for that day, had brown rice which again was dressed in a tangy lemon creamy dressing with parsley, cucumber, tomato, pomegranate as well as roasted courgette and aubergine. I couldn’t recommend these dishes more, I thoroughly enjoyed the flavour combinations and I wish I could tell you how they dressed the grains because it really elevated the bowls from good to great. I’ll try to work on some recipes utilising their tehnique to share with you, until I have something new my spring fling rice bowl comes pretty close.

In terms of drinks you have infinite options at this cafe with a wide variety of cold pressed juices, nut milks, smoothies, ‘superfood’ lattes and coffee based drinks. The brand started out as a juice bar and delivery service and therefore you can try a variety of unique concoctions ready for you to grab from the fridge. We enjoyed smoothies on our visit and the best one was Rob’s coffee and date blend. I’d love to go back and delve into their hot drinks menu however because I’m sure their turmeric latte would be awesome.

For dessert there’s a selection of raw cakes. We loved our lemon slice with beautifully vibrant green slivers of pistachios but the chocolate pudding looked yummy too. You could also grab a snack bar to go from the counter. Or some of their other goodies like cluster granola or flax crackers.

All in all I’m happy to say that the food at wild and the moon is the best wholesome vegan food Dubai has to offer. It’s fresh and it’s delicious and you can enjoy it in a flawlessly chic and chilled environment. That’s a win, win, win, win if you ask me. If you’re ever in Dubai check it out and enjoy! x

 

Wild and the Moon

Every day 8 am until 7 pm

Street 8, Unit H77, Alserkal Avenue

Al Quoz 1, Dubai