• Special Café shut its three branches on Abu Dhabi Corniche in early 2017 Ravindranath K / The National
    Special Café shut its three branches on Abu Dhabi Corniche in early 2017 Ravindranath K / The National
  • The cafe was a popular spot among Emiratis and expats. Ravindranath K / The National
    The cafe was a popular spot among Emiratis and expats. Ravindranath K / The National
  • A spate of openings, often chains, in other cases hotels, left Special struggling to compete. Christopher Pike / The National
    A spate of openings, often chains, in other cases hotels, left Special struggling to compete. Christopher Pike / The National
  • The café was open 24 hours and catered to all ages and palates Pawan Singh / The National
    The café was open 24 hours and catered to all ages and palates Pawan Singh / The National
  • It was a very popular place for people to gather and watch football. Pawan Singh / The National
    It was a very popular place for people to gather and watch football. Pawan Singh / The National
  • The Special Café shuttered its three branches on the Abu Dhabi Corniche in 2017 and moved into the Al Bateen Marina area. Christopher Pike / The National
    The Special Café shuttered its three branches on the Abu Dhabi Corniche in 2017 and moved into the Al Bateen Marina area. Christopher Pike / The National

Timeframe: Abu Dhabi’s Special Cafés remembered

There was once three along the waterfront but they closed last year

John Dennehy
John Dennehy

March 22, 2018

  • English
  • Arabic

The charcoal embers are long dulled, the shisha men departed and overgrown bushes obscure the views of the Corniche. This photograph shows what remains of one of the Special Cafés in Abu Dhabi.

The site of the old Special Cafe on Abu Dhabi Corniche, close to Spinneys in Khalidiya. John Dennehy / The National
The site of the old Special Cafe on Abu Dhabi Corniche, close to Spinneys in Khalidiya. John Dennehy / The National

This spot, beside Spinneys supermarket in Khalidiya, was once a favourite hangout for a languid late-night shisha. The first opened at some point in the 1990s, and three of them once dotted the Corniche. For a time they were open 24 hours a day. But they closed suddenly last year and in their place, a new "Special Marine" opened in Bateen Marina.

The Special cafe in the Al Bateen Marina has a shisha cafe on the ground floor, a Lebanese fine-dining restaurant on the first floor and a live cooking Asian restaurant on the second floor. Christopher Pike / The National / April 5, 2017
The Special cafe in the Al Bateen Marina has a shisha cafe on the ground floor, a Lebanese fine-dining restaurant on the first floor and a live cooking Asian restaurant on the second floor. Christopher Pike / The National / April 5, 2017

The three Specials have sat dormant since. It's still unclear what's going to happen at the old sites, but hoardings have been erected in recent weeks and construction workers have been spotted there – another enduring sign of the relentless pace of change in the city.

________________

Read more:

It's 3am and Abu Dhabi is awake

________________

UAEAbu Dhabi