Sugar Daddy’s Bakery, Dubai (Almost American, but NOT Quite)
One thing I have consitently ranted about concerning Dubai’s food scene is the absolute lack of anything 
approaching a good dessert. With a few minor exceptions, Dubai is a vast dessert wasteland largely populated by pseudo British/European fare that falls flat at best. For my wife’s recent birthday, we gave Sugar Daddy’s a try. For the most part, we found their cupcakes much above the average you get here in the UAE, with the red velvet cupcake being our favorite. Having said that, the rave reviews from the Dubai press over this place are over-blown. It could simply not compete in a U.S. market where there are quality dessert outlets.
Should we discuss price? 12AED for a cupcake is quite a premium. The highest quality cupcake in the states would cost your a maximum of around two US dollars (appx. 7.5AED). At the end of the day, your are left wondering: ‘is the price worth it?’
To sum up, I am glad that Dubai is finally getting better desserts. However, true quality still eludes the Emirates when it comes to sweets.
Following is an excerpt from the most recent review of Sugar Daddy’s in The National:
Sugar Daddy’s Bakery was conceived and created by a Jordanian man living in New York City. He had the idea after sampling the cupcakes at Magnolia’s, the famous Manhattan bakery. Now, the cupcake craze has spread to Dubai. James Brennan asked the Dubai franchise owner Dana Jallad about her favourite cupcakes.
Sugar Daddy’s was born and bred here in the Middle East – what’s the history?
Fadi Jaber, aka Mr Sugar Daddy himself, decided to leave the corporate world behind and went to culinary school in New York. After going to Magnolia’s bakery and others like it in the States, he thought, “That’s it, that’s what I’m going to do”. So he went back to Jordan and created a local concept that offered all the American classics – cupcakes in all shapes, colours and flavours, layered cakes, cheesecakes, pies, cookies, brownies. It’s a full-range bakery.What can we expect from the Suggar Daddy’s experience?
It’s both eat-in and take away. You’ll be overwhelmed by the colours and the delicious, decadent things around you. The design is a little bit retro 1950s, but in a very modern way. It takes you somewhere else, actually. And you immediately think, with all these cases of cakes and pies everywhere, you’re back in New York somewhere, in one of those typical bakeries.Did you experience any difficulties setting up your franchise in the middle of the economic crisis?
We did open during that time, around the end of November, but so many people had such high expectations of us – they were waiting for the product for so long – that when our cupcakes finally arrived in Dubai they were going crazy for it…SOURCE
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Tags: Absolute Lack, Aka Mr, American Classics, Bakery, Culinary School In New York, Cupcakes, Dessert, Desserts, Food Scene, Franchise Owner, Jaber, Jallad, James Brennan, Magnolia, Magnolia Bakery, Minor Exceptions, Red Velvet, S Market, Sugar Daddy, Suggar Daddy, True Quality, Wasteland
wow, I really want to own a bakery hope it would be true someday.. I love baking and I want to share my works to other people..
perhaps you should try cakeuprising for some great cheesecake.
i agree the dessert options in the city are limited…very few will compare to the USA.
cakeuprising.webs.com