Cakes at the Limetree Cafe, Dubai

Dubai Marina looking spectacular in April sunshine.

It is a ritual of sorts, that whenever I return to Dubai I must, at some point, with someone, go to Limetree Cafe.

Limetree Cafe epitomises exactly what I love about kitschy cafes; the food is incredible: wholesome, organic and uniquely flavoursome - there are combinations of food here that you're unlikely to find anywhere else. The portions are generous, the staff are friendly (although a little slow), the cafes are always humming with activity, and each cafe has a section dedicated to Limetree produce.

Limetree has stormed to success in the UAE, but is yet to set internationalise its foody paw-prints. This I quite like about Limetree, as it's always nice to have eateries that you associate with a particular place or moment in your life, rather than the global chains which, in my opinion, have nothing particularly unique about them.

On this occasion, my friend and I visited the Ibn Battuta Limetree branch. Given we were both harbouring an insatiable sweet tooth, we didn't need to confer with each other to know that we would be straight onto the cake.

The slices of cake at Limetree are enormous, and choosing from a wide range of the freshly baked goods is always heartbreaking. The Triple Chocolate Brownie (around 30 dhs) is my absolute favourite - a chunk of gooey, chocolate goodness, warmed through so the chunks of white, dark and milk chocolate are soft, on the cusp of melting, and often served with a dollop of vanilla ice-cream on the side.

But we decided to be more adventurous, so I opted for the key lime coconut cake (28 dhs) and my friend for the Orange and Chunky Chocolate Cake (25 dhs).

It was the first time I had tried key lime cake, and unfortunately for me, I found it far too sickly sweet. Although the cake was soft and the lime wonderfully tangy, after the first couple of mouthfuls the sweetness was so overbearing I struggled to keep eating. I did finish the cake - waste not, want not - but the combination of an incredibly sweet cake, and the sheer quantity of it, left me feeling rather ill.

My friend's cake was served warmed through with a bowl of vanilla ice cream. Surprisingly, I found the cake quite bland, which is unusual for Limetree, whose food is normally bursting with flavour. Despite lacking in taste, the cake had a perfectly soft texture and the ice cream complemented it.

Compared to other Limetree cakes I've tried, these two didn't quite make it up there in the rankings. Still, and far as cakes go, they were yummy and to those who haven't yet sampled some of Limetree's food, it's well worth a trip!