I visited the Dome Cafe in the Juffair section of Manama by myself on 2 October 2011. The Dome has a nice web site at http://www.domecoffees.com.au/.

I parked next to this inexplicable and gaping hole in the ground. Perhaps it’s a tourist trap?

The Dome is a chain. I didn’t find out until I was inside and thought, wow, this is a nice, cozy place. I bet it’s a chain. Pretty good, comprehensive menu.

Including a whole spread on how important their coffee is to the balance of the universe. Note that there’s nowhere on this menu where you can just say “gimme a coffee” and they know exactly what you mean.

Inside is a very nice and welcoming space. You could be here with a lot of friends. Not a lot of customers at this time of day.

This is a lonely breakfast. My first ever solo review, now that I think of it. Lucky for me, there’s lots of magazines to read. No car magazines, so I chose one with fashion models on the cover.

Look at this advertisement. “Sky Nanny?” What the helicopter is that? And why don’t I have two or three of them?

After all the fashion and coffee, it was time for pancakes. Lovely presentation on this, don’t you think?

Coffee and pancakes. Four and a half Dinars. Remember that number, we’ll come back to it in a moment.

When I filled up the tank, I found that it took about 4 Dinars to raise the needle from E to F. That’s right. A full tank of gas cost less than a simple breakfast at The Dome. Though I’ve got to admit, that doesn’t mean that The Dome is especially expensive.

My visit to The Dome was lonely without Marek and Ivo, but the people were friendly, the service was good, and the pancakes were reasonable. The coffee was boutique-good. And now I know that a wonderful thing called a Sky Nanny exists. Shame The Dome is a chain, but at least it’s an Aussie chain so I haven’t seen so many of them on Dale Mabry that I’m allergic.

After correcting for time zones, I’m pleased to give The Dome a Tampa Bay Breakfasts four pancake rating.