I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before… sometimes when I’m on route to places, I’ll search the area for coffee or restaurants to try along the way. I had to pick something up for work one morning and checked what coffee shop was around in the area that was a. open and b. I hadn’t tried before. That’s when I found Jabal.
The Parking: I realized I’d been in the shopping center before. Either I didn’t notice them, or they hadn’t opened yet. It’s a big, busy shopping center. Driving in the shopping center definitely gives me a bit of anxiety. But there is plenty of parking. Jabal itself has a small section, but more than enough spots. And if they are especially busy, you can park in the larger lot by the stores and do a quick walk over.
The Atmosphere: This place is big. For a coffee shop in Orlando, the amount of space is rather impressive. It felt like stepping into a place in Dubai. Clean and chic, with an air of upscale. I was in early, but it was just me and an older couple. The location isn’t one I’d choose, but given the space, it’s a great place to work or study. The one off-putting thing was that there appeared to be a full-glass office room right in the middle, by the coffee bar. He may have been the manager, ended up being the one who made my drink, but he was sitting in it when I walked in.
I’ll add that there was no main menu or personal menus to look at. There was just an iPad that you yourself went through to order. In that case, I’d rather there be kiosk stations, versus people lined up at the register to individually put in their orders on a screen. You would have to wait in line. Then get up to a screen, even though there is a person there, scroll through to see what you want, and then put in an order. I don’t know if all the food items were even on the digital menu. If it were busy, it wouldn’t be a great experience.
The Coffee: I went for the pistachio latte. No surprise there. I want to say the Yemeni beans that this coffee house franchise specializes in have the depth that I need out of a latte. I can’t do the milk-forward lattes. This had a nice balance. I want to say that on top of the pistachio syrup, there was some pistachio spread at the bottom. Pistachio spread is delicious! It gave it that extra nutty flavor and an extra touch of sweetness. I did ask for it less sweet, which you couldn’t indicate on the app. The server/manager told me it usually came with 3 pumps, and I went down to 2. It was a touch sweeter than I would have liked, but otherwise a delicious latte.
This is a spot where, if I happened to be in the area, I would drop by again. Or if I needed a spot to take meetings and have some space away from home or the office. I’ve heard of a couple Haraz Coffee Houses popping up as well. I’m curious how that Yemeni-style coffee shop stacks up against this one.
Rating: 8.2/10
Address: 8335 S John Young Pkwy, Orlando, FL 32819
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