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Brunch is a really big deal in Dubai.  It’s not the British idea of brunch either which is a mixture of breakfast and lunch… instead, it’s a massive buffet extravaganza with the whole thing oiled by unlimited drinks…..   All the big hotels host them and many of the restaurants and beach clubs.  Some are pretty party-party with the emphasis more on the munlimited alcohol than the food, some are a bit middle of the road.  We went – on recommendation – to one of the best, the Madinat Al Qasr hotel.  The hotel is the height of exotica, very Arabian Nights, with waterways running through lovely gardens and even it’s own atmospheric souk area.    website

The brunch started at 1230.  The hotel has three restaurants and their rooms are alll open and full of brunch stations linked by open air courtyards also full of food and drink offerings.  We were seated on one of the covered terraces and welcomed with a glass of champagne.  From that moment till 430, we had the run of the place.  Soooooooooooo much food.  In our room were all the roasts and accompaniments, plus various bar and dessert offerings.   There was a  massive seafood and sushi room with both a raw bar and various cooked seafood dishes.  The sushi and sashimi was delicious and Lucy and I both gorged on fresh oysters, crab, lobster tails, scallops and clams.  Lucy particularly enjoyed some of the offerings in the Spanish room: roasted pork belly and roast crispy suckling pig.  It was utterly melt in the mouth and of course , it’s not so easy to come by pork out here.

There was a middle eastern themed terrace where the chefs were grilling and roasting up a storm – great hunks of lamb on a pilaff,  Steaks.  A live band. There was a Spanish room where serrano ham, manchego cheese rubbed along with vats of various sorts of paella including a black seafood one.  There was a room of chocolate offerings…..   Well….. I’m sure you get the picture.  You couldn’t try everything if you visited 5 times let alone just the once.  It was utterly fabulous.  And the wine, champagne, mixed drinks just kept coming.  You had to pace yourself LOL.  We thoroughly enjoyed it.  They even brought me a chocolate birthday cake with a candle  I cant say how much it cost as it was Lucy’s present to me, but it was one of the best buffets I have ever visited.  It seems wrong to call it that.  There was no queueing, no warmed up stodge.  I highly recommend it or one of your choice on a visit to Dubai.

All too soon it was 430 and we staggered away from the table and went for a walk through the grounds and then to explore the in house souk.

We ubered back to the apartment at about 6 to meet some of Lucy’s friends from Leeds school days.  Christian who also lives here and mutual friend James and his lovely girlfriend, Amanda.  They both work on one of the Regent Seven Seas cruise ships and were in Dubai overnight.   They came over and we went out at about 930 to a restaurant in the Marina called Asia Asia.  It was really buzzing and we sat overlooking the marina and all the lights.  I wasnt at all hungry but I managed to pick at some yummy beef and truffle dim sum and some of the other small plates.  After dinner we went up to a bar on the top of the building and had some drinks.

Got back to sleep at about 2am and reflected on a great day.  Thank you, Lu x