Lavish and gigantic selection of all manner of international cuisines, snacks, canapés and dishes on a national weekly event (every Friday less those during Ramadan) at one of the best options in Dubai - almost too much to behold on one sitting but impressive none the less

If ever you are in Dubai over a local weekend (Friday and Saturday), then the weekly celebration of a gigantic brunch on a Friday is simply not to be missed. This is a major event each week in Dubai and occurs across the city every Friday and will need booking as much in advance as possible for the high end affairs, such is their popularity. On the advice of a trusted friend who knows Dubai like the back of his hand and works locally, I booked the Al Qasr in the Madinat Jumeirah Resort. This was a completely impressive affair with too many dishes and options to mention, save to say it was the biggest and strongest collection of finger food, canapés, fresh fish and japanese sushi, Italian food, Chinese food, traditional roasts and sheer decadence of drinks and desserts I have ever seen in my life. It beat the brunch at The Wynn in Las Vegas by a country mile for sheer scale of choice and the food itself was actually really quite good.

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Particular highlights were having so many choices of foie gras (although some of the combinations did not work brilliantly), beef wellington with sauce béarnaise, shot glass desserts of chocloate and liquid jellies and the endless coconuts with malibu and cream. Areas that were a little motorway service station standard were the cod in batter which suffered waiting in the sunlight and the Chinese station had hoi sin sauce that was a bit too salty to go with the duck and pancakes which were a case of finding the well cooked bits. That’s not to say it was bad, far from it, it was all amazing and highly tasty all round, however you need to be getting things as they are just prepared and keep an eye out for not getting things that have sat idle for over an hour in the worst cases.

Unfortunately I can’t compare to other Dubai brunches, but was reliably informed this is in the uppermost quadrant for all Dubai brunches and having been to this one I can say with ease, that any trip here will be a foodie’s dream with such impressive treats for the eyes and mouth. An absolute given for any trip to Dubai – worth making sure you have Friday included in your visit for this alone. The cost of this (for the unlimited alcohol refills inlcuding prosecco) was approximately £120 per head but for what it produced was well worth it. You must book in advance as much as possible and be prepared for a minor stampeed come the hour as there were at least 200 hundred people waiting in the foyer on this occasion trying to beat others who had not booked – I can now see why!

Food Grade: 73%