For those of you who live and work in the Gulf region you know that the weekend falls on a Thursday and Friday, with Friday being a day for rest.
But for most expats living and working in Dubai, Friday means BRUNCH!!
We’re here!
“Friday Brunch” is quite a big deal, with many families scheduling to meeting up at fancy 5* hotels, restaurants and beach clubs around the city to get their fix of the “all-you-can-eat” buffets. And when we mean all-you-can-eat, we’re not kidding! Some of the buffets in Dubai are truly incredible, with oyster bars, create-your-own-smoothie bar and a “live” shrimp tempura bars scattered around the city.
We were invited to have brunch with some friends at the Anantara Hotel and Resort at Palm Island and headed out that way a bit early to check out the hotel. Barely open, we managed to walk the entire property before our guests arrived. The property is gorgeous, with an endless pool that wrapped around the resort so each room faced the pool. Just step out of your balcony and you’re literally in the water.
The Anantara reminds us of Thailand!
The main pool area
At the corners of the pools they have a sandy area, which isn’t sand but silicon… It was very cool!
Balconies facing the endless pool..
Our mini tour was short lived as our friends arrive at reception. As we waited for them to arrive the kids darted straight for a table that had a face painting station. There was so much activity going on around us for children, including a coloring station right near the pool area, supervised by their staff.
Couldn’t wait for the food!
As the kids did their faces up, we headed towards the buffet. We loved the simple layout of mezzes from Lebanon and Syria. Egyptian foul medames, French croissants and pain au chocolate, fresh fruits, cereals, a juice bar and a lot of diet restriction kinds of food such as gluten-free breads, etc.
The buffet from above…
Dining Area
Outside seating area
Fresh baked croissants is our favorite!
Foul, an Egyptian dish of cooked and mashed fava beans served with olive oil, cumin and different toppings
Different labneh, hummus, cheeses, etc.
These are a cross between a donut and a croissant, they called the cronuts.
The kids loved the pancake station, which was quite amazing as I’ve never seen something like this before. I could probably have done this myself at home, but I’m not that patient!
The most visited station at the buffet
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZafNtvOq2w&w=420&h=315]
This was all for Lou Lou!
We spent a good 3 hours at the resort, stuffing our faces and watching the kids enjoy themselves. The food was wonderful and the atmosphere really added to our dining experience. We sat and overlooked the pool area and even went for a walk around the property to burn off some of those calories. There was a little play ground for the kids to run around so we hung out there for a bit before saying our goodbyes and headed back to our hotel.
Found a playground to hang out at for awhile.
This is one of the very few brunches we liked while visiting Dubai. Its unique, there’s a lot of things for the kids to do, the place is large enough for them to roam without knocking someone or something over and the views of Palm Island and the hotel are beautiful and relaxing.
Which is what a Friday Brunch in Dubai is all about.
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