RESTAURANT REVIEW: CHEF'S BRUNCH, THE RITZ-CARLTON ABU DHABI

RATING

*****

I don’t do brunch very often, as weekends are usually family packed events for me. However, every once in a while, I hear about the latest brunch in town and I’m tempted to try it. This time, it was The Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi’s new Chef’s Brunch. 

I loved the premise of this brunch, which brings back the market-style experience, with an engaging group of staff and chefs that will interact with you, amuse you, and come to your tables to serve different tidbits from around the buffet. 

The brunch is a series of stations set up around the room, serving different cuisines and dishes that cater for absolutely everyone! You have the seafood station, where you choose your preference (lobsters, prawns, etc) and the chef cooks it for you on the spot. You have your Mozzarella Bar where you can build your own Caprese salad, you have carving stations with Peking duck, roast beef and vegan options like grilled pineapple and watermelon! There’s a ginormous Wagyu leg station that has been slow roasting for 48 hours, with a mashed potatoes bar right next to it, to make your own mashed potatoes!

Other stations include the seared Foie Gras live station, an Oyster bar, superfoods station where they make fresh ricotta cheese on the spot, Poke Bowl and sushi station, Chinese cuisine station, Indian cuisine station, a burgers and hotdogs station, Italian cuisine with a pasta live station and pizzas, grills station, bread station with every kind of bread known to man and even a chocolate bar! Everything is cooked live and on the spot, everything is fresh, and most importantly, every station had vegan plant-based options, such as a vegan kofta, vegan hotdog, vegan pizza and many more. 

I love the idea of building your own dish, and this brunch seems to really focus on this aspect of allowing the visitors to truly experience and have control over their dishes. They provide you with all the elements and options that can be included in a certain dish, but you have full control over what goes in it. 

The most impressive element for me though was the dessert station. They opened up their kitchen doors and created a wonderland of sweets and desserts for all. I felt like Charlie walking into Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory with an entire pastry kitchen to delight on, including a World of Chocolate corner, Belgian Waffles, French Crepes and Madeleines done a la minute (ie baked on the spot), a popcorn station, chocolate fountains, cotton candy corner, a vegan corner and a weekly changing selection of international and regional desserts.

Honestly, one of the most fun brunches I’ve ever been to, with a delicious array of dishes. This is definitely one brunch I see myself going back to, and you should too! It’s every Friday from 1 to 4pm.