Feeling a bit lazy on a Sunday morning? No need to rush. Let the clock tick and time . When the hunger pangs start, get dressed and drive to your local Sunday hotspot for a late breakfast. b4d52
However, technically, it’s noon. That said, it’s your first meal, and the fare has all your breakfast staples. It’s neither breakfast nor lunch. Yep, it’s brunch. That’s what brunch normally looks like for most people worldwide, but not in Abu Dhabi and the rest of the United Arab Emirates.
Not convinced? Visit Saadiyat Beach Club in Saadiyat Island Abu Dhabi one afternoon (1-4 p.m.) on a Friday or a Saturday (don’t forget to make advance reservations) to see brunch served like you’ve never had it before.
Brunch: A Brief History u487
In 1895, English writer Guy Beringer wrote an essay proposing a new meal called brunch. A portmanteau of breakfast and lunch, it was his ideal Sunday first meal.
Brunch, he suggested, should start late at noon or half past noon and combine tea, marmalade and other English breakfast staples with fish and meat courses. It’s the perfectly balanced and timed meal for those who’ve had a late Saturday night and are less than enthused about the idea of an early Sunday morning breakfast.
It took a little over 40 years before Beringer’s idea caught on but, when it did, it took on a life of its own. It became a fashionable Sunday meal. Incidentally, it spread first in the United States. It took a little while more before the rest of the world, including its birthplace, the United Kingdom, embraced the idea of brunch.
Brunch grew from strength to strength until it turned into something people planned in advance, just like the Saturday night shindigs that made brunch necessary in the first place. Brunch has become so mod that the powers that be (whomever they may be) decided Sunday brunch is no longer cutting it. There should also be Friday and Saturday brunches, and now they’re a thing, too.
Seeing as there’s a large expatriate population in the UAE, it was inevitable that brunch would follow the expats to the UAE. That said, an Abu Dhabi (also a UAE) brunch is something else entirely. In Abu Dhabi, brunch is so much grander and larger in scale compared to the brunch you might have had back home.
The Anatomy of Abu Dhabi Brunches 436k29
Abu Dhabi brunches are planned social events. People dress up for them and plan them days or weeks ahead of time.
Abu Dhabi brunches typically have the following characteristics.
Brunch Schedule and Timings 5c4a4k
Brunch in Abu Dhabi can take place either on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Some restaurants have brunch on all three days.
The typical brunch lasts three hours, although it can be longer. It can start at 1 p.m. and end at 4 p.m. Some restaurants start at noon and end at 3 p.m., while others begin and end much later, say, 2-5 p.m.
Furthermore, some restaurants hold evening brunches. These typically take place from 7 to 10 p.m. or 8 to 11 p.m.
Brunch has become such a thing in Abu Dhabi that there are also post-brunches. These are typically two hours long, running between brunch and dinner or between brunch and evening brunch. Thus, post-brunches can be from 5 to 7 or 6 to 8 p.m.
Brunch Format c1k2r
In Abu Dhabi, brunch is often a buffet. Think endless tables filled with all sorts of food, from appetisers to salads, from hot starters to cold starters, and from mains to desserts. There can be pizzas and pastas, tacos and tortillas, sushi and sashimi, pies, cakes, and cold desserts. Live cooking stations, carveries, grill bars, and raw bars are usual, too.
However, sharing-menu brunches are also becoming increasingly popular. In sharing-menu brunches, diners are treated to multiple courses of plated, freshly cooked or prepared for-sharing dishes that showcase the skill of the chefs and the quality of the ingredients.
Brunch Themes 3al15
Brunches usually serve a wide array of international dishes. However, there are themed brunches, too. Themes can be cuisine-based, such as Asian, Mediterranean, Mexican, Levantine, Nikkei, and Arab. There are also category-based brunches, such as BBQ, grilled, seafood, and vegan.
Free-Flowing Drinks 5j6964
Drinks are fundamental to Abu Dhabi brunches, and free-flowing drinks are the norm. The type of drinks you’ll get with your food depends on the brunch package you availed.
Yas Island and Saadiyat Island restaurants that serve brunch usually have three packages: soft, house and .
- Soft package: The soft package comes with soft drinks, juices, and other non-alcoholic beverages.
- House package: The house package includes everything in the soft package, plus a selection of beers, wines, spirits, mocktails, and cocktails.
- package: The package is the house package, plus sparkling wines and other drinks.
Music and Entertainment 1f1o1f
Music is a given during Abu Dhabi brunches. It can be of various types and genres, usually following the brunch theme. It can be canned or live (typically live). The live music can come from a soloist, a band, a string quartet, etc.
Couples, Friends and Families 392k1g
Brunches in Abu Dhabi are for everyone. However, some are geared towards a particular demographic, say family diners.
As a case in point, the Saadiyat Beach Club Saturday Brunch, which takes place every Saturday, 1-4 p.m., at the beach club’s Safina Restaurant, obviously welcomes couples and groups of friends. However, it hosts one of the best family brunches in Abu Dhabi.
Brunch guests get access to the kids’ club, where children can play in a supervised play area and engage in fun-filled activities for children, such as face painting, arts and crafts, and more. A day to the beach and pool may also be purchased (or may already be part and parcel of a brunch package), which expands the range of activities the whole family may enjoy.
In fact, mosthotels to stay at Saadiyat Island have restaurants with family-friendly brunches. There’s Frangipani at Nurai Island, Sim Sim at Saadiyat Rotana Resort & Villas, and Turquoise at Rixos Saadiyat Island.
Brunching in Abu Dhabi 4o1c5n
Brunch may be just a special breakfast-and-lunch combo weekend meal where you come from, but in Abu Dhabi, it’s an event you get all dressed up for and make plans to attend. Aside from visiting theme parks, adventuring at sand dunes, lounging on white-sand beaches, marvelling at the architecture, and visiting museums, brunching is one of the must-try activities in Abu Dhabi.