On the Crest of A Wave at the Amwaj Rotana Brunch
The Amwaj Rotana is located on The Walk at Jumeirah Beach Residence in one of the trendiest locales in Dubai and just a stones through away from the beach. The brunch at Amwaj, which in Arabic means waves, attracts a lot of residents from the neighbourhood and has become quite a venue for families to meet up and to enjoy the weekend. So much so that a ‘family zone for kids’ has been established for the younger family members to enjoy cartoons alongside the ‘kids’ buffet.
The Amwaj brunch does, however, attract a diverse crowd with many regulars requesting their favourite table on the stunning terrace which is close to the pool and perhaps more important the participating restaurants . These include Rosso which is a bar, enoteca and ristorante - a casual Italian restaurant-bar with open kitchen and wood-fired oven. Then there is the delightful Benihana’s - the famous Japanese restaurant, a franchise from a Florida based American restaurant company. The setting of which is quite appropriate because certain parts of Jumeirah Beach Residence does remind me some places in Miami.
So with a diverse range of cuisine from those two restaurant plus grilled items, including pork, and ‘Sunday lunch’ style roasts one is not short of choice. The difficulty of this brunch is where to start, what to have next and then next and how to finish! For me a selection of seafood from the cold entrees and I must put on record the delightful Steam Jumbo Clams with Pepper Confetti were quite a revelation. Next up it was a case of serendipity as I discovered the kitchen of Benihana - set up for guests to wander through and select their Asian delights. An informative ‘walk through’ of the brunch on arrival was lacking on this occasion, but with so many ‘regulars’ the staff may have considered me as repeat guest!
From Benihana the Marinated Shake Salad with Yuzu Dressing was excellent, as was the Kung Pao Seafood with roasted cashew nuts. Following those Asian delights it was off to the roasts nicely lined up on the exterior of Rocco, but first a foray for to the BBQ for some spare ribs of pork. and then the cheese board ….. or should I try the ….. the options and permutations were simply quite irresistible. The same could be said about the various options for drinks, including French bubbly. For me the only downside of the brunch was the ‘wave after wave’ of thumping house music which in my humble opinion did not mix with the fine delights from Benihana’s. Music should be part of the overall dining experience, so often there is no consideration in that respect - a more lounge style would have enhanced the brunch! . In fact the in-house music which followed the dj was far more in keeping with the occasion and created a much more desirable dining ambience.
Brunch on the sun terrace will run until May 15th and after that move indoors to air-conditioned climes. For more information visit the website http://www.rotana.com/rotanahotelandresorts/unitedarabemirates/dubai/amwajrotana
Telephone: +971 4 428 2000