If there’s one thing Abu Dhabi loves more than digging a big hole in the street or honking a car horn, it’s a Friday afternoon spent ploughing through 12 or 13 different varieties of international cuisine. Rejoice then, hungry Dhabians – there’s a new banquet on the block.
After months behind ‘coming soon’ hoardings, the restaurant formerly known as Rosebuds has emerged from its chrysalis as Essence, bringing Beach Rotana’s quota of food and drink outlets back up to a heady 10 and providing diners with yet another day-long buffet to gorge on.
Of course, the true test of any all-day dining restaurant is its brunch – the week’s grand prix event, when the chef pulls out all the stops and whips his minions harder than ever in a bid to deliver a spread of pure gastronomic decadence. And while we’re pleased to say Essence passes with flying colours, its report card hasn’t avoided our red pen altogether.
It’s certainly not the new look letting the side down. Gone are the dowdy carpets, brown curtains and dark wood of yore, replaced by pale, breezy whites and creams that are boosted by plenty of natural light. Given our delicate disposition as we took our seat, the surroundings came as a welcome break from the garish fluorescent lights and eyesore decor of so many other brunch venues, and by the time our waitress came over to explain the price packages, our nausea had all but vanished.
Not that there was much for her to explain, as it turns out; Essence has one fixed price of Dhs195 for its brunch, inclusive of one house beverage. There’s no free-flow option and you’ll even have to pay for your soft drinks, which we’re afraid to say don’t come cheap. Is this a stubborn denial of a cherished city-wide standard? Or a well-intentioned attempt at family appeal? We’re willing to give them the benefit of the doubt and go for the latter, especially considering that the quality and variety of food is enough to justify the cost alone.
Sure, Sofra has a better stocked Indian station and there are more desserts on offer at CuiScene. But with the hotel’s adjoining German and Japanese restaurants factored into the equation, we were left spending longer than usual devising a plan of attack. Do we get a full plate of salad and forego Brauhaus’s ribs and sausages? Will we have enough room for dessert and a splish-splash in the chocolate fountain if we pile up on sushi in Benihana? The solution, we decided, was to try a tiny piece of everything, and throughout our grazing, we can’t say we came across a single dud dish.
From the Lebanese mezze right up to the curries, everything at Essence exceeds expectations. There’s none of the salty, disappointing sludge that blights so many other brunches, with most dishes strong enough to be plated up and served à la carte. The creamy bouillabaisse was a particularly memorable dish, loaded with tender squid rings and whole, meaty scallops, rather than the scraggly seafood off-cuts we’ve come to associate with buffet versions of the dish.
So with the interior designer and the chef in the clear, that just leaves the staff who, as you’ll have by now deduced, are the operation’s weakest link. Given that the waiter’s role in a brunch service is fairly minimal, we found the consistently poor level of service astounding. Plates were cleared while still in use, our request for milk to go with our coffee had to be repeated twice before, some 10 minutes later, we were eventually indulged, and getting hold of our bill proved another frustrating uphill struggle.
Still, whip these slackers into shape, throw in the soft drinks and Dhabi’s freshest brunch can consider itself up there with the very best. But even in its current state, Essence remains very impressive indeed.
The bill (for two)
Friday brunch x 2 Dhs390
Orange juice Dhs25
American coffee Dhs18
Total (excluding service) Dhs433
