It’s a typically beautiful sunny Friday in Abu Dhabi when we arrive to try out Bubbalicious, which has just bagged the highly commended Best Party Brunch title at our Music & Nightlife Awards 2019.
At 12.35pm, the venue is already heaving with families and groups of friends, but the friendly staff immediately make us feel welcome and within a matter of minutes the afternoon’s first fruity mixed drink has arrived (and that kind of quick service continues throughout the day).
We recommend embarking on a quick tour of the room before deciding on your tactics for the day. There’s so much to choose from that you’ll need to have a plan if you have any hope of sampling all the best bits before filling up.
There’s a huge spread of fresh salads, seafood, meats, curries, Asian dishes, sushi, cheese and so many other tempting options that it’s almost overwhelming.
We decide to start off by sharing a plate of maki rolls and tempura seafood. The battered pieces of prawns and calamari are light and they’ve clearly only just been delivered from the kitchen. Dipped in the aioli dressing, each mouthful is absolutely delicious. We also enjoy the veggie maki rolls (it involves avocado, so how can we not?), plus the vibrant crab California rolls.
The bites of seafood are delicately put together, and the plan of starting with a few light nibbles seems wise.
Still keen to put off our main course for a while longer, we help ourselves to a few chunks of European cheeses.
Whether you like your cheese blue and pungent or mild and creamy, you’ll find every variety you could ever want on the long table, including some of the biggest wheels of brie you’re ever likely to have seen. There are fresh breads, jams and honey to go with them too.
Finally, we move on to the main event, which, for us, is mainly focused around the barbecue station.
We try the chicken and lamb skewers, and a piece of steak each. The latter is cooked exactly to our liking and it’s obviously very high quality meat. The skewers are both nicely marinated, and the meat goes wonderfully with the colourful salad selection.
As well as all the usual items that you’d expect to find on any good salad and mezze bar, there are also a few inventive combinations. We like having a chance to try something different, and both the sautéed courgette and mushroom and vibrant beetroot salad are big hits.
We can’t resist adding a sneaky duck pancake to the side of our plate while we’re passing, and the combination of sweet plum sauce and crunchy cucumber is fantastic. We’re also cheeky enough to ask for one of the cold pieces of fresh lobster to be grilled on the barbecue, and the chefs are more than happy to oblige.
The vibe is consistently lively and upbeat, and the afternoon seems to pass by in a flash.
Don’t get so carried away that you forget about dessert (like us), as they’ll be packed away promptly at the end of the brunch. We rush over in time to grab a bowl of creamy umm ali (always our first choice) and a mini vanilla cheese cake.
Both are tremendous, and there’s also a huge chocolate fountain (what is a brunch without one, really?), bread and butter pudding, sweets and cakes.
There are few better ways to spend a Friday afternoon in the capital.
Dhs336 (soft drinks), Dhs430 (house beverages), Dhs624 (premium beverages). Fri 12.30pm-4pm. The Westin Abu Dhabi Golf Resort & Spa, Sas Al Nakhl (02 616 9999).
