McGettigan’s is a popular pub that you can easily while away a weekend afternoon at over drinks and classic pub food, so it makes sense that the Irish pub recently launched the McG Big Table brunch. This is a Saturday affair, served to the table, with the opportunity to fill your boots for a reasonable Dhs199 for the soft package, with bottomless beverage upgrades from Dhs120 for the “regular” package of hops and grapes, and Dhs165 for the premium upgrade with mixed drinks.
McGettigan’s feasting experience (it is a hearty one) runs from 12.30pm to 4pm and brunch-goers are ready to begin with tables already filled and the music pumping feel-good retro classic and radio anthems when we turn up right on the clock.
A basket of popcorn kicks things off. It’s meant to be volcanic, popped with black truffle air, but the gesture doesn’t quite come across. No matter, it’s soon forgotten when the sharing plates begin arriving, including an impressive seafood tower laden with lobster, mussels, shrimp and a variety of dips. A tidal wave of food continues in the form of chicken wings, beef tartare with a mustard ice cream, and smoked lamb chorizo with poached eggs. There are surprisingly sophisticated touches that elevate the pub grub.
Things sag a bit in the middle, with pass arounds of calamari and battered cod, pretty dry chicken tikka samosas, pretzel rings with a hops-cheese dip and an unbalanced beef burger not living up to the standards set early doors.
Staff are accommodating and friendly, and let you work at your own pace. That said, if you find yourself lingering too long on the seafood tower, you might start to feel the pressure at the end to make it through the rest of the courses.
Mains (yes, we’re only just getting to them) are a choice of beef wellington, duck confit or pan-seared salmon, with the beef being the most popular. It’s a generous portion but lacks the crisp pastry and tender meat that make the dish a star.
If you’re not positively bursting, there is dessert. (Have mercy.) Choose between cheesecake, chocolate pot de crème, Eton mess, lemon chiffon pie, Irish apple cake and churros. They might not be the most elevated, but they do the trick if you feel compelled.
Staving off the food coma that no doubt threatens in all corners, the lively beats and live music, as well as a TV being turned up for a winning goal, will certainly help keep the energy high.
If you’re looking to score a reasonable brunch that offers plenty of value for money, the Dusit Thani pub strikes.
Dhs199 (soft), from Dhs120 (beverage upgrade).
