See for yourself

Do you ever get that end-of-month feeling – you have a sneaky suspicion that you may have overspent yet again and are eagerly awaiting payday? Thanks to the C.Taste budget brunch, lack of funds doesn’t have to mean sitting in the house all weekend or skimping on high quality food.

We walk in and are welcomed immediately and seated in a bright, airy section beside a floor-to-ceiling window. Our dining partner is pleased to note the distinctly separate smoking and non-smoking areas.

Our first impressions are that it’s smaller than other brunches here in the capital but we are pleasantly surprised at the extensive range of food on offer.

The salad bar is really well stocked and is ideal for seafood lovers; prawns, mussels, smoked salmon, crab and more.

We opt for a slice of vegetable terrine with feta, artichoke with sundried tomatoes and shrimp salad with fennel, peppers and onions. The vegetable terrine is packed full of flavour, and we love the interesting combination of feta, aubergine, carrots and zucchini lightly drizzled in vinaigrette.

For our main course we browse the selection of curries, fish-dishes, roasted vegetables and spiced potatoes, before eyeing up the offering at the live cooking station: pasta (with bolognaise, mushroom or tomato sauce), chicken tandoori and kebabs made to order. We decided on pasta cooked with creamy mushroom sauce
with Parmesan.

We are pleased with our choice; the mushrooms are fresh and flavoursome, the sauce is thick and creamy with a hint of garlic, and the serving size is perfect – we feel satisfied but not stuffed.

Again there’s ample choice when it comes to dessert time; fruit salad, cheesecake, Arabic sweets sprinkled with pistachio, carrot cake, strawberries dripping in chocolate and pancakes. We try just a bit of everything and our favourite is the carrot cake – we can’t get enough of the sugary-sweet frosting.

As mentioned this brunch is smaller than other brunches, but we had more than our fill of salad, pasta, cheese and delicious desserts to keep us satisfied. What more do you really need?

Catriona Doherty

What? C.Taste Brunch
Where: Centro Al Manhal, Airport Road
When: Fridays from 12pm to 3.30pm
Cost: AED 120++ per person with beverages
We say: Ideal for those who don’t have a lot of cash to splash but want a top-notch day out.
Contact: 02 811 5000