On a Friday, if I’m not sick in bed with a cold, I’ll be out brunching with M. I know a lot of Dubai-rasied denizens roll their eyes at what a pretentious way that is to spend a weekend, but you what– I still consider myself a f.o.b and there is so much yet to discover and try in Dubai. So, last Friday I headed to the City Brunch at Seasonal Tastes at Westin Al Habtoor City.

One thing I should mention here before I start raving about my experience is that this was not a PR invite and nobody over there knew I’m a blogger. It’s far too common to get preferential treatment when the restaurant knows you’re a blogger, which is why it’s often hard to comment on the service.

The City Brunch totally caught me off guard. I had no tastings on that Friday but wanted to go for a low-key brunch, only to have my socks knocked off by how completely and unexpectedly over the top this brunch was! It pains me to say this, but it just might take the place of Brasserie 2.0 as my favorite hotel all-day diner buffet ever!

To say that the variety was disarmingly overwhelming would be the understatement of the year. I have never seen such a huge spread -over so many counters- ever before.

What caught my eye attention the most–and held on to it, was the smiling Chinese gentleman pulling fresh, hand-rolled noodles like the pro that he clearly was, and turning out bowl after bowl of piping hot Singaporean laksa. This laksa was SO good, that I didn’t even care if the carbs ate into my stomach’s capacity; I had two bowls and was debating a third before I decided to save room for dessert instead.

There was also a live grill station, an Indian station, a Pan-Asian station, a station for roasts and Yorkshire puddings, an Arabic station, a sushi counter, a kids’ corner, and I’m pretty sure there were there stations I cannot recall because my head was spinning, chanting “so much food, so little time!”.

The dessert station had dozens and dozens of warm gooey hearty desserts, delectable pastries, moreish cakes and tarts, ice-cream; just about everything imaginable under the sun, really.

I helped myself to some pastries that looked like pieces of art, as well as some very comforting blueberry crumble with pistachio ice-cream.

It wasn’t just about the food though, this brunch was entertaining. The DJ kept spinning out song after song from the 80s, 90s, and 2Ks, and that was so, so, so much fun. Towards the end of the brunch, there entire tables dancing away to the reminiscent beats.

What really stole the show though (while I was busy slurping down laksa and fresh noodles), was the daytime cabaret show. You heard me. A fit AF lady who made me want to cover myself up more gave all of us a show to remember– her only prop being a big mock-up of a margarita glass filled with magenta-colored water.

The City Brunch was truly one of those brunches that you don’t want to rush though and kind of want to linger around for the rest of the afternoon– and so we did. I truly cannot wait to go back.

Price: AED 250 for the non-alcoholic package.

Note: I forgot my camera’s memory card at home that day, so I got in touch with the hotel’s PR and they were kind enough to oblige me with some beautiful shots.