Okay to be fair I didn’t have any sauerkraut. We kinda stayed in Bamboo Lagoon most of the time for the asian cuisine, popping out for a bit of pork from the Hofbrauhaus spread, and waffles from The Market Place. Yes, JW Marriott Hotel’s Indoor ‘Friday Brunch for Everyone’, like a few others (Dusit Thani Dubai’s , Westin Mina Seyahi’s, and Mina A Salam’s) lets you dine in all three restaurants for their afternoon brunch 🙂

So two weekends ago we crossed the bridge to Deira, for food. I know this hotel has been around for awhile (Google says 1980?!) , but we (being marina snobs) tend to stay down the other end of town and have never been to these restaurants before. I sold it to G by saying that there’s a band that plays polynesian music and apparently the haka. Really? In Dubai? 

Yes there is! Overall another fun afternoon with the family, and honestly somewhere we would actually come back with friends. If only it wasn’t so far…

Here’s what we liked about it :

a) We were really surprised to find a restaurant that had completely turned its interior into a real ‘bamboo lagoon’. Now why don’t they do these type of restaurants anymore? Once inside you can take a photo, check into Bali on Facebook and everyone will actually think you’re there (yes, tried and tested). Pick another island if you wish – Samoa, Fiji, Hawaii, Phuket. Don’t start correcting me and telling me these islands don’t have bamboo.

b) There were lots of live stations, all in different levels I had a bit of their tiger prawns (sweet, yes!), lots of sushi (with salmon, yes!), a bit of sashimi (salmon, yes!) and Singaporean laksa (not as good as mine, he he). You can pick and choose your own stir-fry dishes as well so it comes to you hot.

c) Best bit for us – the island-tunes, the humour, the haka. Hands up, this is a biased opinion yet again as it’s been a long time since we heard polynesian tunes, and do miss the slang. Those guys are so funny. Even if you’re not from that part of the world, you’ll enjoy their performance. You get to join in the fun as well!

d) For those who have little people running around, there’s a huge indoor playground! Not that we’ll be using this anytime soon but it’s a great idea for families with young kids 🙂

On the other side …

a) With the drinks package, you get quite a lot of cocktail choices, but mind you don’t expect it to come in anything pretty… just a simple glass with a colourful straw. Yes you’ll taste the alcohol, sometimes strong, sometimes not.

b) As you would expect from a lot of buffets, the food that was not made as part of the live stations were not the best, especially the Hofbrauhaus spread which didn’t seem very popular. I tried the peking duck, the pancakes were hard and cold…. boo.

So yep, we’ll still come back for the sushi and sashimi, for the live island music and fun (make sure you choose to sit in Bamboo Lagoon), and just to feel like we’ve momentarily left Dubai for a tropical island somewhere 🙂 Full price with alcoholic drinks is 395 AED and 295 AED with soft-drinks, however watch out on those one-day deals as I’ve seen it popping up there lately, and it’s on the Entertainer as well !

• Friday Brunch for Everyone
• JW Marriott Hotel, Deira 
• 395 AED for alcoholic beverages, and 295 AED for soft drinks (241 with the Entertainer, etc)
• 04 262 4444

Disclaimer : We were guests of the JW Marriott Hotel for the brunch. It is up to you to judge the honesty of my thoughts 🙂