Ultimate Southeast Asian Saturday Brunch @ Nonya, Taj JLT

Nonya in Taj JLT have launched a fun brunch for the summer season – calling it, the Ultimate Southeast Asian Saturday Brunch. I think they’ve read enough memes to know the word ‘pan-asian’ have been used a little to much in marketing blurps – haha. As someone who comes from that side of the world, they are definitely right – what they serve is Southeast Asian, and I’m glad they called the brunch just that.

Here’s what to expect from Nonya’s Saturday Brunch.

A bit of intro to the venue, for those who haven’t been.

What do you mean you haven’t been to Nonya? 🙂

Nonya is situated on the 44th floor of the Taj in Jumeirah Lake Towers. It’s one of those iconic buildings in JLT where you need to do a full loop before getting there. Don’t worry, it’s well worth the extra 4 minutes of JLT tour.

Let’s talk about the brunch.

What’s on the menu?

Starters and desserts are served, buffet style in one section of Nonya. PACE YOURSELF, as this is – literally just starters and desserts. There is more to come!

There’s a sushi and sashimi station, oysters, as well as a poke bowl live station alongside.

In true South East Asian hawker food style, you can get a fresh bowl of curry laksa prepared for you – choosing the ingredients that you would like added, prawns, shredded chicken, or go vege if you prefer and have taugeh (bean sprouts) and tofu puffs. Proper authentic 😉

There’s also a live grill station where you pick your meat, seafood and vegetables, they’ll take it to the back to grill and then bring to the table.

And, mains?

Now, if that’s not enough – mains are all served to table.

There’s a menu you can order from, with Nonya’s classics like Beef Rendang, Chicken Curry, Kung Pao Chicken and Steamed Ginger Soy Fish. I can eat this anytime, anyday. For the vegetarians – don’t worry they haven’t forgotten about you, there’s hakka noodles, mala fried rice, mapo tofu and wok fried vegetables.

Have you tried Nonya’s Beef Rendang? It’s pretty much as authentic as it gets.

We were both properly annoyed that we were not made aware of this secret ala carte menu. I mean, it wasn’t secret – the team had forgotten to place a copy of it on our table (or maybe it fell on the floor) so we were quite full from what we thought was the only food we could have – the buffet spread. When we found out there was more – we were both thinking…. should have saved our tummy for all the great stuff!

I mean, have you tried Nonya’s Beef Rendang? It’s pretty much as authentic as it gets. Creamy, coconutty (if there’s a such a word) with tender beef cubes…. I’m happy if they can send a bowl over for lunch right now.

What about desserts?

I was so happy to see all the fruits from home present. We’re talking longan, dragonfruit, mango, and mangosteen! Imagine if they had durian available at brunch…. haha, that’s everyone leaving straight away, including my husband. Ah well, more food for me…..!

There’s thai sticky rice with mango which most will know and love. Also an ais kacang station which bring back fond childhood memories.

If you’re keen to try an even more authentic Malaysian dessert – there is what we call ‘ang ku kueh‘ or in english ‘red tortoise cake‘. It’s a soft, sticky glutinous rice flour skin wrapped around a sweet central filling. I was expecting mung bean paste – the one we usually get, but they’ve gone to the more commonly known one and used red bean paste. Yummy, though the skin could be a little thinner 😉 They also have ‘jian dui’, aka fried sesame balls with red bean paste. Ahh… Malaysian foodie haven 😉

See Nonya’s Saturday Brunch menu here.

How’s the vibe like?

Brunch starts at 1pm and we got there close to 1:30pm.

The weather was still really nice when we went so Nonya have opened up the doors to the terrace giving it a .. I was going to find another word to say ‘seamless indoor outdoor transition‘ but it’s too much effort, so let’s stick to it.

John and Emily from About Last Night Band | Nonya Taj JLT

Emily and John from About Last Night Band were already set up on the terrace.

They started belting out songs from the get go, from Come together by Beatles, to the song everyone knows and love – Flowers by Miley, to Ed Sheeran’s Shivers. Strong vocals from both of them, and as Nonya’s dining space (where the brunch is set up) is not very big – the dinosaur in us would say it is properly loud. I didn’t realise it was a party brunch we were walking into, ha ha! It felt like we were in LSB in the middle of the night. I am sorry guys I should probably make a proper comparison and use The Tent at Bla Bla where they normally play but I’ve only been there once, in comparison to the countless times we have to the other spot, he he.

Anyhow – in between sets, the DJ comes on to keep the party going.

There were a few celebrations and birthdays that day and the team comes out with bubbles and sparklers, plus giant banners. It’s all tongue-in-cheek Dubai party brunch scene – which we all love. Soon everyone was on their feet dancing.

Overall Thoughts

Do the Southeast Asian Brunch at Nonya if you enjoy Malaysian, Singaporean, Indonesian food. It’s pretty authentic food – I’m glad they stuck to that instead of introducing the usual dishes in other restaurants. As yummy as black cod is, I’m happy to have steamed seabass fillet with ginger and soy sauce any day.

The brunch is very loud, all party. That’s the vibe all throughout. For 275aed house package – it is very reasonably priced, especially if you’re looking for a party brunch. One for celebrations, for sure.