With the parents spending their first ever Chinese New Year in Dubai, and away from home – we did a lot of research on where to take the family for the festivities. It all came in good timing as we were also putting together a CNY listing for families – and the Shangri-La crossed our radar. Many a discussion later – we were heading up Sheikh Zayed Road to the Shangri-La for the first day of Chinese New Year, as we call Chu Yi – 除夕. Dragon Brunch it is 😉

Have you been to the Shangri-La? Have you done their Dragon Brunch?

---

Let’s start from the beginning.

Where is the Shangri-La in Dubai?

If you spend a considerable amount of time on social media, you would have very likely seen photos of influencers and the like, with one of the most amazing views of the Burj Khalifa from their outdoor terrace. Well well – that’s the terrace from the Shangri-La for you 😉

Here’s my beautiful mum striking a pose by Shangri-La’s terrace.

It’s located about a 20 minute drive from the Dubai Marina, and is one of the hotels which Dubai residents call ‘on Sheikh Zayed Road’. It’s funny isn’t it – as SZR is actually more than 500km long and runs from Abu Dhabi all the way to Ras al Khaimah. Anyways….. let’s get back to this review.

Where is Dragon Brunch held in, and how was the venue like?

Dragon Brunch is held in both Shang Palace and Hoi An, located on the mezzanine floor of the Shangri-La. As the lifts open up, you’ll be welcomed with dragon wall-art, red lanterns hanging off the ceiling and red food carts along the hallway.

There was a separate dining area with large round tables and more – suitable for big groups. Chinese vases on display on the wooden shelves. Ah – it was perfect, especially for Chinese New Year.

Were there any festivities for Chinese New Year, during the Dragon Brunch?

Lion dancers came out to greet us at the beginning of the brunch. Absolutely loved that they made the extra effort to have this as the kids loved the festivities, and of course – the chocolate coin-filled red packets of course. I fondly remember getting super excited to see this every Chinese New Year back home.

Let’s talk about Dragon Brunch’s spread.

If you love your chinese and vietnamese cuisine – you got to try Dragon Brunch.

Live Stations – Dragon Brunch

Help yourself to the live stations to start. There are hand-pulled noodles which is mesmerising to watch, and does make you appreciate the work and love that goes into the preparation of a simple bowl of delicious noodles.

There’s vietnamese pho station – where you can choose your condiments for that lovely bowl of beef pho, chicken pho for vegetarian pho. The broth has been well-prepped for hours beforehand – and this, was my kids’ favourite.

There’s the vietnamese appetiser section from Hoi An – beef sausages, rocket prawns, crispy pancake and sweet potato tempura. Try not to have too much of this as there’s a whole lot more to come.

Main Courses – Dragon Brunch

As we all know – chinese cuisine is best served hot, from the wok. Shang Palace’s cuisine suited us well as it’s predominately cantonese-style as well. For the rest of the afternoon, we could sit back and relax with the family as the team brought the main courses to the table.

Highlights included…. where shall I start?

Wok-fried beef with black pepper sauce, and sweet and sour prawns. They also had crispy lamb – fragrant from the coriander and cumin, with the added spice from the dried chili. We asked for additional servings of the braised tofu – a dish I really need to learn to recreate at home.

Desserts

For desserts you get three options – pandan sago with coconut ice cream, red bean bun and toffee banana.

Glad they stuck to the theme and kept it as ‘chinese as possible’. They did however, forgot to include sago in the supposed pandan sago dessert though – haha. I don’t think many people would notice and if that’s the only thing I could find fault at for the entire brunch – it’s a tiny little thing! Also secretly hoped they would have more cantonese tong sui (which directly translates to sugar water) but hey – we were all absolutely stuffed and very impressed with the food that afternoon.

See Dragon Brunch’s Menu here.

Overall Thoughts

If you are of chinese origins and you have family visiting – you have to take your mum and dad to Dragon Brunch for a feast.

If you are looking for an authentic cantonese and vietnamese brunch, pay Shangri-La a visit. It’s very well-priced for the quality of food that you get – and the fact that you can sit back and relax was just a BIG plus.

Glad we spent the first day of Chinese New Year doing Dragon Brunch at the Shangri-La Dubai 🙂

• Dragon Brunch
• Every Saturday 12-4pm
• Shang Palace & Hoi An, Shangri-La Hotel Dubai
• Price :
  • 258 AED per person inclusive of soft beverages
    358 AED per person inclusive of house beverages
    458 AED per person inclusive of bubbly
• More details on Shangri-la.com

Disclaimer : We were guests of Shangri-la to review the Dragon Brunch during Chinese New Year.