Bazxar Prohibition Brunch, DIFC

DIFC seems to be going through a purple patch for brunching at present, with many new and exciting additions to the already bustling culinary scene opening their doors in the last 12 months. The latest to jive right onto the scene is Bazxar's Prohibition Brunch, which we were hoping would prove to be as exciting and glitzy as the roaring 20's theme suggests. THE FOOD The New York inspired restaurant provides customers with an 'order as you please' menu of delightfully moreish starters and entrée's before you are asked to select one main treat. Wasting no time, we decided on the Dynamite Shrimp, Crispy Mac-N-Cheese (twice) and Chicken Bao to start (Now replaced with Char Sui Tofu Bao). Relatively small dishes but perfect morsels of flavour. The Pizza in NYC is legendary, and so now is Bazxar's Burrata Pizza! Delicious and well presented, we saw it fly out of the kitchen time after time and disappear from trays to empty plates as quickly as it had been delivered. As we are huge fans of China Town, we also tried the black pepper beef and the soy glazed chicken...both delicious and authentic served with either rice or noodles. At this stage, they could do no wrong. We started to struggle at this point, but never ones to disappoint and leave any stone/burger unturned, we soldiered on to the main courses and a selection of either a "Naked" Dog, a Wagyu Cheese Burger, Crispy Buffalo Chicken Burger, Mushroom Linguini, a Grilled Fish of the Day, a delicious "Josper" Steak and what Jamie Oliver calls the Mexican breakfast of champions…Heuvos Rancheros (Fried eggs, black beans, guacamole, salsa, cheese and tortilla.) We had been eyeing up the desert platter all day as it came out to other tables. served for 4 (we did have company) it comes out as 3 treats for each. get your freakshake" on was a smorgasbord of preztels, crunchy kitkat & nutella ice cream, the "explosion" cheesecake and the all-American favourite "ice cream sandwich" with chocolate cookies sandwiching icecream and a little bit of popping candy just for good measure…excessively sweet, completely overt the top, and supremely fun…how American. THE DRINK Served as 3 cleverly named packages. The Prohibitionist is served with mocktails, juices and sodas. The Moonshine comes with grapes, house spirits and cocktails, while the top package, aptly named the Gatsby is an all-encompassing cellar of Luc belaire sparkling rose, house grape, spirits, cocktails, hops (Stella on draft), sodas & water. We found it rather strange that the hops would be on the top package and not on the basic house beverage option, and we are not sure if this works. We also found it strange that with a prohibition theme, the menu did not include any typical prohibition cocktails. Sure the mojito and daiquiri classics were there as standard, but the addition of the Gin Rickey, the Sidecar or the classic old fashioned would have given the authenticity of the place just an added bit of umpffff. Cocktails aside, the selection is vast enough not to be too concerned and with the added touch of including bourbon within the house sprits…we left more than quenched. THE OTHER STUFF Well, where to start...lets go with the bad before the good and the great. The service was varied to say the least and the girls outperformed the boys to Mrs Brunch' sheer delight. Our male waiters' brought whisky when we ordered bourbon, or forgot to bring our food altogether, forcing us to ask a second/third time. On the flip side, whenever we asked a waitress the service was sharp, attentive and most importantly correct! This was however, week one of the brunch so we will cut them some slack and we will be back to test once they have found their rhythm a bit more. The venue is split into two contrasting areas, one side being a New York diner where you can sit and enjoy a casual lunch brunch. The other, a New York inspired glamour bar where the glamourous and amorous can choose to enjoy a more upbeat party vibe for to their brunch. This is where at 4-5pm and beyond the party really began to ramp up another level. Waiters and Waitresses doing the conga through the bar with sparklers in the air and the DJ (who was brilliant all day) cranking up the volume, there was no doubt that party had started. Every Friday from 1pm - 4pm AED 295 For Soft Drinks AED 395 For House Beverages AED 495 for bubbly To reserve email eat@bazxar.com or call 04 355 1111 Book directly with EAT app here