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Charlie's Brunch at the Brunswick Eatery, Bar and Terrace

Brunch Reviews | In Barsha on November 6th, 2018

4 Overall

400-500 AED

Mexican

For a brunch that has only launched In the last 5 months, Charlie’s Brunch at the Brunswick Eatery, Bar and Terrace has amassed somewhat of a cult following in the “nudge nudge, wink, wink” circles of foodies within Dubai, such is the level of surprise with the quality of gastronomy on offer, with many still associating it with the pub fare of old. (The signage on the exterior also still reads Brunswick Sports Club.)

The brunch is based on the story of ‘Charlie Lane’, an expat whom left Dubai on an exploration journey and after years abroad, returned back to Brunswick – his regular drinking hole, bringing with him stories from around the world. Each week the brunch menu evolves from the stamps collected in Charlie’s passport from the many countries he visited and the food and experiences he has eaten and resonated with during his travels.

The preamble we were given, is that the brunch, uses the Brunswick terrace as the meeting point, the eatery as the dining destination and the bar as the finishing point, and is supposed to immerses the guest in a story- telling journey that highlights dishes from around the world.

In reality, other than a short trip to the Oyster and latterly Cheese bar, we were pretty much stationary on the terrace, but that suited us just fine.

THE FOOD

The first couple of courses arrive together. The Charcoal bread and butter with lumpfish roe, and Scallop Ceviche with apple & coriander are dishes to pick at whilst making your way back and forth between your seats and the Oyster bar, which had a variety to choose from, some infused with chilli oil as well as a fried oyster to choose from and if we are honest, were the only things we weren’t that keen on all day. For us, Oyster purists, plain, a bit of tabasco or a classic mignonette is all you really need.

Course 3 was an unexpected star of the show, and note that we didn’t say THE star as there were many. However, the Beetroots baked in salt, ash cream & tarragon oil were an unexpected orchestra of strong, meaty flavours balanced with the saltiness and the smoothness of the ash cream texture that just worked and completely took us by surprise, being a dish that we wouldn’t normally order on the menu based on description alsone.

The beauty of this brunch is that it operates like a degustation menu in an upmarket brasserie, in that you get a substantial yet not overbearing sample of things that you wouldn’t necessarily order, but would certainly come back for. The same had to be said of the confit aubergine with feta (not parmesan as advertised) and fried flatbread crisps. The chefs seem well adept at balancing flavours, and the saltiness of the feta and mellow aubergine were no different. A strong first four courses and these were the ones we were least looking forward to out of the ten!

We could literally wax lyrical about the next 3 courses, but in the interests of brevity, and to try and leave something left for you to go down and experience for yourselves, we shall summarise the following as thus: The “entree” dishes, or 5th, 6th and 7th in the running order started with as impresssive a list of ingredients as you will see on any menuanywhere. Quail, yuzu, grapefruit and pea, followed by a large whole crispy red snapper topped with a Thai garnish and 2 lamb cutlets served with fig and olives.

Course 8 was an interesting olive oil savoury cake served with sweet caramelized pears. A nice intermediary between mains and the super sweet dessert, knowing that the Eton Mess was next up to round off the meal, it was just the right proportion and also wasn’t too dense on the palettte.

THE BEVERAGES

A welcome drink of either Aperol Spritz (the devils juice), campari or brut on arrival made it an easy choice for us to start the day with some bubbles. Following that, we sampled a Brunswick draft pint before making our way through the white (Bantry Bay – Chenin), red (Bantry Bay – Merlot) With unlimited raspberry or mandarin flavoured Absolut a refreshing change to the normal offering. The day was rounded off with a visit to the Cheese board and an accompanying Espresso Martini as course number 10. Service was prompt and professional, although we can only judge service based on the day we attended and as we were one of very few others partaking in the brunch package, we cannot comment on how they would fare with a much larger group of more thirsty patrons baying for their attention.

OVERALL

Brunswick Sports Bar is dead, and long live Brunswick Eatery, Bar & Terrace! The transformation in its image from sports bar to elegant eatery comes only second to the fantastic new menu, so eloquently showcased during this 10 course Friday brunch. For additional atmosphere, a three piece brass band plays in the background, which later moves onto an acoustic set from 4pm-8pm and a DJ from 8pm-late. The crowd is certainly a hotchpotch of mall-goers popping in for a cheeky one, but will hopefully see a steady increase of brunch fans and foodies wanting to experience something a little different.