Cuts & Kilts "Evening Brunch" - Marriott Al Jaddaf

"Because no great evening ever started on an empty stomach!" Or so they say at Scots American Grill, the restaurant that fuses together two great nations, divergent on so many scales, yet each having with an interlinked heritage of producing the finest quality steak and seafood. a "unique" menu and an altogether new evening brunch experience for us….   THE FOOD   Billed as Scottish Fair with American Flair, the first thing we notice about the large place-mat menu in front of each of us is that the layout was very "strange," with the mains laid out above the appetizers. Perhaps it was deliberate, a quirky Anglo-American "in joke" or simply a typo. The fact that it caused much conversation at the table warranted a mention, but undeterred, we chose our mains and then read on to select what would proceed them. Straight away, our eyes raced to the obvious "Marque" dish of Haggis, Neeps & Tatties but alas, none of us were brave enough to give it a go and instead we opted for the Cedar Wood Salmon (with Truffle mash & shaved Brussel sprouts), The 200g USDA Prime Tenderloin (with triple-cooked chips, Portobello mushrooms and a red wine sauce) and the 250g USDA Prime Sirloin (with onion rings, spinach and mushroom sauce). Rather than the obvious star steaks (which were pretty good), the Salmon shone through with the intensity of it's smoky flavour and subtle crunch of the shaved sprouts which sat on top, acting as both garnish and side dish all in one. Very clever.     Going backwards to the appetizers as they did arrive first, our table went as classical as you can get with steak tartare, a classically 80's jumbo shrimp cocktail and Scottish Oysters with mignonette sauce. Although before we set out on making a dent, the first of our "surprises" arrived from the kitchen in the shape of an innocent looking morsel of smoked salmon.     The reason we say innocent, is that the further into the meal we progressed, the less "innocent" the surprises became. The arrival of the delightfully inventive haggis-stuffed scotch egg which was greeted with a muffled cheer, was surpassed only by the incredulous groans of "are you serious" which arrived with the surprise pulled lamb sliders braised veal cheeks with truffle mash (our dish of the day by the way). Our stomachs' simply weren't prepared for this much food, including the state-sized desserts making their way to our table in the form of the baked American cheesecake with strawberry sorbet with pistachio's, the fresh from the oven double chocolate cookie and the flourless chocolate cake with caremelized popcorn and peanut butter ice cream. Oh and we almost forgot to mention, the final surprise… a Burnt Marshmallow Milkshake!     THE DRINK   If we thought the food menu had a perplexing layout, we joked that we would need a degree in map reading to work out the beverage choices.   In the simplest of terms, there are essentially 4 options to choose from. The non-alcoholic bundle which includes your mocktails, soft drinks, water and juices for 3 hours. This is counterbalanced with the brunch bundle which allows you to enjoy unlimited hops, house wines and spirits for 3 hours.   Then there is the "No thanks, I'm a winey" package which allows you to choose 3 glasses from 3 different selections of wine for 100 AED. These cover a broad spectrum of either white, red or sweet grapes, light, medium or full bodied grapes, or sparkling, round or bold flavours. Finallly, there are 2 whisky flights' to select from Glenlivet. The first ranging from reserve to 15years old, and the next from 12 years to 18 years old…one for true whisky connoisseurs or just a novel and indulgent way to finish off your evening in keeping with the setting.   THE OTHER STUFF   What started out as a playful joke about us not leaving with an empty stomach quickly turned into a competitive eater's dream, or a dietitian's nightmare. Maybe it is my unadventurous side, but I like to know what I'm going to eat and when I'm going to eat it. The surprises from the kitchen, however delicious were just not able to be fully appreciated because I wasn't able to plan my intake properly, leaving us all exhausted. Perhaps with a greater knowledge of what we were about to face would have given us a greater chance of overcoming the conveyor belt of surprise morsels that continually materialize from the kitchen.   The restaurant itself is dimly lit but modern with dark brown leather chairs and white circular lamp shades infused with an inner tartan rim. We were lucky enough to snag one of 3 window booths with unbelievable views of the Burj Khalifa, creating a low key yet bubbly evening atmosphere with the soundtrack of Scottish and American rock bands filling the room. Our knowledgeable and personable waiter Jericho did his very best to alley the confusion we initially had with the beverage menu, and was never too far away to top us up in his crisp white shirt and stylish tartan trousers.     Every Friday, 6PM onwards   AED 225 per person, beverage bundles extra: House Brunch Bundle - AED 150, includes unlimited house wine, beer and house spirits (3 hrs) Wine Bundle - 3 glasses of wine - AED 100 Whisky Flight- 150 AED or 200 AED   Reservations: +971 4 3177777 or email: Mhrs.dxbmh.ays@marrioitthotels.com