LOCA
Location: Dubai Marine Beach Resort
Pricing: AED 350 all inclusive (AED 175 nonalcoholic)
Timing: 1-4pm
“When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading.”
~Henny Youngman
I gather a contingent of 20 of the coolest people I can find and give this brunch a test drive. The fun people are from Argentina, Australia, Colombia, Italy and Jordan. To add some extra flavor to the occasion I propose that we all show up in Mexican outfits. The majority shows up in their best Mexican outfit (including fake moustaches) and bombard me with Spanish expletives when they see me in normal western clothing.
The drinks menu includes both bottled and draught beers, wine, and my favorite cocktail the Margarita (which is offered in 13 flavors). Many of my amigos are rather disappointed as they do not drink tequila but still wish to drink something strong. For a price tag of AED 350 you would naturally expect that all the usual house spirits to be included. I have a chat with the manager and he agrees to serve us pitchers of daiquiri for the non-tequila crowd. Since we are a large table the staff serve us the margaritas in pitchers as well, which I find to be a smart move as we can refresh our own drinks instead of hailing a waiter every 5 minutes. The margarita is ‘muy suave’ and are skulled rapidly by my Aussi mates.
To kick off the food selection guacamole and four starters are served at the table. The huevos rancheros is my personal favorite. You can then select your own tacos with three options available: beef, chicken, and king fish. Main course options are: tostada salad (why would any sane human order this at a brunch?), ribs, burrito, and fajitas. I go for the beef fajita which is good, but not great. A selection of three desserts is then served to the table.
The restaurant was more than half empty. A band comes on for roughly 30 mins but is uninspiring and could not play any of our Spanish requests. There is no DJ and the restaurants playlist is dull. I imagine a Mariachi band to storming into the place to lively it up. Instead we chug down the remaining pitchers and head to the nearest after brunch venue to ‘vamos a bailar’.
Rating
Ambiance: 10/20.
Beverages: 10/20.
Food: 14/20.
Service: 16/20
Value for Money: 14/20.
Total: 64%
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