Brunch 3 took us to Crescendo on a cold and blustery day (weather I never thought I’d encounter in Dubai). This was another Entertainer find. I’d be trawling through the Entertainer app to find the best brunches and thought Crescendo was worth a try.
Location
Within the Anantara Resort on the East Crescent of the Palm (so quite far around), Crescendo is situated near the pool and overlooking the beach in the resort, with the Lotus Lounge bar above. The setting is impressive but sadly on our visit due to the weather all the food stations and dining had to be moved indoors. This didn’t ruin the experience though and apart from the tables in the indoor area being a little bit close together you couldn’t really tell.
Food
Like Al Qasr, Crescendo has stairs that you walk down as you enter the restaurant so you can get a great view of the selection on offer. We’d been spoilt at Al Qasr by the sheer selection but Crescendo did a great job at offering lots of variety and choice. I’d particularly rate their salads. Again perhaps a strange one to select (I said the same in this blog about Nineteen!), but the variety of different salads on offer from Octopus with passionfruit (it works I promise) through to Thai Beef salad were amazing and I could just have had 10 plates from the salad buffet. I’d say Crescendo really excels at smaller starter style dishes from freshly cooked sizzling prawns, to dim sum and ceviche stations. The mains don’t really do it in comparison with a limited selection but it’s not weaker for it and there’s enough options to satisfy the hungriest person. There was also a station outside that had managed to withstand the elements that had a selection of curries and other main dishes. I don’t think many people were aware of this but I can imagine when the outside seating is available and the stations are outside it would be even better.
Drinks
The drinks always seem to be a bit hit and miss at brunches as far as I’ve read but we were pleased to see a variety of drink stations available. We’d opted for The Entertainer house drinks package so had cocktails, beer and wine included in this offer. The cocktails included a variety of Rum based options such as Mojito and Dark and Stormy, as well as Bloody Marys and a few Gin based cocktails. There was even an Expresso Martini for good measure! There was definitely a run on the bar towards the end so bear that in mind! The Mojito was a bit disappointing but the Dark and Stormy and Gin based cocktails were nice. I was impressed to see the Expresso Martini make an appearance (my favourite) and although they were a bit hit and miss it was still a nice touch (great effort to do Expresso Martinis on mass!). The white wine was a Savigium Blanc from Mendoza Argentina and was pretty nice but the red was a bit of a letdown being a Hardy’s label. So all in all drinks were ok with a mixed bag of options.
They had live music throughout which although pretty loud to begin with soon blended in with the hustle and bustle of chatting over brunch.
It was a complete mix of people on the day. We sat next to a family with a large group of children who were quick to sample the face painting on offer. As well as families, there were smaller groups of all different ages, as well as your large groups of party goers, but the general buzz was nice because it wasn’t dominated by one type of group in particular meaning everyone could have a good time.
Overall
I was impressed with Crescendo. It’s no Al Qasr but then it is a fraction of the cost (499 AED per couple on the Entertainer versus 595 AED per person at Al Qasr). I think on a sunny day when you have tables and stations around the pool alongside the indoor offerings and seatings Crescendo could be a winner. Despite not having this, I had a great time and would rate the food. The drinks are a bit mixed as mentioned but this is not unique to Crescendo and it still offers excellent value for money for what’s on offer. I’m sure I’ll be back.