My investigation into finding a traditional roast dinner in Abu Dhabi continued last weekend over at the Friday Roast Brunch at Cooper’s at the Park Rotana Abu Dhabi. I mentioned the brunch in my last post about the current options for traditional roasts in the city, but had not yet tried it out and told you I’d report back as soon as I had – so here I am now, letting you in on what it’s all about….
Cooper’s is already well established as a popular pub to visit and I can understand why – did you know they have the longest happy hour in Abu Dhabi? Yes, it’s true – their happy hour runs every single day of the week from 12pm to 12am… They also have ladies nights not just one night of the week, but a different ladies promotion five nights a week from Monday to Friday. That’s pretty hard to beat I’d reckon.
Anyway, back to the traditional roast brunch which is what you’ve all come here to find out about. And before you say it – I know – most of the big hotel Friday brunches in Abu Dhabi include a carvery and roast station, but that’s not what I’ve been looking for. What I’ve been after is just a plain, simple traditional roast dinner that doesn’t have to be a full on all-day event or cost me a small fortune to avail. Sometimes you just want a nice traditional weekend roast at lunchtime, maybe washed down with a cheeky beverage, and then to be able to get on with whatever else it was you were planning to do with your weekend don’t you agree?
Token salads to make you feel better about indulging 🙂
Well, at Cooper’s Friday brunch you can do just that if you choose because it is such good value, and that also means that you can stay and make the most of it and have the full on Friday session if you’d rather, but at least the choice is yours!
So the brunch of course has a first course and starts with salads, and as lovely as they looked, I’m afraid I was focused on my roast and didn’t want to spoil my game plan of leaving plenty of room to fill up on the good stuff. Hehe, oh yes, thems the rules of how to navigate a brunch for me! 🙂 But still, if you do like to start off on the less guilty feeling foot, it’s good to know they do offer some decent fresh and crispy choices to keep you happy!
Roast beef
Now for the main event, and you’ll be pleased to know there’s a choice of meats to choose from – roast beef, turkey and chicken.
Roast turkey and chicken
Of course all served with the correct meat appropriate gravy…
And not forgetting what makes a roast a real roast – a decent yorkshire pudding! In my opinion, a roast just isn’t a bona fide roast without yorkie puds.
Look at the size of those Yorkie puds!
And just look at the size of those bad boys! And what’s more, they’re kept warm in a separate serving dish so you can help yourself and not feel any guilt about taking as many as you like… It’s just not the same if you have to ask the chef to dish up the yorkie puds – that’s when food-guilt ensues and you feel bad if you ask for more than one! (Or is that just me?!) Ha, anyway at Cooper’s it’s the ideal situation, and all food-guilt scenarios are happily avoided!
The finished product
I have to say the carving chef was incredibly generous with his portions of meat. Clearly Cooper’s is not a place you ever need to worry about your meat to veg ratio being off. My picture above doesn’t really do it justice, but I was given several pieces of my meat of choice – turkey – and at least one of them was literally a huge triangular doorstop of meaty goodness.
A tempting selection of desserts on offer
After munching my way through my prized roast (which I haven’t mentioned was exactly what the doctor ordered – it really hit the spot), I managed to force myself to peruse the dessert options (see, there’s one good reason to swerve the salad!), and I was pleased with what I found. Those fond of their salad as part of a brunch will be pleased to know there was an array of fruits and sauces on offer, but for the rest of us, there’s plenty of ‘real’ choice from Tiramisu, Cheesecake (with a real biscuit base), Oreo Chocolate Cake and Passion Fruit Sponge amongst the mix. There was even a hot Chocolate Pudding which I didn’t sample but it smelled amazing!
Dessert!
Heartily satisfied and with plenty of time left to spend the afternoon doing something else – we had got exactly what we came for, and were able to leave very pleased.
The brunch at Cooper’s is every Friday from 12pm to 4pm with last orders at 3.30pm and is very impressively priced at:
Dhs125 per person including soft drinks
Dhs160 per person including house beverages
Dhs190 per person including premium beverages
I also have it on good authority that they will be changing up the brunch slightly for the festive month of December, and a stuffed turkey will also be on offer throughout the month. Watch out for this and Cooper’s other regular offers by clicking this link here.
And did you know the hotel has a spa?! A well-kept secret perhaps, but for those who live nearby, do check it out – you can get yourself a 90 minute aromatherapy massage for just Dhs450. For more info on the spa and their offers, click here.
Park Rotana Spa and Wellness Centre
So that’s all for now folks! You can read my previous round up on traditional roast dinners in Abu Dhabi by clicking here. And that’s it – thanks for reading, now it’s over to you to go and get amongst it yourselves – but don’t forget to come back and let me know what you thought too!
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