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Growing up, one of the earliest nutritional lessons I learned was the idea of three meals a day. Brunch is an aberration of this idea, which is why it has always fascinated me and tickled my imagination.
If I were a hobbit, it’d be my second breakfast crossing over into my elevenses. And the amount and variety of food we sampled at the Intercontinental Regency’s festive Brunchism this weekend certainly would justify the extended meal time.
The Brunchism experience, which brings together the most popular offerings from Selections, Medzo and Legendz restaurants, traditionally runs every Friday from 12:30pm to 4pm.
When the GulfWeekly team had visited the launch of the Brunchism experience, I was a wee young lad, at least in terms of buffets experienced. I overloaded on the pasta, tacos and sushi, ending up in a day-long food coma.
This weekend, however, I went back a wizened buffet wizard. I started the afternoon adventure with a walk around the salad spread at the Selections restaurant. As we were serenaded by the lovely tunes provided by DD and the Groove, I loaded up on tabbouleh, grilled vegetables with goat cheese and the oriental lentil soup.
As I walked around, executive sous chef Mohammed Samara watched pensively, chatting occasionally about the palette of palate pleasers and encouraging me to take larger portions.
Rounding off the appetisers, I nabbed a few mussels and oysters. The preparations were delectable and I personally loved the lentil soup, finding it flavourful and mouth-watering, setting the perfect palate for the courses to come.
For the main course, I headed over to Legendz to get a taste of the turkey. While turkey has now become the hallmark of holiday feasts, there were pragmatic reasons for eating turkey rather than, say, chicken at a feast like Christmas. The birds are large enough that they can feed a table full of hungry friends and family, and unlike chickens or cows, they don’t serve an additional purpose like laying eggs or making milk.
Not to say there was any shortage of chicken and beef, but the turkey made the occasion all the more festive. The beef brisket looked good too, but not wanting an early heart attack, I declined politely.
I also tried some of the Indian dishes, including the daal and the palak paneer, finding them both astonishingly delicious, especially with the freshly-made naan bread.
Feeling like a true hobbit, I went for a second main course, choosing to try the grills at Medzo, picking a succulent skewer of shish taouk which was grilled in front of my eyes and hand-delivered to our table.
Having saved just enough room for dessert (and even if there wasn’t, my stomach went through a split-second renovation to add a few rooms), I headed over to the dessert library.
This is truly where the Brunchism experience shines. Gingerbread houses, fresh crepes, a chocolate fondue and a lordly display of cakes tempted me. But I elected for a chocolate mousse and some cookies, promising myself that I would return on Christmas to devour the remaining desserts.
The highlights, come Christmas Eve, will be the turkey as well as the festive desserts, some of which are already starting to make their way into the library.
The Christmas Eve Brunchism will take place on Dec 24 from 7pm to 10:30pm and is priced at BD22 per person or BD32, with select beverages. For more information, contact 17227777.
