Located at: Sheikh Zayed Road, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Visited on: 04 May, 2018

This restaurant has been one of our favourites in Dubai for years. We started off enjoying the place as occasional diners, mostly reveling in the delicious food they offer on their à la carte menu. And then we discovered their Friday brunch. And became regular “brunchers” at the place. It’s a sort of all-you-can-eat fixed menu that they refer to as ‘50 Flavours of Vietnam’. You can re-order what you like as many times as you want to, and you can skip anything that’s not up your alley. Food-only packages are rated at AED 185 per person, AED 205 to include soft beverages, and AED 310 to include house beverages. It’s as simple as that. And beyond that, it’s absolutely, fabulously scrumptious!

I’m attaching herewith images of the brunch menu since there are too many items (with Vietnamese names) to mention individually. We’ve been doing this brunch for a few years now, but to be honest, it’s hard to pick one or a few favourite(s). Everything has a unique texture and flavour. I shall, however, mention a few items that are still fresh in my mind from our last visit, and stuck out (ever so slightly) above the rest.

The Salmon rolls with Vietnamese dill, which were essentially maki rolls, tasted light and fresh. The garlic topping sprinkled over the Wok-fried golden garlic prawns have always been a winner at our table. As have the crunchy prawns themselves, of course. The Deep-fried vegetable spring rolls with sweet chilli sauce tasted better than I can ever recall – so crisp on the outside and creamy on the inside. We ordered a second round of these and the garlic prawns! I particularly enjoyed the Vietnamese rice paper roll with chicken, shrimp and home-made fish sauce very much this time too. There was so much yumminess going on in the flavour and mixture of textures.

Entrées

Soup and Salads

Of course, the Pan-fried sweet prawns with spicy sambal sauce was also great. Crunch of a different sort this time. Their Oven-baked sea bass with onion and ginger was delicious too, as always. So soft, with wonderfully subtle but well-stated flavours. The Vietnamese grilled chicken was beautifully marinated and tasted perfect. And finally, the Mango purée with coconut ice cream. I couldn’t be too far from the truth if I said that this is probably what most guests at Hoi An’s brunch secretly (and patiently) really look forward to at this brunch. It really doesn’t get much better than this dessert. The consistency of the purée, the subtle creaminess of the home-made coconut ice cream, and the concoction of the two beautifully controlled flavours – absolutely delectable. Encore!

Main Course and Side Dish

Desserts

As I mentioned earlier, it’s hard to pick favourites on this brunch menu. Which is why I have ended up mentioning about a third of the items on my ‘pick list’. It’s quite amazing how Hoi An has come up with this seemingly complex yet simple menu that is so delectable and satisfying to the palate. So bright, so colourful and so cheerful – if I were to explain in a visual sense. And what’s most admirable is that they have consistently maintained the quality of their food on each and every occasion. Impeccable.

Dear Shangri-La, do consider opening a branch of Hoi An at Shangri-La Colombo. Thank you.

Yummy Rating: 4.5 / 5.0

Special offers: Emirates Platinum card holders get 50% taken off the total bill.