Bistro Madeline (Intercontinental Hotel, Dubai Festival City) and Citymax Hotel Friday Brunch

I received a promotional email saying Bistro Madeline (Intercontinental Hotel, Dubai Festival City) was serving a platter of seafood for AED 160 per person.

Tempted, we went over on Thursday evening but instead there was a buffet running (I didn’t ask if À la carte was an option because the buffet looked so good). The servers were extremely pleasant and took us around the buffet explaining the various dishes. I really cannot describe the dishes because I don’t remember any of the names. From what I remember the buffet consisted of the following - salads, stew (seafood, chicken and beef), salmon, various cheeses and desserts (crepes, apple tart, chocolate mousse cake, crème brûlée, fresh fruits, caramel etc). There was a separate corner for the pork and cheese.

The buffet with unlimited soft drinks was AED 185 per person (with unlimited wine was 40 bucks more). My hubby and I absolutely loved the food. I recommend the chocolate mousse cake which was heavenly. My hubby loved the roast pork.

On Friday afternoon we met up with a few friends for brunch in Citymax (Bur Dubai). We first headed to Times Café which was too crowded and then opted for Citymax which was spacious and bright (unlike Times which is dimly lit). The brunch was AED 79 with 2 fosters and AED 59 with 2 soft drinks (or unlimited – the server was thoroughly confused and she couldn’t remember the prices/options of the buffet). Anyhow, the food was pretty good and included items like roast turkey, oven roasted potatoes, cauliflower au gratin, pasta, stir fried noodles, seafood stew, fish in garlic sauce, stir fried vegetables and a few Indian dishes. Desserts included strawberry mousse, chocolate mousse, rabadi (Indian dessert), some sort of kheer (I am not sure whether it was an Indian or Arabic dessert – nonetheless it was salty), caramel and fresh fruits. The mousse was yummy but I can’t say the same for the rest of the desserts.

On Saturday afternoon we went for lunch to Lamcy Plaza. We tried the fish and chips from Salt n Vinegar at the Food Court. It was nothing fantastic but fish deep fried in batter and chips. I couldn't eat it all as the deep fried batter was kinda heavy.

All in all one tummy filling weekend!