Brunch at Muchachas by Tom & Serg
I had a friend in town last week – my first time playing hostess in my new city! I always love visiting friends who live abroad, it always seems like a much more authentic way of experiencing a place. I was keen to avoid the tourist trail and instead take my friend to my favourite spots – preferably ones where we could have an extensive de-brief of life lately, and possibly with a drink in hand.
For Friday brunch, I booked a table at Muchachas Mexican Cantina – a Tom and Serg offering in the Holiday Inn Express near Safa Park. The venue is a little out of the way and very low key but I guess it circumvents Dubai’s alcohol licensing laws and avoids the Dubai brunch cliches, y’know, ladies in ballgowns, chocolate fountains, all you can eat caviar…so I’ve heard, having not actually made it to one of these affairs yet (/ever).
The decor here is definitely millennial interior goals, a pleasant surprise after milling around the hotel reception impatiently waiting for a midday margarita. There’s a choice of drinks and a set brunch menu – the food is brought to the table so there’s no jostling at a buffet or the risk of making a Bad Decision. The “with booze” option is AED295 which is pretty good for a “Dubai brunch” offering.
I very much enjoyed the classic margarita, starting with a glass (to check I liked it) and then moving on to a jug because it had been One Of Those Weeks. My friend tried a frozen watermelon margarita before switching to the sangria, mixing drinks at lunchtime is totally fine. The food was plentiful but not guilt-inducing excessive – I loved the guacamole the most and would have happily eaten just this for three hours but the fish tacos were amazing, too, and the corn salad might have been the first vegetable I had seen all week. We finished off with churros dipped in warm chocolate sauce.
As the afternoon wore on, the music got louder, the drinks continued to flow and we deprived the wall of two sombreros. All before 4pm when we forced ourselves to leave the party-getting-started atmosphere before it got dark.
