Here’s a picnic in the skies. The picnic is not actually happening in the ground but rather hosted on the outdoor terrace of the skyline lounge of the Crowne Plaza Hotel, DFC. The picnic has been very well done with white benches, umbrellas, picnic mats and cushions. Diners will get beautiful view of Dubai skyline and Creek. Picnic brunch offers a selection of delectable treats from BBQ stations, LIVE seafood grills, Make your own Burger and Nachos station. Kids also have their own buffet which includes tempting snacks, salads, appetizers, pop corns & ice creams. Moreover they also have LIVE music and kids play area filled with jokers, face painting, bouncy castle and other fun filled activities. Oh and how can I forget diners also have free access to swimming pool.
- What: Picnic Pantry Brunch at Skyline
- Where: Crowne Plaza Hotel, Dubai Festival City
- When: Fridays and Saturdays 12:30pm to 4pm
- Price: AED 245 including soft beverages. AED 345 including house beverages.
Children aged 12 years and under dine complimentary with every one paying adult
From the moment we entered the skyline terrace, we could feel the energy at the Picnic. Live splashes in the swimming Pool, Live music in the background, people carrying picnic baskets and moving around from one station to the other. So you had the option to either sit on chairs or benches, or sit in the ground and have a real picnic. We obviously went for the classic one, sitting on the floor surrounded by cushions and bean bags with a center table that had an empty basket, cutlery and cold water. We have could just carry this empty basket, go to stations and pick up whatever we wanted. The arrangement was impressive and never had so much fun in a brunch.
For drinks you can order Mocktails to your table or just pickup the fresh juices and smoothies available at the Picnic Pantry. Mocktails come colorful and is worth a try and specially as the climate is getting warmer, the mocktails have extra ice in them which does help. They have a dedicated refreshment station separately from the fruit juices and smoothies section.
They’ve got all that you need to start well. You can start with Granolas if you want to call it a real brunch. They had plenty of cold starters and almost all the signature arabic cold dippers such as the hummus, mouthabal, Muhammara. Lots of different cheese to try. They also have sushis except they were packed so it really wasn’t enticing. You can see the chefs frequently refilling the pantry as we are busy emptying them.
Make your own Burger and Nachos station was one of the busy stations. Imagine, you making your own burger and stuffing it with all those favourite ingredients of yours as much as you wanted. The best part they had all the top quality items such as the Gaucamole etc which you could relish as much as you wanted. Ofcourse, if you wanted the chef to make you a burger he would be there to help you as well. Same went with the Nachos. The french fries was crispy and just the way it should be. Quite impressed with their generous buffet.
Just can’t ignore their Grill station. You could see them grilling seafood and meats fresh in front of you. The Prawns were juicy as ever. They also had Salmon which was nice and fresh. We actually weren’t impressed with the chicken to be honest. Rest of the meats including the kebabs were ever tempting. They’ve also got these fantastic sauces next to them so it really has been a wonderful experience eating their grills.
Kids had a great time. Lots of activities for them. They also have their private buffet station with all those essentials that a kid would love to eat. There was a clown who was interactive with the kids and kept them on their toes by poking with balloons and making jokes. The interesting activity where actually the games that were arranged for the kids. You would find more kids using the swimming pool than adults. Kids also had a selection of ice creams and candies.
The Smoker
- Beef Brisket
- Tamarind burn pineapple Spicy beef ribs
- Honey mustard glaze spiced chicken with smoked parika
- Harissa cajun spice marinated salmon
- Lamb leg with herbs
- Coriander oil smoked cauliflower, pumpkin and carrots
This is the place where you will find the real meat lovers! infact once you visit here, you just might end up your brunch at this station alone. These meats were just amazing, well marinated and juicy cuts that you just can’t get enough of it. We almost tried every possible cut and let me tell you, it was the best. This is where you actually recover the cost for your brunch and say it was really worth it. Genuine high quality meats and unlimited delight in eating them. A smoker station designed to thrill those beef lovers specially. I can say we experienced the best of beef here.
For Desserts that had cakes, tarts, cookies, pies, Tiramisu but overall the desserts didn’t have the bells and whistles such as their mains and starters. I would consider the desserts to be just ok. Nothing really great about them. But the rest of the experience at the Picnic Pantry has been wonderful. Click below to see pictures in full screen view and click here to visit their official website:
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