The Eloquent Elephant Crunch Brunch Review

I've been wanting to try the Eloquent Elephant brunch for a while, and finally got round to trying this Business Bay gastropub recently.

Eloquent Elephant brunch: Introduction

• Name: Crunch Brunch at the Eloquent Elephant
• Location:  The Eloquent Elephant, Taj Dubai, Business Bay
• Visited: September 2016
• Cost: 350 AED (“I'm on the House” package – House Beverages, cocktails)
• Style: Menu items, served at table

Confession – I missed the introduction and explanation as I was late, but I believe the staff explained the concept wonderfully.

My brunch mates advised me of the salient details:-

1. We were on the “I'm on the house” package, which was house beverages and cocktails for 350 AED. Craft beers and champagne were available on the 499 AED “I'm so crafty” package.
2. Any course from the menu could be ordered, but must be completed before another order was made.

Eloquent Elephant brunch: What I ate

The “Smallish Plates” included Eggs Florentine, Burrata, Indian-spiced chicken liver pate, grilled chicken, Tempura Goat's Cheese.

I chose the Smoked Salmon, scrambled egg, avocado on crusty bread and it was delightful. The guacamole/avocado was especially as tasty and was as good as it looked!

 

Choosing a main course to try was troubling, as everything seemed – and looked – tempting. Eventually I settled on the Jaipur IPA battered haddock, which came with chunky chips, lemon and mushy peas. Although the pics make the portion look rather small (more like the goujons often served in Dubai rather than chippy-size) the course was rather filling and enjoyable.

So then it was time for those two favourite brunch questions we often ask ourselves:

1. Can I fit anything else in?
2. If I can, what shall I choose?

So I went for the beef and ale pies, and they were amazing – but they knocked me for six. As good as it was, I couldn't finish my mash – so game over on the food. Not even any space for a pudding (or a wafer thin mint).

 

Eloquent Elephant brunch: What others ate

Honestly, the food (and drinks) were so good, it was a battle to try and keep up with what everyone was eating – which is why there's only a few photos!

Pride of place has to be the Eloquent Elephant Build-Your-Own-Burger, where you can choose from a Wagyu patty with several toppings such as onion rings, avocado salso, mushrooms, veal bacon, cheese etc.

Here is a pic of as the manager described it, a “Mighty Elephant burger, with just about everything on it”

 

In the other pics you can see Eggs Florentine, Grilled Chicken, Onion Rings, Elephant Curry. Everyone seemed to enjoy their food, although the Elephant Curry (which was chicken) was commented on as not being as spicy as expected.

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, as the food was that good – and the drinks that varied and free-flowing, we didn't really make it to dessert. However, I can recommend the Coke Float cocktail if (like me) you tend to suffer from brunch bloat, yet still want to keep trying.

Eloquent Elephant brunch: Drinks

If there's one thing I love on a brunch, it's good cocktails (especially when included in the ‘House Beverage' price). Okay, I also like help-yourself-to-as-many-as you like lamb chops, free-flowing tequila and Haribo Gummi bears/ice cream, but that's another story.

So, in addition to balancing the wide selection of delectable food items, one needs to maintain discipline to work one's way through the cocktail list.

Here's what I managed to down, and all were great:-

• Bacardi Mason Mojito
• Margarita
• Eloquential
• Old Style Coke Float (Morgan's)

Of particular note was the EE Bloody Mary, were you can choose extras such as Tabasco, horseradish, fresh chilli, pepper etc

 

Eloquent Elephant brunch: The Good

• Service was exceptional – well explained by the Manager (who helped serve and introduce every item). Attentive waiters took our orders and consistently delivered, without any confusion or delay.
• Great music –  old-school 80s/90s/00s classics spun by Danny Cee.
• Inventive and tasty food, including some intriguing spins on classics.
• Good range of cocktails.
• The layout, style and ambiance is very, very nice – cool, yet not pretentious.
• Although there were only a few tables of brunch customers (which may be too quiet for some hardened brunchers), the atmsophere was good enough for chatting/banter whilst listening to some great tunes.

Eloquent Elephant brunch: The Not So Good/Niggles

• Given how tasty the accompaniments like avocado/Guacamole were, the homemade Tomato sauce was a little bland and tastless.
• As tasty as the Indian-spiced chicken liver pate was, it was ‘delivered' in a takeaway style brown bag. Whilst one waiter said it was meant to be served that way, another said they thought it was for ‘takeaway'. File that under ‘language barrier' I think….

Eloquent Elephant brunch: Conclusion

All in all, was very impressed with the Crunch Brunch and the Eloquent Elephant, and will certainly be heading back there soon.

Perhaps on one of the quiz nights or the steak nights, because it's got the right balance between cool, great service and a terrific drinks/food selection.

Disclosure: All of our reviews are visited anonymously, and we pay for all charges ourselves.

We feel no freebies, no bias, no PR or marketing involvement makes for a better objective and fairer review for you.


 

Have you tried the Eloquent Elephant brunch, and what do you think of it? 

What brunches in Dubai do you like? 

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