Omakase Brunch at Sushi San, Holiday Inn Abu Dhabi
Let Chef Jessica take you on a culinary journey through her ‘real fresh’ and specifically curated Japanese dishes at Sushi San. Introducing the ‘Omakase’ brunch concept where it focuses on the chef choice experience. Read on further for my detailed afternoon at the Omakase Brunch at SushiSan.
Arrival
We arrived one Friday afternoon to their location in Holiday Inn Abu Dhabi. They have ample seating throughout the restaurant, including a large long slab table which can seat up to 18 guests at a time. They have a live DJ playing music during the brunch to set the ambiance and a live sushi station of the chef setting up the sushi meals.
Friday Brunch soft package start at AED 179++, house beverages package at AED258++ per person.
Table booking recommended call 02 6574890.
Beverages
It was such a warm welcome to be greeted upon arrival with welcome drinks. A choice of yuzu or a fruit cocktail. I enjoyed both but opted for refills of the yuzu several times as this flavor is not widely available everywhere. For our drink package, we opted for two different types of house sake, one fruity and one original. The display of the sake glasses was so lovely, it came in a wooden 4-glass holder which we used throughout the brunch. Free-flow wine and beer was available along with the alcoholic drinks brunch package.
If you have any dietary restrictions –
you can let your chef know prior or at the beginning of your meal.
Food
The Omakase brunch is split into 4 separate courses – they want their guests to enjoy in the specific order: appetizers, main, shared dishes, dessert. Please note that due to the nature of the Omakase style brunch, each week the chef may change the offerings accordingly.
Appetizers
My table was presented with an appetizer set for each guest. It was complete with a hot miso soup, vegetable tempura on the side and a Japanese salad with peanut dressing.
Mains
The main was beautiful presented on a black slab and patterned with assorted sashimi, a selection of nigiris and panko chicken. The panko chicken was pretty unique with the coating of bread crumbs.
Pass Arounds
The pass around shared dishes was the part I enjoyed the most as it was my first time trying most of the dishes offered here. I love this concept as I was able to get just a small taster size of the new items and could ask for more as I wished. The presentation of these dishes were also very thoughtfully crafted. The servers brought these items in one at a time for us to enjoy.
Our pass around selection included:
Tuna and crabstick pizza
Inari (fried sweet tofu)
Smoked salmon roll
Beetroot sushi
Chicken and mushroom dumplings
Beef onigiri
Ultimate dynamite shrimp
Dessert
The brunch ended with a lovely dessert – panna cotta with diced apple and yuzu palette cleanser. I thought the portion was just perfect and a good ending to a long brunch.
Overall, it was an enjoyable experience. We got to try out so many different dishes I have not tasted before. I had to ask the server again for the names of them so I would remember which ones I would order again. I’d love to come back again but would like to see more interaction between the chef and the guests in the future.
