Dont weekends go really quickly? That’s this weekend nearly over, but it has  been fun.

Thursday night none of us could be bothered to cook, so it was decided a visit to Mr Toads kitchen was called for.  You might remember, Mr Toads is more or less our local being just accross the road from us. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean we can just wander over to the place in a few seconds. Oh no. It’s the wrong side of the perimeter fence for the Green Community. So it’s a rather long walk. So we didn’t. We drove there instead. How lazy is that.  We do normally walk home, collecting the car the next day. But we didn’t do that either we grabbed a handy cab and got a ride home too.  I know. Shocking, but it was rather warm and unpleasantly sticky, so that’s my excuse.

If it’s of any consolation, I did take Snuggles the super dog for a really long  walkies when we got back. That’s got to  count for something?

Friday, the plan was to go to The Double Tree by Hilton at Jumeirah Beach Resort, down by the Dubai Marina.  There we were going to try The Copper Dog weekend breakfast. And so we did.

It was great.  We arrived quite early, getting there around 10.30am, meaning it was quiet. In fact I think we were the first customers of the day. Usually,  we go later in the day and it’s heaving.  It was pleasant being able to choose a table and not have to elbow your way through a crowd for a change.

When we heard that a Copper Dog was opening in Dubai, we were very excited.  Those of you at the back paying attention will recall that our local pub back in Scotland is called the Copper Dog.  Yes. They are related. Sisters I suppose.  When the place first opened, a lot of staff from our UK local came accross to work in Dubai. It gave the place a nice Scottish feel and it was great seeing friendly familiar faces. Small daughter absolutely adored one of the staff members.  Tammy used to spoil Sarah in Scotland and was just as good at spoiling her here in Dubai. Always makes for a happy daughter when she is the center of attention.  And a happy daughter means a happy Wannabe, as I can then relax and indulge without having to worry about bored small people kicking off.

Sadly, all of the staff we knew seem to have moved on. Tammy is back in Scotland in the original Copper Dog at Craigellachie. We were sorry to see them go. I think having them in Dubai  certainly added to the originality and Scottish feel of the place.  It gave it something different.  Now it’s just another Dubai bar, albeit a good one, but with the same staff, same booze selection, (very disappointed they have lost the dark beer option, but at least they retain an impressively extensive, if expensive, whisky collection) and the same loud music found everywhere else.

It’s still a good place to visit and I had heard good things about the weekend breakfast, so there we where. Wifey and I opted for the Copper Dog Breakfast. Good choice. Two types of sausage, a choice of eggs; we both went for sunny side up, but could had scrambled, poached or an omellette. Mushrooms, beans, bacon, hash browns, tomato and rustic toast.  Yum. 

Small daughter opted for a large and well filled bacon bap, which she smothered in ketchup and  ended up wearing most of it. She followed that with pancakes and maple syrup plus a mountain of whipped cream. See, responsible parents us.

To drink we had fresh squeezed OJ all round and coffee for wifey and I. Very pleasant indeed. A suggestion to anyone who decides to try breakfast at the Dog. Ask for ice free OJ. Our first glass was more ice than juice and it really is nice juice, so cut out the ice. It wasn’t horribly expensive either so we will definitely be back. Might ask them to get some square sausage next time.

After what was a huge breakfast we went for a walk along the Jumeirah Beach front.  I can see the attraction of living in an apartment here.  There are so many restaurants, bars,  cafes and coffee shops on your doorstep. We would never cook again. Most of the guys I work with seem to live in this area and it is pleasant. Traffic gets a bit iffy at times but then,  where in Dubai doesn’t suffer from traffic issues.  No,  if we end up staying in Dubai for another few years, I think JBR is a definite possibility. Small daughter would be in her element.  The public beach is very nice and she loves the beach and messing around in the water. She would be happy as Larry.  We also came accross the largest inflateable water fun park in the world, moored just off the beach.  Perfect. That was one small girl happy for the rest of the day.

We hired a cabana for the day (AED 310 pus 4 towels) and basically relaxed. Well alright. I lounged about whilst wifey and small daughter went aqua playpark’ing. Again you buy a day pass, grab your life vest and off you go. (AED150 for adults, AED120 for kids, I think). Looked like fun, if hard work from where I was lying flat and enjoying the sun.  Small daughter reckoned it was brilliant. Wifey reckons it was invented by a sadistic evil genius. Try it f0r yourselves and you decide.  The big revelation for me were Beeritas. Frozen margarita mixed with a bottle of malted beverage. Might sound a bit ’eaugh’, but very refreshing. These were non alcoholic, but back in our Jakarta days, the Eastern Promise in Kemang used to serve Lageritas. Same idea only definitely very alcoholic. Ahh, happy days.

When we finally prised small daughter off the aquafin thingy, it was a short drive home, a quick change and then out for dinner.  I mistakenly thought we were heading back to The Double Tree Hilton at JBR, but no. Got that wrong. It was a Double Tree, but at Business Bay, home to Le Petit Belge and their Friday Evening ‘brunch’.  The hotel seems a perfectly ok hotel, but it’s not in the best location in my opinion. Still the bar was nice and the food good. Typical Belgian beer assortment on draft, including Kreik, Hoegarden, Leffe Blond and Brown, Stella Artois and Stella Cidre and a few more. Oddly, in the brunch package, only the Stella Cidre and bottled Hoegarden or Stella Artois are included. It is a drink till you fall over deal, so perhaps gassy bottled beer stops you drinking too much? There’s something about going to a pub to drink bottled beer that doesn’t work for me. I can drink bottled beer at home, I like draft beer. So, I started with  couple of draft Kreik’s. I like it, it’s a little sweet and a tad girly I admit, but I like it so there.  Wifey likes Stella Cidre, so she was quite happy. I moved onto Hoegarden once we started eating, as there’s only so much Kriek you can drink.

The brunch is a fixed menu and was rather good. We started with beef carpaccio and a mushroom crostini. The mushrooms in particular were really good.  Chicken wings, strange cheesey balls, salad and sliders followed. I thought the cheesy balls were bitterballen at first, but they weren’t. Wasn’t a particularly strong flavored cheese and to be honest I wasn’t keen. The sliders were good and, well  you can’t go wrong with chicken wings.

A bunch of mains followed. Beef brisket  with roasted potatoes; mussels in  a cream wine sauce, lamb casserole and a beef stew with Belgian fries and a very strange Mac & Cheese.  Way too much food and we were stuffed long before this lot arrived, but we battled on bravely, just for your benefit, dear reader.  Our verdict. The beef was a bit tough, the two stews very rich and the mussels wonderful. As for the Mac & Cheese? Wow but it was loaded with garlic. Neither of us was prticular;y impressed with it and we were far too full anyway, so it went largely untouched.  Believe it or not, desert followed. A Belgian chocolate mousse and a deconstructed apple crumble.  You’ll have to rely on wifeys impression of these as I simply couldn’t eat another bite. Chocolate mousse was yummy, apple crumble was ok.

All in all, the food was good. As for value for money, we used an Entertainer 2 for 1 voucher, so the whole bill including my off brunch menu beers came to around AED 450. Not bad at all and I suspect we will give it another go sometime, once we recover.

As usual, Saturday’s are all about getting ready for work and next week.  We have been shopping, caught up on small girls homework, polished shoes, and taken Snuggles to the doggy play park so he can have a good romp around. As we speak, I am roasting  chicken for dinner. It may be 30 odd degrees outside, but it’s Sunday with  Saturday feel. Or possibly Saturday with a Sunday feel? Either way, it’s never too hot for a roast dinner ala back in the UK.  After dinner a movie and then early to bed to start the weekly grind of awake at 05.00 and dog walking before work.

Still, it will soon be the weekend.