Authentic Italian Treat – Brunchiamo at Spaccanapoli – Crowne Plaza Abu Dhabi

We have visited Crown Plaza Abu Dhabi on a few occasions over the past few years as it has always been a convenient location in town for a variety of food, remember my last encounter at ChoGao. Located conveniently with Main Street Entrance at the Five Star property Spaccanapoli has recently launched an all new Friday / Saturday brunch with a Set number of courses but having menu options. Before we talk about the food, the space at Spaccanapoli is pretty ideal for a restaurant. Its longitude built naturally makes it having equal corner seatings on both sides with few long tables in the center as well as classic round one (where we seated), and I am probably not exaggerating that it has on of the best kitchen view where the Chef is preparing all those delicious dishes. With windows on the sides of the entire restaurant, I enjoyed dining at this restaurant with a cosmopolitan Capital view plus natural lighting to facilitate Mr. K’s photography venture.

 

     

 

The Food The Italian theme Brunchiamo runs deep in their Weekend Brunch Buffet at Spaccanapoli, and you will be contented to hear that they claim and very much succeed to conquer the brunch as the Italian do! No need to take a tour down all the stations from the entrance to the end of the restaurant, while the food can come right to your table. You get to select your desired options here, from the given ones in the 4-course menu, where the chef will then prepare our order in stipulated time frame (which is very quick indeed) you can see Chefs live in a theatrical action from behind the display kitchen glass.

 

     

 

First arrived at the table were a tasty offering of warm freshly made over baked bread and olive tapenades. Then we moved to Zuppa & Antipasti (i-e Soup & Starters).  In this category, we tasted a very rustic item i-e Pappa al Pomodoro a very Fresh Tuscany style hearty tomato soup. With striking red-orange color, it was an ultimate treat to our eyes and yet a very light and tasty soup. Then arrived Antipasti selection platter having grilled veg & mushrooms, a selection of Italian cheeses & charcuterie.

 

     

 

Then we moved on to different homemade traditional kinds of pasta; starting from Passatelli bolognesi classici i-e Home-style traditional parmesan infused pasta, classic Bolognese sauce. Moving on to Spaghetti ai Frutti di mare, Spaghetti with shrimps, mussels, and squid. And last the vegetarian delight, Tagliatelle fatte in Casa con Pesto alla Genovese which is, in fact, Handmade Tagliatelle with freshly made Genovese pesto. All the pasta were homemade demonstrating Chef Luca’s proficiency in the kitchen.

 

 

Our kids overwhelm the Penne Alfredo being specially prepared by Chef Luca however they still drool on to classic bolognese sauce pasta and loved it thoroughly. While Mr. K enjoyed spaghetti with fruits of the sea, my favorite was flat pasta with green pesto. It was creamy yet keeping with stunning colors and bursting with flavor in my mouth.

 

    

 

Then we moved to another highlight for us i-e the main course.  You can choose from Meat and Seafood Grill.  We tried both, let’s talk about Selezione di carni grigliate arrosto con verdure e patatone fritte first i-e Selection of grilled lamb, beef, and chicken with hand cut chips.With the hints of Garlic, Thyme & Rosemary these meats were grilled à la minute and served to your table as dainty as a dream.

 

 

We enjoyed the succulent beef as well as the fresh lamb & chicken. Of course, that is not all. There is also the Selezione di pesci grigliati e conchiglie gratinate alla Mediterranean accompagnate da verdure miste i-e Selection of grilled seafood with Mediterranean dressing and roasted vegetables. Ingredients were fresh and the quality of seafood here was top notch. Also, heirloom tomatoes and the veg portion were splendid.

 

 

For desserts, we received a black slab tray full of bite size gorgeous sweet treat of mini cakes, tarts, eclairs etc. The selection is very decent regarding variety and quality in this platter. It was a bit different presentation and taste where you would expect the classic Italian desserts like Tiramisu, Cannoli, Panna Cotta and a gelato instead. It was pleasant and yummy.

 

 

Considering an Italian brunch this place is not pricey in fact it’s all worth it for the flavor and presentation as we witnessed at Brunchiamo. This brunch is very friendly in the pocket as a compact bundle of authentic dishes and even more so for the excellent service. Our hostess (Veronica) & waitress (Jasper) are charmingly attentive and ever smiling with thorough menu knowledge and displayed truly fantastic service throughout the entire visit. It’s the kind of comfortable spot you could easily wile away those weekend hours  (we spent good 2.5 hrs) and leave happy, well-fed and thoroughly satisfied with their presentation of authentic Italian brunching.

 

 

We were lucky to try the selection of Italian Tapas as a platter in the end too, courtesy Mr, Piero & Chef Luca who took us through an entire culinary journey around Italy via Brunchiamo. We kept enjoying these authentic Italian dishes served straight from the Kitchen to our table, until we said Basta!

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Essentials:

Location: Spaccanapoli – Crowne Plaza, Hamdan Street, Al Markaziya, Abu Dhabi

Phone: 02 616 6261

Brunchiamo

Friday and Saturday 12 pm – 4 pm

Price: 200 AED ( including Soft Drinks)

Price: 300 AED ( including Mix Drinks)

Prices are inclusive of 10% Service Charge, 6% Tourism Fee and 4% Municipality Fee.

Website: https://www.ihg.com/crowneplaza/hotels/us/en/abu-dhabi

Spaccanapoli - Crowne Plaza Abu Dhabi Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato