Bateaux Dubai

This brunch-time cruise has the setting nailed. The food? That’s another story 5 Reviews

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One doesn’t typically associate dinner cruises with hot, young things, or with DJs blaring funky Latin tunes, for that matter. It’s the kind of thing we tend to link with the blue-haired set. Bateaux Dubai, however, has sexed up cruise dining with its new Friday brunch, which employs the skills of DJ Sticky Fingers to make the whole venture a lot... younger.

It wouldn’t be a cruise without a Caribbean theme: during our visit we encountered parrots dotting the drapes that hung from the ceiling, while white tablecloths were decorated with arrangements of bright orange flowers. Starters came in the form of canapés on trays, and while my date and I enjoyed the selection of fresh seafood (we were particularly smitten with a tasty prawn-filled puff pastry and a simple salmon and cucumber sandwich), the way in which they were served hindered our indulgence. We wanted to fill up on the hors d’oeuvres, but were shamed at the thought of grabbing them recklessly from the sweet-natured waiter’s tray.

Mains may have been better if they weren’t served from buffet tables that had been basking in the sun (they were located out on the deck). It was also difficult to get too excited by the meagre options available. The best bets were fresh prawns grilled at live cooking stations, and a pasta salad with plantains, raisins, pineapple and coconut. Meat dishes, however, left something to be desired. A roast dinner was alarmingly inconsistent; one slice of meat was deliciously pink and tender, while another was dry and a tad sour. Lamb curry had a nice, toasty sauce, but what I kept thinking was lamb was inevitably bone.

We found ourselves still a little hungry after the mains (a rarity at a buffet), so figured we could at least fill up on desserts. Alas, these too were served from catered trays, and hence we barely got our fill of these either. What was on offer lacked variety. Basically, there was fruit, in varying forms – we sampled fruit with yoghurt, fruit cake, and fruit in a pastry cup.

The brunch did have a couple of saving graces: it was scenic, and the alcohol was unlimited. In fact, for a party, it wasn’t bad at all, and we found we quite enjoyed ourselves on the three-hour cruise. While it’s
not a bad place to take non-fussy out-of-towners, it’s probably not an experience that any true foodie would appreciate.

• Previous reviews
  • 19 March,2009- reviewed by Time Out Dubai staff
  • 01 December,2008- reviewed by Daisy Carrington
  • 26 March,2008- reviewed by Jeremy Lawrence
  • 03 March,2008- reviewed by Jeremy Lawrence
  • 12 March,2007- reviewed by Time Out Dubai Staff
  • 30 April,2006- reviewed by Time Out Dubai
  • 12 December,2005- reviewed by Matthew Lee
  • 01 December,2003- reviewed by Rob Orchard

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