Heart of Europe: Is this Dubai’s most unique Sunday brunch?

It takes you to 'Monaco', has a street that rains on demand and is cheaper than many on the mainland

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  The vibrant Cote d’Azur Monaco Hotel looms over a large swimming pool, complete with submerged loungers. Photo: Cote d’Azur Monaco Hotel / Heart of Europe

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  The beach brunch offers several Instagram-friendly spots. Photo: Cote d’Azur Monaco Hotel / Heart of Europe

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  The raining street is a short walk away from the balmy beach. Photo: Cote d’Azur Monaco Hotel / Heart of Europe

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  In the summer, the brunch will spill over into the hotel's lobby. Photo: Cote d’Azur Monaco Hotel / Heart of Europe

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  The brunch offers an array of seafood including mussels, tuna, salmon and Dibba Bay oysters. Photo: Radhika More

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  Fresh prawns and tuna can be enjoyed at this beachside brunch 30 minutes away from Dubai mainland. Photo: Radhika More

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  A private yacht takes guests to La Fete de Monaco brunch on the Heart of Europe island

Escapism. We all seek it in one form or another, be it via Rowling, gaming or Dubai Bling. Arguably, travel is the ultimate form of distraction, whether you’re physically boarding a flight or indulging in the armchair variety.

Last weekend, I decided to combine the yearning to escape — if only for the few hours that baby M was on a play date — with a hankering for an offbeat Dubai brunch. Enter La Fete de Monaco in Cote d’Azur Hotel on the Heart of Europe.

In 2019, when I first visited this neck of the World Islands — a 30-minute boat ride from Dubai — Monaco was the cluster that stood out most. The project is now near completion, and yet the multicoloured facade of this island’s hotel exudes as fresh and fun a vibe as the first day I saw it.

Even the oh-so-cool Floating Seahorse villas cannot quite compete with the vibrant tri-sided building looming large over a shaded swimming pool. Replete with the promise of sophistication and hedonism alike, the adults-only hotel offers a beachside Sunday brunch to boot.

You’re not merrymaking on any old beach, either. This one channels the French Riviera in all its unabashed glory. Think soft white sand, coral-strewn azure waters (the island cultivates its own corals and marine life including baby sharks), and cherry red and sunshine yellow parasols. And you can only access the venue via boat, in this case aboard a luxe private yacht from Jumeirah 3.

The National's Panna Munyal, left, with friends on the private Heart of Europe yacht that takes guests to La Fete De Monaco brunch

The act of setting sail, if only for a half-hour, promotes the thrills of a new adventure and a sense of leaving the everyday behind.

The pool — with its submerged loungers, larger-than-life floaties and central tanning deck — is a big draw of the brunch, but more innovative still is the hotel’s “raining street”. Here a row of rooftop sprinklers send forth a Mumbai monsoon-style downpour (with no potholes to contend with).

A stroll along the uber-pretty street, with its barrel-style tables and cheery red and white polka-dot awnings is more refreshing than your usual pool-beach brunches.

And then there’s the food, which could give any gourmet meal a run for its money, being as it’s priced at Dh400 a pop (inclusive of free-flowing drinks). Ordinarily you’d pay far more for such a spread of caviar, oysters and foie gras at most fine-dining establishments on the mainland.

The brunch offers an array of seafood including mussels, tuna, salmon and Dibba Bay oysters. Photo: Radhika More

Here you can eat your fill of the above exotic ingredients, plus tuna, mussels, chicken and mushroom vol-au-vent, lamb chops, tiger prawns, beef bourguignon burgers and duck confit sandwiches, each decadently prepared and plated. The quinoa salad aside, vegetarians are not as well catered for in the main spread, but the kitchen whipped up a passable pasta for the odd man out in our party.

“We work with local producers where possible, sourcing mushrooms from a dealer in Sharjah, salmon farmed in Jebel Ali and oysters from Dibba Bay,” the group executive chef tells me. “The dishes are influenced by the Mediterranean cuisine of Monaco, but cooked in the Provence style with a dash of northern Italian techniques thrown in.”

The music — a staple of any successful brunch or beach party — is another big draw. DJ Irma from Ukraine spins her love of old-school hip-hop into her sets, as well as mixing up songs from the 1980s and 1990s with RnB, Afrobeat, Latin and the commercial hits “everyone knows and likes”, she says.

Pool brunches and beach parties are a dime a dozen in Dubai. But one that ferries you about on a private yacht, offers gourmet food for a fraction of its usual cost and transports you to the French Riviera (at least in spirit), that is an experiential meal I’d escape to any given weekend of the year.

Being able to cool off on a street where it rains on demand doesn’t hurt, either.

La Fete De Monaco brunch at Cote D’Azur Monaco Hotel on the Heart of Europe Island is from 1pm to 5pm every Sunday. Packages start from Dh400, inclusive of yacht transfers (carry your original Emirates ID or passport to board) and pool access. For reservations, contact 055 226 9353 or [e-mail]