Sure, the food at Asia De Cuba is delicious and among my favourite in the city.
Their Friday brunch is served just the way I like it, mostly to the table apart from a drinks and barbecue station, and is a great way to sample an extensive array of exotic offerings. Their lavish concoctions including crisp fingers of brioche French toast with guava marmalade and almond mascarpone, icy hot shrimp with watermelon and Napa cabbage and assortment of exotic house-made sausages, including kimchee and veal, lamb merguez, smoked adobo chicken, Asian veggie and beef bulgogi.
But there is another, pressing reason to get over to the fusion eatery in the Nation Riviera Beach Club before the hot weather descends, and that is to while away an afternoon listening to the mellow sounds of their new resident band, the five-piece, Cuban-style Sinco Pa Ti.
Most brunch entertainment, at least in my experience, skews to the slightly hammy offerings of an overly enthusiastic male-female duo. It’s often slightly cringe-worthy entertainment that has you enjoying your brunch in spite of the performing, not because of.
Sinco Pa Ti (meaning, roughly, ‘five and synchronization, for you’) is nothing like that. They may be colour-coordinated, but their smooth, trumpet-led sounds conjure up Havana - and at just the right sound level to enjoy. And while the musicians have been around for awhile, this is a new ensemble. Ranging in age from 26 to 55, the members have individually opened for artists including Tito Puente Jr, Bobby Cruz and Richie Ray.
As Carlos Viatella, lead keyboard player and vocalist, likes to say: “We aim for the feet!”.
• Asia de Cuba is located in the St Regis Nation Riviera Beach Club - Abu Dhabi. Their Chino Latino Brunch by the Beach is offered every Friday from 12-4pm in three packages: Dh325, Dh425 and Dh525, depending on the beverages. Sinco Pa Ti performs on Thursday from 9.30pm-12.30am, Friday from 12-4pm and 9.30pm-12.30am. For more information or to book, call 02 699 3333.
amcqueen@thenational.ae
The National was a guest of the venue.
