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Enjoy a stellar brunch before the festive flee

Are all your friends busy or out of town over the coming weeks? Get together one last time and make it special

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IN BRITAIN THEY call in Mad or Frantic Friday (FF): the last day of work (or more importantly the evening after clocking-off) before the Christmas break. In every other year swathes of weary office colleagues would pour onto the streets to party together long into the night before going their separate ways until the New Year. Admittedly 2020’s festive season may look a little different for the UK’s revelers, but here in Dubai we have noticed many people are still either making last-minute dashes home or planning on bolting themselves inside for the coming couple of weeks, which makes this weekend our FF. We see it as a chance to get together for an unofficial Xmas shindig, or maybe just a farewell to a miserable 2020. So we thought we’d head out somewhere about as top-notch as they come.

We don’t know what it is about the Four Seasons Jumeirah’s Restaurant Village, yet its establishments have almost become bywords for quality. Perched at the top of the pile is COYA, one of the few Latin American joints in the city to continuously push truly remarkable produce as well as capitalising on the region’s vibrant atmosphere. Its Friday brunch is UAE-revered and even a ‘must-dine’ for many a visitor. Recently rocking up to sit down with a table of four, we have to concede from the off, it’s clear to see why.

Bathed in the mid-afternoon light emanating from large bay windows, the procession of multi-dimensional Peruvian courses took on an almost dream-like quality. The feast began with freshly prepared-at-the table guacamole served with prawn crackers among other crisps. With the rapid introduction it became obvious the servers are not only presenters of the eatery’s cuisine, but curators of experience. Each course discretely melded into the preceding, seamlessly weaving a tapestry of fine south of the border fare. Highlighted by an injection of exquisite sushi rolls (a nod to Peru’s vast Japanese origin population), other notable items in the three and a half-hour affair included saucy mini chicken tacos, a creamy ceviche and a cut of Wagyu before a main of Chilean sea bass, rice, lime and chili brought the group to a standstill. Such was the expert preparation of the fish, one of the party inquired into deliveries. A dessert avalanche followed to round off the meal with creations such as delicious alfajores, chichi Morada and churros de naranja, but we will be returning for the sea bass.

Where: COYA Dubai

Best dish: Sea bass

Price: From Dh409 (brunch)