What an absolute pleasure to be able to write what is going to be an entirely positive post!  I have nothing but good things to say about this weekends brunching overindulgence!

I’ve been to Nineteeen at the Address Montgomerie more times than I care to admit.  Each time I hoped it would be as good as the first time and sadly, it failed or just got worse.

Thankfully I was in the mood for a roast dinner and totally blanked some of the poorest experiences.

Nineteen has not only gone through a refurbishment, but it’s Saturday brunch has too! There is no table service for anything other than drinks now, which is great because it means it’s easier to mix and match!

Let me tell you about the bits I did sample…

I started with a little taster of sushi and sashimi.  It’s all in a nice chiller cabinet and the chef hands you whatever it is you pick.  I really prefer this to everything being out to be warming up slightly.  It was as good as most sushi in Dubai.

They also had a tempura station next to the sushi, and I felt it would be rude to walk away without trying that too.  I helped myself to a few nicely done prawns, and had to restrain myself from getting more.  It would have been good to have some tempura vegetables too so that I could pretend that I was balancing out my plate!!

Next up was the Pork section.  Yep.  A whole section dedicated to pork.  The Boy walked around this bit with me because he remains to this day mistified with my fascination with pork!  In fairness, so do I since I was never a major fan before moving here.  A well timed bacon sandwich always worked a treat, but the rest didn’t bother me too much.  I guess it’s just about having something that you can’t easily get now!  Typical of my mentality!!

Anyhoo… The pork station was LUSH!  I had some lovely pork belly on sticks with some form of sauce to make it all sticky and amazing.  I had roasted pork belly with a little crackling.  I tried the Asian pork chop shaped things.  I also naturally tried the ribs.  Winner.  All of it.  Delicious.  Mouth watering at the memory of it all – literally!  The ribs weren’t my favourite kind – I am a proper bbq rib fan, but they were very good indeed.  No sausages though.  This is the only bit missing from the original brunch that I was sad about!!!

A little smoke and chatter break was needed after that.  There was no rush though… we were only half an hour in!!

When I had gotten over my pork saturation, it was time for the roast dinner section!  In order to fully enjoy this, I did forgo the exotic sounding and delicious smelling Mediterranean dishes that The Boy says were very good.  I’m sorry though… they had roast beef, roast potatoes and Yorkshire Pudding.  There was just no contest!

It was all divine.  I did manage to sneak a little bit more roast pork onto my plate just to even things out.  The beef was tender and tasty and perfectly cooked.  The roast potatoes were crispy and fluffy.  The green beans were just the right side of al dente.  The gravy was perfectly seasoned.  The mashed potato was light and fluffy.

I know you’re all dying to know about the deciding factor… the Yorkshire Pudding.  They gain top marks.  Not the best in Dubai, but a very respectable top contender!

I honestly wished I was that cow with two stomachs again.  I really could have done with a second helping, but there was just no room when I still had the puddings and the cheese and pork to go!  Yep… there was more I hadn’t tried yet!

More smoke breaks and chatter later, and it was time for the sugar rush!  In the refurbishment plans, they have moved the puddings (along with the salads which naturally I didn’t look twice at) to outside the main dining area.  This is great because it means they have a bigger selection now!

It was a tough choice, but bearing in mind the cheese and pork still to come, I limited myself rather a lot!

I had the crème brûlée (another favourite as you may know), which was presented in a large bowl so that you could help yourself.  Thankfully I didn’t know how heavenly it was until I had sat down again or I would have had that whole giant dish!  Next up was a lovely passion fruit mousse with white chocolate shavings.  Really well done – not too overbearing.  I really enjoyed it.  There was a chocolate panne cotta too, but I always forget that I just don’t like the texture of them, so I skipped that after the first bite!  There was the inevitable gummies and haribo type things.

Two items however were outstanding:

The chocolate fountain – which wasn’t watery or syrupy at all which a lot of places are.  This was milky and creamy and chocolatey.  And there were proper marshmallows to dunk in there.

But the winner, surprisingly for me because I am not normally a huge fan, was the sticky toffee pudding with toffee sauce that The Boy insisted I had to try (he skipped the pork and sushi bits so that he could have two puddings!).  I am sooo pleased he is a foodie too so that I listened to him.  It was absolutely mind blowing!  Light, fluffy, goey goodness.  I had to be very stern with myself not to go back and have more.  And then again on the way out not just to have an extra scoop!

A little sugar coma rest later, and it was time for my final course of gluttony!

I would like to tell you all about the cheeses but I have no clue.  There were no signs and I basically like all cheese as long as it isn’t blue!  I had a bunch of different ones, and chose from a selection of lovely freshly baked breads.  There was a croissant too.  Shame I didn’t have any jam because I am a bit of a fan of mixing cheese and jams.  Its random, I know, but try it and be amazed!

With my plate nearly full, I tottered back over to the pork section where the nice chef chap freshly sliced me some parma ham and some form of aged dry cured sausage.  I also had the salami and chorizo slices too.

After writing this, I am starting to think I may actually be one of those bi-stomached cows!

I literally rolled out of there in food coma heaven.

The whole experience was just fantastic.  Everyone from the chefs who were trying to explain the dishes, to the lady who seated us, were super friendly and welcoming.  A big shout out to our waitress Roxanne, who looked after us so well all day.  She was an absolute treasure.

We decided against any alcohol this weekend, but so the package was a very reasonable AED 235.  Much improved by having a 241 voucher from The Entertainer!  There is a wine package and a bubbles package also available.

If you are left in any doubt my feelings for this place, please note that I called the next day and made reservations for my birthday next weekend.  That’s how much I enjoyed it!

(I will take photos then to add to this post, or maybe just a post with photos!  I was too busy eating to think about it this time!)