Mega Brunch | Venetian Village - Ritz Carlton, Abu Dhabi

Mega Brunch is such a novel concept and I was beyond thrilled to savor the same at Venetian Village. Located at the Ritz Carlton, Abu Dhabi it hosts many restaurants within its beautiful hotel.

The Venetian Village is Abu Dhabi’s newest dining destination. Located within the grounds of The Ritz-Carlton Abu Dhabi, Grand Canal and overlooking Khor Al Maqta, the Venetian Village brings together a collection of internationally acclaimed artisan restaurants offering exquisite cuisines from around the world.

The Mega Brunch included four of its restaurants – Bar fly by Buddha bar, La Brasserie, kaizen and Todd English’s Olives.

We walked around and chose to start with Bar fly owing to its seafood counter. It also had an amazing grill station, sushi counter, a dessert station and gin and tonic bar. The place is so beautiful, the interiors had me gaping in awe. The bright vibrant hues of red and yellows complete with soothing music in the background provided an amazing ambiance for the brunch. 
















We, however chose to sit outside (hello amazing weather) and enjoyed the lovely view and moreish food. The food was saporous and delish. We tried their sushi, dimsums and  their fresh sea food which was grilled to perfection.

The sushi’s were just perfect. The beef dimsums were mouthwatering and delish. I would have preferred a thinner dough wrap for both the seafood dimsums. However, the filling was very succulent. 

We chose Sultan Ibrahim and salmon, and they were grilled to perfection and served. The dessert counter was heaven. Loved the macaroons, tarts, and baked Alaska.

The service was prompt, the staff were extremely polite and warm and assisted us with out food dilemmas.

Post a good hour and half at Bar fly, we ventured out to try La Braserie which had a cheese counter, Crepe and waffle station, cheese counter and a fresh seafood counter along with a Martini Bar.

Our next pit stop was Kaizen, they had a sushi and sashimi station along with a salad counter, with some far eastern cocktails. Needless to say the sushi and sashimi were an absolute hit. I loved how the staff were dressed in traditional Japanese outfits. The staff were extremely pleasant and helped us with our orders.



Olives had some fun live entertainment complete with live pasta and risotto counter along with a salad and bread station with a complete Mediterranean buffet.

The weather is perfect to enjoy the brunch one’s own pace. It is a wonderful concept to be able to savor from all four restaurants, while enjoying the amazing view overlooking the canal.
I would definitely recommend you all to try it out. They have entertainment activities for kids as well. 

The packages are as mentioned:
AED 290 - soft drinks
AED 390 – House beverage
AED 490 – Bubbly package


Location: Ritz Carlton Abu Dhabi, Grand Canal, Al Maqtaa, Abu Dhabi
Cost: AED 650 for two



Reserve your table at: 024041951



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I was invited to Venetian Village and all views and images are © Urbanmodish, unless stated otherwise.



Barfly by Buddha Bar Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato 

Martvili Canyon | Kutaisi


The Martvili Canyon, used to be a bath place for Georgian Nobles, Dadiani family. It is a natural wonder in the Samegrelo region of Georgia, near the town of Martvili. Also called the Gachedili Canyon, it is about a 45 minute drive from the city of Kutaisi in West Georgia.





The canyon is divided into two parts, Upper and Lower. You can ride a boat along the canyon from the Upper part that leads to a waterfall falling from the height of about 12 meters. Thanks to the climate of the terrain and high humidity, the walls of the canyon are covered with moss, you will also see lianas that grow along the whole length of the canyon, small streams and waterfalls. A truly fabulous picture!












You can also walk along the Dadiani trial. To be honest both the boat ride and the trail was a bit of a disappointment because they were both very short. However, they were beautiful.








In the lower part of the canyon there is a “pool” where you can swim and enjoy the beauty of the surrounding nature. Even on the hottest day the water here is cool, therefore this place is very popular among locals who come to Martvili to run away from the summer heat. In summer days, the canyon is full of tourists and locals. 
GEL 28 for boat trip and trail entrance fee.

While visiting Martivili canyon it is worth to visit the Martvil Monastery (Chkondidi) of the VI century, which is on the way to the canyon. In 735 the monastery was burnt, the paintings on the walls were destroyed. And only a century and a half later it was restored. Today, on the territory of the monastery there is the temple of the Assumption of the Virgin, the church of the 10th century, in the south-west there is a 20-meter-high pillar and chapel, which was built on the site of an old destroyed chapel.
I didn't visit the monastery, but have heard the below about it:
On its highest hill there is a Monastery. The site upon the hill where the monastery stands today was used in ancient times as a pagan cultural center and was a sacred site. There once stood an ancient and enormous oak tree that was worshipped as an idol of fertility and prosperity. Infants were once sacrificed here as well. After the conversion of the native population to Christianity, the ancient tree was cut down so as not to worship it anymore. A church was originally constructed in the late 7th century upon the roots of the old oak tree and was named in honor of Saint Andrew who preached Christianity and converted the pagans across the Samegrelo region. 

The main Martvili-Chkondidi Cathedral (Mingrelian: Chkoni translates to “oak”) was reconstructed in the 10th century after invasions that destroyed the prior church. Preserved in the church are frescoes of the 14th to 17th centuries.





Read about Kutaisi HERE

Promotheus Cave | Kutaisi

Prometheus cave is located some 20km from Kutaisi in village Kumistavi (Tskaltubo Municipality), and if you are in Kutaisi - I'd highly recommend you to  include Prometheus cave in your itinerary.

The cave was discovered in 1984 and was almost immediately developed as a show cave. Kumistavi is the biggest cave in Georgia. Although only one tenth is open for tourists, it takes about an hour to explore it. Inside there are underground lakes and rivers; rather high humidity and a lot of bats, which, however, do not bother tourists, as they fly very high.

There is a constant 14 degree Celsius temperature inside the cave all year round.





It is a succession of six large chambers followed by a 400m-long underground lake. Sections are truly impressive, and the guided visits along a well-made concrete path are enhanced by discreet colored lighting and a little background classical music.





























The total length of tourist trail inside the cave is about 1060 meters which you can choose to be accompanied by English or Russian/Georgian speaking guide.






Marshrutka 30 runs from the west end of Kutaisi’s Tsiteli Khidi (Red Bridge) to Tskaltubo (1 GEL, 30 minutes), where marshrutka 42 continues 8km to Prometheus Cave (1.50 GEL, 20 minutes) every hour or two.


Prometheus the Titan, who, along with Epimetheus, was given the task of creating man, managed to annoy the god Zeus by stealing fire from the gods for man and for refusing to tell Zeus which of his children would dethrone him. As a result of this, Zeus ordered his servants to seize Prometheus, take him to the Caucasus Mountains and chain him to a rock with unbreakable bonds, where he would be subjected to a giant bird pecking at his liver.

Legend has it that the rock Prometheus was chained to lies in this cave outside Kutaisi (although it is certainly not the only cave which claims the legend for its own). Discovered in 1984, the cave boasts a wonderful array of stalactites, stalagmites, petrified waterfalls, cave pearls, underground rivers, and lakes. There is also the option of a boat tour on one of the underground rivers.
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Read about Kutaisi HERE