The weather is perfect to spend outdoors and I don’t feel like cooking on weekends. During this time we find ourselves going and eating out. Luckily, here in Dubai we are spoilt with so many brunch offers that the whole family can enjoy.

We recently went to the Family Garden Brunch at Toko located at Vida Downtown. It was our first time to dine at Toko and we immediately fell in love with its Japanese themed garden. Adorned with colorful floating Japanese umbrellas, a relaxing water feature and tall trees, a secret garden in the middle of a concrete jungle.

Toko’s brunch is divided in two, an outdoor barbecue/carving area which offers sweet chilli Angus ​b​eef skewers, rib eye steak and miso glazed black cod to name a few and inside the restaurant a beautiful spread of dim sums, desserts, raw salads, sushi and sashimi.

If that’s still not enough to convince you, I hope the photo’s will.

The brunch setup was not overwhelming which we really liked. It doesn’t mean though that you will leave hungry. If you love Japanese food the selection was more than enough to satisfy your appetite.

They also have a dedicated kids menu, if they don’t fancy the food offered in the buffet. My LittleOnes did not order from the kids menu.

Kuya V’s favorite in the grilled/carving station is the sweet chili soy Angus beef. Daddy C  enjoyed the Salmon teriyaki.

I was not able to explore the grilled section with much gusto, the miso glazed black cod  was really good that it melts in your mouth while the rib eye steak was a bit dry to my liking.

I was happy filling myself up with the raw section and salad, it’s so hard to choose which was my favorite but I kept going back to have some more fresh seaweed salad, crispy duck salad, salmon tartare and beef ceviche taco. The staff noticed that I kept coming back inside the restaurant and suggested that I try some dish from the grilled & carving section as well. LittleMiss was satisfied with their shrimp tempura and chicken siomai that she forgot to order fries.

They have a good selection of favorite desserts like brownies, petit fours, profiteroles and fruits. Our favorite dessert is the Mango Panna Cotta and chocolate fondant.

They have a dedicated area for children where they can play off all the food they ate, have their face or hand painted and a balloonist to keep them entertained.

What I really liked about Toko’s Family Garden Brunch was that we did not feel rushed, buffets intimidate us and we usually end up not enjoying the dish because I have this feeling that I have to get one of each food offered. Crazy me. Servers were attentive enough to notice that the kids ran out of juice.

Family Garden Brunch at Toko, Vida Downtown happens every Friday from 12PM – 4PM.
Starting at AED 195 including food and soft drinks. Additional AED 155 including selected alcoholic beverages. Kids Package at AED 85 (Ages 5 to 12 years)

For reservation and further information visit www.toko-dubai.com or call +971 (0) 4442 8383.

We were invited to review this brunch, but all views and opinions are my own.