Asian high tea at Junsui

Junsui will take you through the many different flavors in Asian cuisine, they serve buffet spreads for breakfast, lunch and dinner; and in the afternoon they offer an Asian high tea, perfect for those like me who rather indulge on some savory delicacies than go on a cake splurge. Junsui’s high tea offers some wonderful and aromatic Asian brews that are a perfect pairing with the food selection.

Our 7 course Asian experience was about to start, our waiter explained what was going to be served and also the origin of each dish, from Thai to Indonesian, and my mouth was already watering. We decide to go for some Jasmine and Green tea as these herbal flavors would go really well with the food about to be served.

Our food journey starts with Thailand and we are presented with beautiful Thai Poh -Pia which are rice paper rolls with steamed vegetables, these were really tasty and the dressing with peanuts was just yum. As you might have noticed I am a huge Japanese cuisine fan so was very pleased to be served a Spider Roll with crispy soft shell crab which is also one of my all-time favorites and this one didn’t disappoint at all, just wished there was more!

The next course was a very pleasant surprise, Wagyu Beef Dumpling Soup that had one beef dumplilng wrapped in Korean style marinated cabbage on a shitake mushroom and bean soup. When I tasted the soup on its own thought there was something missing, until I had it with the dumpling and then the combination was delicious, a very earthy dish and full of flavor.

At this point I was really pleased with the whole experience and couldn't wait to taste more. And so it followed a couple of Indonesian Pastels which are Curry puff stuffed with sweet potato and chicken, pickled vegetables in Pie Tee Shell, and this was a nice dish but didn't really work for me as the only thing I could taste in those pastels was the sweet potato. I really felt that there was something missing on this dish as the pickled vegetables were also dressed with a sweet sauce therefore something to cut that sweetness would have made wonders.

Cantonese flavors were our next treat and I really couldn't wait to dive into the Roasted Cantonese Duck Macaroon as from the moment the waiter announced this dish I was intrigued if a macaroon would really work with Pecking duck. The verdict is, It works, it really does especially if you had it with the Hoisin cream, it was just a shame there were only two on the plate because they were really delicious.

It wouldn't be a High tea if there were no sweets right? And I was so glad there were because Banana Spring Roll with Vanilla Ice Cream was one of my favorites. That crispy banana roll had a dust of cinnamon and Lychee and it was the perfect combination, the pastry was also perfectly cooked so super crisp with the banana just melting in your mouth. They also served a really nice selection of homemade Petit Fours, and these were perfect to go with our coffee and great finish to this experience.

Overall I really recommend it but maybe take some time and go a bit earlier for their brunch that looks absolutely amazing, surely that's what I will do next time.

Junsui

Location: Burj Al Arab, Jumeirah Beach Road, Dubai

Cuisine: South Asian and Far East Asian