GRILL GAME, STRONG

When you think of barbeque, you think of summer. But this is Doha and such things outdoors can be tricky as you sweat buckets with the humidity of the Gulf’s soaring summer temperatures. Instead, it’s actually in the wintertime that we can all come out to play. FACT’s Craig Ferriman visits the new BBQ Nights at Grand Hyatt Doha Hotel & Villas…

The Santa Monica Breakfast Club has fast become an enduring hit at the Grand Hyatt Doha Hotel & Villas with high praise heaped on it for its breakfast, creative menu of burgers, eggs and a brilliant brunch to boot. Thursday nights now have something else for you to get excited about and that is the all-new barbeque offering.

The pretty and colourful outdoor seating area is a place you couldn’t dream of spending a couple of
hours in during the summer but it proved an ideal setting to while away an evening in these cooler months at the end of a long hard week. Informality was the name of the game and everybody was welcome as evidenced from the families that I saw there as well as couples and business groups keen to escape the office at the end of the working day. Buffet stands surround the patio and there are live qcue grills churning out cool cuts of great meats. We started with the salads of which they were plenty but the potato salad was the stand out. Then onto the meats of which there was quality and variety being turned over thick and fast. Beef sausages glistened on the grill oozing in the juice of grilled onions and tomatoes. Burgers of various kinds were flipped aplenty and sauces of all denominations lay ready at the side for squeezing into ready made cut up bread buns. It’s worth saying that many of the sauces are homemade and definitely palate pleasing. The chicken burger I tried was juicy and delicious but then that will come as no surprise if you have been to the Santa Monica Breakfast Club previously. They know how to cook a mean burger. We also spotted some tandoori chicken pieces in a deep pan simmering away and next to that, some spiced Arabic chicken. There were chicken malai skewers too and more lying ready in tin foil to be given the big barbeque treatment – ensuring that food was super fresh. Other interesting offerings that caught our attention included the giant roasted chicken with all the trimmings of a traditional roast. We’re talking carrots and Brussels sprouts and the like – a rather welcomed and warm feature in the desert mid-winter. There was also a glass cabinet of desserts that were hard to say no to. Items from the usual a-la-carte menu can still be chosen alongside the barbeque delights. Chilled vibes reverberated around the venue thanks to live music performed by a duo of musicians on guitar and vocals. I was totally able to relax and unwind after a long week and start feeling those weekend vibes with a good feed and a decent choice of beverages. The Santa Monica Breakfast Club gets it right again. ✤