Ten Reasons to Indulge in the Sunday Bubbalicious Brunch

This post is sponsored by The Westin Beijing Chaoyang.

Ask any foodie, and they’ll eagerly divulge the virtues of a buffet brunch. These expert eaters aren’t content to sit and order. They ask: “Why flip through a menu and fixate on photos, when you can peruse the cuisine up close? Why stay marooned at your table, and wait for your dishes to arrive, instead of strolling along rows of food, amassing bite sized portions until your plate overflows?”

The Westin Beijing Chaoyang understands this gastronomic wanderlust, and works to provide a vast culinary odyssey for its customers with its Bubbalicious Brunch. While other hotel brunches are content to open up a lone buffet in a single restaurant, the Westin has adopted a more expansive approach – not only opening its Seasonal Tastes buffet for the indulgent Sunday occasion, but also its Grange Steakhouse and Mai Teppanyaki restaurant, so that patrons can meander between the trio of eateries, working up an even greater appetite as they peruse the plethora of choices.

David Yan, the hotel’s executive assistant manager, is our guide on this tastebud trek. Below, he shows us the top ten reasons why we should stuff our faces at the Westin’s Bubbalicious Brunch. 

1. Choices from around the Globe

Aside from sampling the dozens of dishes at Seasonal Tastes’ buffet, take a stroll to the Westin’s other esteemed eateries, in order to sample Grange’s tantalizing surf and turf (the best options on offer being mouth-watering flame broiled steaks and fresh oysters), and Mai’s fresh oyster sushi, in a restaurant trifecta that triples the options of your typical Sunday brunch. 

2. Sample Sizzling Fresh ‘Za

Unlike many buffets – which skimp on their pies and leave those meager, pre-frozen slices sitting under heat lamps for an eternally – the Westin Chaoyang’s Seasonal Tastes makes sure to prepare only the freshest of pizzas, and smother them in top tier ingredients like roasted chicken and salami. 

3. Do their Delectable Deli 

Seasonal Tastes’ deli features a variety of fresh cut meats including sizzling juicy chicken, lamb chops, and kebabs. The best feature of all may be how those meats are stuffed into hand rolled soft shell tacos, which are just the right size for a hungry child’s hands, while still being big enough to serve as a scrumptious little snack for ravenous parents. 

4. Slice n’ Dice

The buffet also proudly displays a massive slicing device, which cuts imported Italian salami and ham into practically transparent slices. “You can mix these thinly sliced meats with your salad – the machine can even cut very long, thin slices of meat, so that you can have a truly Italian style topping for your salad,” Yan says. 

5. Meet the Steamers of Your Dreams 

No buffet in China would be complete without a counter filled with smoky bamboo steamers brimming with fresh baozi and jiaozi. In this regard, the Westin buffet’s Chinese section does not disappoint. In fact, it not only features plump dumpling packed with classic ingredients like minced pork and cabbage, but also more innovative fillings like finely diced avocado and pumpkin.

6. Dive into a Seafood Feeding Frenzy 

Thai hammer and tiger crabs, along with freshly shipped whelks from the south of China, line a counter of Seasonal Tastes’ seafood section, as if thunderous waves had thrust them onto shore. As impressive as that spread may be, patrons will likely take even greater joy from the even tastier smoked salmon and trout, which Yan says was “imported from Norway, because they have the very best, freshest fish.”

7. Slather Your Food with their Awesome Sauces 

While its vast seafood section may be an obvious feat, Seasonal Tastes may have pulled off an even greater success with one of its subtler, hidden gems: several dozen cups brimming with every condiment imaginable for the buffet’s salads and seafood. Those varieties include everything from vanilla and honey mustard to more conventional options like chili. 

8. You Get Your Just Desserts

One section of the buffet that’s as much a feast for the eyes as the stomach is Seasonal Taste’s colorful dessert section. Vibrantly shaded sprinkles, M&M’s, and other sweets are available as ice cream toppings (that ice cream comes in cream cheese, mango and other more conventional flavors like strawberry and chocolate). Both dark and white chocolate fountains overflow with gooey curtains of sugary goodness. But Yan says another dessert option may be the most mouthwatering option of all, adding: “The pastries are very good, and are freshly made each morning. We will have different pastries on offer at each brunch, and some of the most popular choices are the cheese tart and the cheese cake.”

9. Your Kids Get to Play (and not just with their food) 

Another colorful corner of the Seasonal Tastes restaurant has nothing to do with the venue’s food. The kid’s play area, with its flashy setup of slides, foam toys and other fun items, lets children run free (under the attentive watch of carefully selected staff supervisors), while the parents look on from their nearby tables and savor every bite of their brunch. Chiara Gensini was one such parent who, along with her husband Stefano Cantarutii, brought their three daughters (Alice, Emma and Matilde) to a recent Bubbalicious brunch. “At a lot of restaurants, the kids get bored and start to misbehave,” Gensini says, adding: “So we usually just stay at home and avoid the headache. But having a play area like this is really nice – it keeps them occupied, so that we can eat in peace.”

10. Soul food

As the kids play and the parents nibble away at their buffet samplings, the Westin Chaoyang’s house band serenades the crowd with smooth jazz and soulful twists on contemporary pop hits. The band’s bassist, Tao “Tore” Ningzhou says he and his fellow musicians enjoy performing for these patrons as part of a weekly ritual that has enriched much of their recent careers. He explains: “Every Sunday for the past seven years we’ve played at this brunch, without taking a break. It’s great because there are all kinds of customers — young and old, many different cultures. Many of them are regulars who come again and again for the food, and have come to expect to hear us play. It’s great to perform for them so regularly.”

The Westin Beijing Chaoyang’s Father’s Day Bubbalicious Sunday Brunch, sponsored by McLaren, with support from Mumm Champagne and Emirates Airlines, will be at Seasonal Tastes on Sunday, June 21 from 11.30am-3pm. The buffet will feature a wide range of live seafood, mouthwatering BBQ, authentic Japanese cuisine and international delicacies, a great way to let dad indulge!

Three special price packages include: 

RMB 488 (+15 percent service charge), includes free flow of soft drinks, coffee, tea and fresh juice.
RMB 508 (+15 percent service charge), includes free flow of soft drinks, coffee, tea, fresh juice, wine and beer.
RMB 548 (+15 percent service charge), includes free flow soft drinks, coffee, tea, fresh juice, wine, beer and Moet Chandon.

During the event on June 21st, over a dozen of top McLaren sport cars will be parked at the entrance of hotel, including the 12C and 650S models. The event will also feature interactive fun games for fathers and children to enjoy as well as Xbox games in the lobby, family portraits, clowns and a "T-Rex" Rib Eating competition, sponsored by Mumm Champagne, for fathers and sons competing for the grand prize of a visit to a historic Maison de Champagne in France for the winners. Prizes will also be offered for a lucky draw, including rides in a McLaren 650S for 3 people, a free round-trip flight from Beijing to Paris, sponsored by Emirates Airlines, vouchers for The Westin Beijing Chaoyang's restaurants, free yoga lessons, room vouchers and more. 

Emirates Airlines has now teamed up with the Westin for an exclusive offer for guests to fly to more than 140 destinations around the world. Visit emirates.cn and enter promo code CNWST15 to receive 10 percent off on regular fare or 4 percent off on seasonal fares.

Call 5922 8888 or e-mail reservation.chaoyang@westin.com for more information on the Father's Day event and to make reservations.

Photos courtesy of The Westin