The palate-priming prawn crackers will ruin your appetite if you are not careful. Eat one and the blind flirtation of grease and salt on your tongue will cause you to reach for another, and then another with sweet chilli sauce. And before you know it, you will become a mindless hand-to-plate-to-mouth machine.

That's warning No 1. Warning No 2: The dessert station: lemon tart and yogurt mousse will quickly put you down for the count, so stick with two — three, at most.

But to carp about the gargantuan nature of the cuisine at Sezzam is beside the point. To have brunch there is to take an oath to abandon self-control. It's not always pretty, but it's a scene worth exploring. For Dh195, you can stuff yourself on the output of 12 interconnected kitchens. Don't bother going if you're counting calories.

The light and airy restaurant, with floor-to-ceiling windows, also has a view. But it's not the Arabian Gulf or the city lights spread on a starry carpet below. Instead, the restaurant revels in a white, sweeping view of Ski Dubai.

Children have plenty to do while they have their food: they can perch themselves with reckless abandon on bean bags and watch their favourite films, or be creative and make necklaces, bracelets or a photo frame with glitter and brightly coloured beads.

Unfortunately, there is no equivalent for adults — although we had plenty of time to watch the ski lessons and chefs working in the shiny steel kitchens.

Once we were seated, we started with spring rolls and hot mezze, which can be a mixed bag, and jumped on to perfectly cooked pasta and chicken pizza — comforting and familiar.

There's plenty more to try, such as sushi, salads and stir fries, Kashmiri pulao (fried rice) and shish taouk and lamb kebab at the barbecue station. And definitely the Singaporean noodles and wok-fried lamb with leek and cumin at the Asian station. The winner, of course, is sherry fish with shrimp bisque and rogan josh (lamb curry) — it's all about spectacular sensory overload.

If you have had enough, saunter over to Mall of the Emirates, do some shopping and come back to have some more (brunch runs from 11am-5pm). Yes, that's something. An afternoon of indulgence and entertainment followed by shopping, if you are up for it.

Waiters are comfortable in their own skins. What a relief that no one feels obligated to indulge in waiter-speak. I didn't hear "excuse my reach" or "how is everything tasting?" Not once. The place is kid-friendly too, with a small section of the menu devoted to little foodies.

The food in Sezzam is hearty and good — not always perfect, but satisfying if you stick to the basics.

Sezzam 

  • Where: Kempinski Hotel, Mall of the Emirates.
  • Phone: 04-4095999.
  • Decor: Minimalist and bizarrely laid out with a view of winter wonderland.
  • Ambience: Busy and lively.
  • Price: Friday brunch for Dh195. Dh50 for children aged six to 12 and free for kids under six.