Winter is coming. In the meantime, we've got four options for your weekend eats: budget dim sum in a swish hotel, more curry than you could conceivably eat, pizza and decadent treats and big brunch plates in a kid-friendly courtyard.

Vita

This hidden courtyard bistro does three different brunch sets: The "American Soldier" (108rmb) the "Farmer" (168rmb) and the "Vita"(158rmb). They come out on enormous skillets and feature standards like bacon, eggs, steak and sausage as well as more Continental bites, like salmon tartare and foie gras. It's all supplemented with sides of grilled vegetables, chunks of cheese and toast or pastries. Each portion can serve two people—or one if you're really hungry. They do a kid-friendly option for a fraction of the price, too: 68rmb for a scrambled egg, chicken nuggets, muesli, pasta, fruit and a glass of milk. It's a fair price for a decent amount of adequate food, but the service is spotty at best. Two over-extended servers run the entire floor, and one of them had a propensity for taking smoke breaks in the middle of the brunch rush. In plain of sight of the guests. Classy. Flagging them down is a lost cause. If you want something, get up and ask. And yet, the place is generally packed on the weekends. This is likely because of the spacious backyard. An al fresco dining area surrounds a central lawn. It's probably the only plot of grass in the immediate area that one can tread upon with impunity. Breeders apparently know this all too well. They bring their kids here and let them run around and go crazy while they get their day drunk on. Just being able to do this probably more than compensates for the average food and poor service. Sat & Sun: 10.30am-4pm For a full brunch listing click here.

The Banyan Tree

The Banyan Tree has an all-you-can-eat dim sum brunch that’s pretty fancy for its modest price. The menu, if anything, is too large, containing around 80 types of dim sum. On a Sunday morning that’s almost a headache in itself, but all the classic Hong Kong dishes are there, plus some decidedly nouvelle twists including braised foie gras and bean curd, steamed pork feet with fermented red bean curd, braised fish meat with egg white soup and marinated foie gras in fine rice wine. There’s a separate menu for tea, with pots starting at 88rmb (plus 15%) and going swiftly up to around 200rmb per person. Skip that unless you’re a true aficionado, and stick to the food, which is only 168rmb for all-you-can-eat. Unlike many cavernous dim sum venues, the dining room here isn’t huge and they seem to have laid the place out to accommodate as few tables as physically possible. This means it’s often booked out. We could only get a table at 1:30pm on a Saturday, so reserve a table early. The Banyan Tree’s roof terrace bar Tops is, however, amazing and they have bottles of sparkling French wine for 350rmb. Guests may like to head up there after brunch to digest over some afternoon fizz. Sat & Sun: 11.30am–2.30pm. For a full brunch listing click here

Kebabs on the Grille

Coming out of Kebabs on the Grille’s Sunday brunch buffet is probably a lot like swallowing half a bottle of Ambien and trying to walk home. All-you-can-eat Indian food will do that to you. At Kebabs on the Grille’s brunch, though, the need for disciplined eating is even greater, given the free-flow beer, wine, juice and sodas included in your meal. There’s a self-serve buffet station with seven or eight savory dishes on offer, evenly split between meat (chicken tikka masala, chicken methi, stewed lamb) and vegetarian curries (veggie makhani, palak paneer, lentils). For refined carbs, there’s plain basmati and veggie biryani rice, plus garlic, onion or plain naan to choose from. The naan is brought out fresh, as are plates of tandoori (chicken, lamb, potatoes, broccoli), which are made to order and also part of the deal. All of this is 125rmb a person (150rmb at Kebabs’ Cool Docks location) for a veritable crapload of food and drink. Service and setting are solid too, making this one of the better “bang for your buck” brunch spots to take your lady friend. Sun: 11.30am-3pm For a full brunch listing, click here.

Favola at Le Royal Meridien

Every Saturday and Sunday, Le Royal Meridien’s pizzeria Favola offers up a plate of antipasti, a main, a beverage and freedom to romp around its dessert bar for 188rmb a person. Sounds steep, but it’s a reasonable price for Favola’s typically fancy fare. Antipasti includes Parma ham, smoked salmon, tuna mushroom mousse with pistachio crust and a creamy twist on the traditional insalata caprese. For entrees, each person can choose from a condensed menu of Favola’s regular options—pizzas baked in the restaurant’s wood fire oven, or pastas like black truffle ravioli and fresh spinach tagliatelle. Their thin crust, Napoli-style pies are excellent. Don’t expect anything too elaborate when it comes to toppings (tomato and basil, salami and bell pepper, etc.). But they do use fresh buffalo mozzarella on them. The real draw, though, is the all-you-can-eat dessert bar. Visiting it feels like you're pilfering from a patisserie. The top-floor view of People’s Park and hotel-level service aren’t bad, either. Sat & Sun: 12-3pm For a full brunch listing click here.