ChefAtLarge Table: The big Sunday Brunch at Novotel

ChefAtLarge Table: The big Sunday Brunch at Novotel

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Novotel, located in Outer Ring Road, one of the business districts of Bangalore, targets customers for both business and leisure. Their signature restaurant, The Square, offers a global buffet concept with a mix of live cooking added to it. The Sunday brunch is mainly laid out in The Square and it extends into their new restaurant Blue Terrain, on the first floor.

As a part of Chef at Large bloggers table, we were invited to one of the Sunday buffets. It's fun to meet the fellow bloggers (in this occasion with the spouses & kids), for a relaxed weekend meal over conversations. When we got in, the others were already tasting the food and clicking pictures (well of course!) and seeing the vast spread laid out, I was surely in a spot as to what to eat :) A few sips of their house sangria was very much in order.

Where you start all depends on what you are in the mood for. If it's breakfast you are after, there's a variety of freshly baked breads, with bacon, chicken sausages and baked beans to choose from to construct your own version of the full English breakfast. You can get freshly made eggs, waffles, pancakes, french toast and dosas to order, at the live stations specially set up for all of the above. 

After this, it's a good thing to do a full survey of what's on offer, because there's an enormous variety here - A whole range of veggies, meats, cheeses and dressings to make the salad of your choice, Pav Bhaaji / Kheema Pav station, SE Asian curries, noodles, soups, South Indian varieties, Continental varieties, Pasta and Pizza stations. Needless to say it's impossible to even taste everything and it can even get a bit overwhelming with one not knowing what to eat.

I started with a salad picking some of the fresh vegetables on display with the Italian dressing. A little more attention to keeping all the raw ingredients covered (especially the cold cuts) will get them more points on food hygiene.  Since I love Mediterranean food, I hovered around the antipasti section which had the mushrooms, rosemary olives, hummus, tabbouleh, marinated cheeses and eggplant and chose the hummus with some bread, along with some olives and mushrooms. 

Some of the kababs, the saffron fish etc. were lying on the hot plates for too long, looking somewhat shrivelled and overcooked. It would be good to do the basic prep and then prepare these nibbles when the customer asked for them. From the mains, I had a Mediterranean Style Grilled Veg with Cous Cous, which was a good dish, the vegetables generously grilled and flavoured and the couscous light and fluffy. I would have loved to have a go at one of the Thai curries which I was told had the options of red, green, massaman and yellow curry, unfortunately I didn't find when I was looking for it and so had to give it a miss when I discovered it well after dessert :)

This brunch extends to Blue Terrain on the 1st floor which is a barbecue restaurant by the poolside. You could choose from chicken, fish, meats and also a selection of vegetables, fruits and paneer. Personally I wasn't over enthusiastic over the barbecue spread at the poolside, probably because I'm vegetarian, or because the spread at the Square was so much better. The vegetables on skewers and the grilled fruit were two of the dishes I liked here. The paneer dish was quite under seasoned and didn't have anything much going for it. With their menu listing a number of rubs and marinades, I'm sure they could have done better with the paneer after informing us of the available options. The swimming pool here is bound to be a hit with the kids and adults to love to swim and work up an appetite. My meat eating friends quite enjoyed the steaks done to their liking and the chicken on skewers. 

Grilled veggies, Paneer Tikka, Grilled fruit, Mango Mojito

After a few nibbles on the barbecued stuff and cooling off with mango mojito, we went back down to the Square, to escape the heat of the outdoors and to have a taste of the desserts.

The dessert counter again had plenty to choose from - the macarons especially were very well made! A live churros counter where you could choose to have the churros with chocolate, vanilla or caramel sauce was interesting addition to the array of desserts served, such as the Picardi, baked chocolate tart, a blueberry based dessert and a seasonal mango dessert which was a light sponge topped with some chopped fresh mango.  I very much loved the mango based sponge dessert and the macarons were just the way they should be - a mix of crisp and chewy. The deconstructed cheesecake kind of dessert served in a glass was definitely the show stealer for me.

Being a mom to a 4 and a half year old boy, I must give special mention to the kid friendly aspects of this brunch. They had a separate menu laid out for kids at a low level so kids can serve themselves, including a special candy section. Kids' menu comprised of fried potato wedges, pasta gratin, mini samosas, fish fingers among other stuff. There was an extremely friendly lady in the lobby with a fully set up table to do anything arty and crafty the kids wanted to do. She also turned out to be so good with face painting and balloon art. The kiddie pool at Blue Terrain means the kids will completely exhaust themselves splashing around and will be ready for a long snooze once you hit home.
(This review is a part of the ChefAtLarge Bloggers' Table)

Novotel Bengaluru Techpark, Opposite RMZ Ecospace Business Park, Marathahalli - Sarjapur Outer Ring Road, Bengaluru – 560103

Sunday brunch-12 noon – 3.30 pm

Rs 1499 (Plus taxes) Includes Buffet at the Square, Barbeque Grills from Blue Terrain, Unlimited Soft Beverages and complimentary usage of pool. One Kid below 10 years of age eats for free with every paying adult.

Rs 1899 (plus Taxes) Includes Buffet at the Square, , Barbeque Grills from Blue Terrain, Unlimited Alcoholic Beverages and complimentary usage of pool. One Kid below 10 years of age eats for free with every paying adult.