Rest - Hornbys Pavilion
Meal - Lunch
Loc - ITC Grand Central, Lower Parel
The ITC Grand used to be quite a haunt for me back in the day when it was even remotely affordable, with the prices at the Grand and the almost unmanageable traffic en route, my visits to ITC have become very sporadic.
However, this weekend i was meeting my friends, OK and his family for lunch, since they live close by it was an appropriate choice. We met at their coffee shop for their expansive buffet, i have done breakfast buffets here (best ever, least they used to be) and dinner buffets (strictly okay)
We got there around 1.30 and had to wait till 2pm for a table as they were terrifically busy, once seated we went in straight into the food.
I think my first dishes were salads, asparagus which was pretty bad, tasted like nothing, the sushi was tasteless and possibly stale, the curd rice was okay, the one with sun dried tomatoes was half decent overall, the salads were all disappointing. In fact the olives and pickled onions were the best thing on there.
They had kathi rolls which were brought out to the table without us ordering, which was nice of them but the roll itself was fairly disappointing.
The chap manning the Dosa section told me i could have a plain or methi dosa, however the wife got one made to her specs (like all beautiful women she tends to get pretty much what she wants) the dosas were good, the chutneys were excellent and then the gunpowder with ghee also kicked ass !
I never, ever, waste food, was just brought up that way but unfortunately the Chinese was just atrocious, had to leave all of it behind. No one on our table had a good thing to say about the Chinese food.
The North Indian section was by far the largest one in the buffet, four entress from what i can recall, two dals and a few appetizers besides the biryani and rice. I tried the choley and paneer kadai which were okay and the single white paneer was an appetizer which was bland.
the dal, was decent, i have had way better in the same restaurant and their other properties so middling at best.
this was the wife's dessert selection, she said only the brownie was half decent, rest below average.
the choc mousse was not bad.
Meal - Lunch
Loc - ITC Grand Central, Lower Parel
The ITC Grand used to be quite a haunt for me back in the day when it was even remotely affordable, with the prices at the Grand and the almost unmanageable traffic en route, my visits to ITC have become very sporadic.
However, this weekend i was meeting my friends, OK and his family for lunch, since they live close by it was an appropriate choice. We met at their coffee shop for their expansive buffet, i have done breakfast buffets here (best ever, least they used to be) and dinner buffets (strictly okay)
We got there around 1.30 and had to wait till 2pm for a table as they were terrifically busy, once seated we went in straight into the food.
I think my first dishes were salads, asparagus which was pretty bad, tasted like nothing, the sushi was tasteless and possibly stale, the curd rice was okay, the one with sun dried tomatoes was half decent overall, the salads were all disappointing. In fact the olives and pickled onions were the best thing on there.
They had kathi rolls which were brought out to the table without us ordering, which was nice of them but the roll itself was fairly disappointing.
The chap manning the Dosa section told me i could have a plain or methi dosa, however the wife got one made to her specs (like all beautiful women she tends to get pretty much what she wants) the dosas were good, the chutneys were excellent and then the gunpowder with ghee also kicked ass !
not so fresh orange juice.
I never, ever, waste food, was just brought up that way but unfortunately the Chinese was just atrocious, had to leave all of it behind. No one on our table had a good thing to say about the Chinese food.
The North Indian section was by far the largest one in the buffet, four entress from what i can recall, two dals and a few appetizers besides the biryani and rice. I tried the choley and paneer kadai which were okay and the single white paneer was an appetizer which was bland.
the dal, was decent, i have had way better in the same restaurant and their other properties so middling at best.
this was the wife's dessert selection, she said only the brownie was half decent, rest below average.
the choc mousse was not bad.
Overall, a massive let down, the standards have certainly fallen drastically, the spread is expansive but somehow really not upto the mark, none of the dishes really stand out. Its like buffet by numbers, to try and appeal to everyone (which is fine) but if nothing tastes right, its pointless.
The fact that certain things are made to sit (sushi especially) is not something i would expect from a 5 star chain. The entire performance is made doubly worse as ITC has done a great deal to push Indian cuisine in the upper echelon of dining (Dakshin, Peshawri/Bukhara, Kebabs n Kurries, Dum Pukth)
The fact that certain things are made to sit (sushi especially) is not something i would expect from a 5 star chain. The entire performance is made doubly worse as ITC has done a great deal to push Indian cuisine in the upper echelon of dining (Dakshin, Peshawri/Bukhara, Kebabs n Kurries, Dum Pukth)
The service was well choreographed, quick, efficient and eager to please, no real complaints here.
Food : 4/10
Service : 7/10
Damage : 1800 (pp)
Damage : 1800 (pp)
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7 comments:
I agree.... Except the Gunpowder Dosa, Biryani, freshly made waffles & desserts.... The only silver lining is the unlimited drinks inclusive price....
i have stopped going to the ITC grand central all together. Food is not the same what it used to be anymore. Have you tried out Tratorria at The President?
@ Upkaran, overall, there is hardly any incentive to go for the brunch despite the unlimited drinks.
@ Anonymous.. i too feel the same way. Sad to see the standards have fallen at Hornby's..
and no, i havent tried the Trattoria brunch as of yet. have good things about it though.
1800 per person for buffet is atrocious .. How much is the dinner buffet?
Hi Soham,
just saw this. the dinner buffet is probably the same i guess or maybe 2100. but not more.
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