Mmmm.it’s a beautiful Sunday, half the morning is gone, and the rest of the day is stretched lazily in front of me. Should I snuggle back under the covers, or call for room service to bring up cucumber slices for my scarily puffy eyes(the result of too much fun the previous night) or. Wait, what’s that annoying noise? It sounds like a young male voice, calling urgently.
I reluctantly peep out from under the duvet and find it belongs to a particularly persistent teen(mine, unfortunately) who insists he has a hol.e in his stomach crying out to be filled. I allow myself to be dragged out of bed, accept the toothbrush, and mumble’Whaddya want’ around a mouthful of foam, all the time wishing it is too late for breakfast, and too early for lunch, and that I can catch some more sleep.’Ma, let’s get sushi, ’ my teen says eagerly. For a moment, hope glimmers in my heart - there’s no way sushi will be available in the middle of a Sunday morning in Bangalore- but it is mercilessly squashed by the information that The Leela Palace’s Pan-Asian restaurant features sushi its menu.
I have enough time to fully wake up on the long drive to the Leela, and am not in such a bad mood anymore, because I’ve dined at the Zen, and know the food and service is good. What I am not prepared for is the Sunday brunch that awaited my incredulous eyes, and ever so grateful tastebuds.
Sunday brunch is centred around the Zen, and is served partially indoors in the lovely garden between this and the Indian restaurant. We were very graciously led to a table in the shady verandah, and showed the Indian food counter - where the chef was busy preparing dosas and appams to order, the Japanese food counter - with platters of different kinds of vegetarian and non vegetarian sushi rolls, and sashimi on ice, a counter where steaming baskets of dimsum were being prepared, and a dessert counter which had a bubbling chocolate fountain at the centre!
’Not bad at all, ’ I thought, as I settled down with a glass of sparkling wine. My son was brought some bubbly pesticide, and the smiling waiter told us that we could go on to the first floor to select our main courses. ’More?’ I thought to myself and walked upstairs. My jaw practically hit the ground when I saw there was a Thai food counter, a Korean barbeque counter where I could order a selection of vegetarian and non vegetarian foods to be cooked up and served with rice or noodles, a counter serving a variety of satay, and a Mongolean barbeque counter with yet another selection of seafood, and different kinds of meat and fresh vegetables.
’What would you like madam? How would you like it prepared madam? Medium spicy or fiery hot? Just pick what you want, and we’ll bring it down to your table, ’ helpful voices murmured. Overwhelmed, I weakly waved my hand about, pointing to a few dishes, and stumbled downstairs; a smiling waiter thrust a plate of salad into my hands on the way. The choices made, we sat back to enjoy the feast.
*The sushi rolls were flavourful, and the sashimi fresh and delicious. The chef told us that while some of the fish is imported from Europe and Japan, most of it is stored live at the restaurant. Not a very pleasant thought that, but the taste of the meal quickly drowned the twinge.
The dimsum - I ordered only a non vegetarian selection, but was brought a vegetarian basket too- was delicious with the garlic sauce that accompanied it.
We skipped the Indian food - there was just too much other exotic fare, and dug into the light and crisp, Thai salads. We also had a Mongolian seafood barbeque which had a bit too much of spicy soy sauce for my taste, and by the time we finished with the tiger prawn and pork satay and made our way to the dishes of beef and chicken barbeque waiting for us, were quite exhausted not just with the quantity of food, but also the bewildering array of flavours on offer.
Of course we had saved room for dessert, and enjoyed marshmallows, and strawberries and a whole lot of other fruit dipped in the chocolate fountain. There was a praline nut tart that was outstanding, and plenty of other desserts that looked absolutely delicious. Too bad that by this time our stomachs were stretched to the maximum.*
We staggered out 4 hours later, satiated, full of praise for the lovely garden ambience, the smiling and attentive service, and the wonderful food. We didn’t even grumble at the Rs.1, 500/- per person bill we were handed. Once in a while, this is how you should spend your Sunday!