Lotus Cafe

Critic´s Review

• Food: 4 / 5
• Service: 3.5 / 5
• Decor: 3.5 / 5

-By Rashmi Uday Singh

”Give us this day our daily buffet” should be the catchline of this café. Awarded the Best 24-hour Coffee Shop (North Mumbai) by the Times Food Guide, this one is worth a visit, especially for its sprawling and lavish buffets. Large glass walls let in the ocean and lotus pond during the day, and the sky and flaming mashaals at night at this 200-seater, open-plan, always-packed-to-the-seams place. On offer are European, Indian and Asian selections with live stations for grills, pizzas, stir-fries, tawa and crepes. It has over thirty multi-cuisine dishes (please remember that the chaat counter is set up only for the Sunday Brunch) and even a Dessert buffet (ice cream with your choice of toppings and more) - and the recently added Bread Counter and Fresh Fruit Counter are popular too. Newly added dishes on the menu include Tandoori Masala Chicken Steak Burger, Pizza Funghi, Pizza Gardenia, Pizza Chicken Tikka, Buffalo Steak Madras, Bhoona Hara Saag and Nasi Goreng. The a la carte menu must-haves are the Marriott Beef Burger, Murgh Khurchan and Mud Cake, but the buffets (lunch Rs. 1,300, dinner Rs. 1,620, desserts Rs. 850, breakfast Rs. 1,090) are the main draw. They even have a special kitty rate on weekdays at lunch for eight or more ladies (Rs. 950). Sundays are an extravaganza here with a special activity counter (tattoo artists, clowns, juggling and more) and fun foods for children, where those aged five through twelve pay only Rs. 1,250. The non-alcoholic brunch is Rs. 2,000, and if you add on alcohol, it’s Rs. 2,350. The Champagne Brunch, which includes White Wine, Savignon Blanc, Villa Maria and signature Asian as well as European main-course dishes from the menu, costs Rs. 5,050. Come here for a very memorable Sunday. Two new decadent desserts - the JW Marriott Sundae (three ice-creams with berry compote and crumbled ginger cookies on top) and the Bourbon Mudcake sound like delicious ways to cap off the meal.