In a nutshell:

Good Ambience, warm service & an awesome buffet spread that exude the passion of the chefs.

Address & other details: Pullman Hotel

Meal for 2: Rs. 1000 onwards

Cuisine Type: Vegetarian & Nonvegetarian

Short Description – In case u r in a hurry:

I am not a big fan of Buffets coz in most places buffets aim at ‘eating a large variety at less than collective alacarte price’ & also ‘popular version that shud be liked by all’ kind of mindset. Among the buffets that have left a mark on my mind are – the brunch at 19 Oriental Avenue, Shangrila Hotel Delhi……………. & now Sen5es got added to that list.

The buffet here is of 5 kinds: Continental & Desserts, Oriental & Desserts, Italian & Desserts, Indian & Desserts – all for Rs. 900 per person (including taxes). The fifth option is all of the above sections – Rs 1700 per person (including taxes). Let me tell u that unless u have the appetite of Bhima (Mahabharata), u shud stick to any of the first four.

We chose the Italian option & at the end of 2 hrs we just managed to roll out of the restaurant – smiling.

As mentioned above, the setting is visually very nice – the three sections have their own visual merchandizing. The people are very warm, informed, helpful & nice. I just hope they continue to be the same in future once the crowds increase.

The food was excellent – what made a difference was the attention to detail & the passion to be perfect in each & every dish of that large spread.

Detailed description – In case u have the time to njoy reading:

The Italian section had 3 parts – a live counter, a pre-made baked / fried item section & a salad section. We tried most of the things on offer.

The salad section of Oriental, Italian & Continental was the same.

We started with Poached Crabs & Jumboprawns. Two citrus sauces were offered with this. The first bite into it & u may say ‘what is this’? No masala, no marination, no stir fry – nothing. Simply poached!!!! Even salt was minimal.

My tastebuds being trained on stronger tastes, the first thing I did was to spray a bit of salt. It dramatically changed the taste – Infact in very few instances one gets to have a prawn / a crab in its purest form with such natural flavors & taste. The texture was soft & bit juicy. The next few bites with the sauces were very enjoyable too. This turned out to be so good that it ended up being the only item on the menu that I repeated.

Basil consommé & hot pepper consommé were served in shot glasses. These r very different than any drink I have ever had – that does not mean we super liked it – liked it but maybe will appreciate more with time. The aftertaste of pepper was surely notable.

The chargrilled veggies included mushrooms, Zucchinis, bell pepper etc & was done very well. Very tasty I must say.

The baked red snapper looked super attractive the way it was displayed. It however turned out to be cold & a bit flat to taste. Being a fish lover, I cud appreciate the taste of the fish – am not sure if everyone will like it.

French bean & bacon was supr good. It was French beans sautéed with bacon & walnuts – they were glazed. Amazing how simple beans were transformed into such a nice dish.

Carpaccio of beetroot was nice & interesting. It had slices of orange & little dollops of cheese – thinly sliced beetroot ended up in this dish with an interesting taste & flavor.

Chicken piri piri was boneless chicken pieces with sundried tomatoes – good but not great.

Also in the salad section were some Middle eastern sauces & their breads.

The live counter had a pasta section & a Pizza oven.

We requested for a vegetarian pasta with white sauce. We had no idea that this cud be so good. The pasta was ‘just right’ in texture – not soft, not chewy. The sauce turned out to be wow. Overall an outstanding vegetarian pasta – so good that I will easily order this in place of a basic chicken dish.

Post this we requested for a thin crust pizza – salmon & tobiko (fish roe). What came to our plate was one of the best pizzas I have had in 2012 so far. It was a marvel & surely a work of art. Thin crunchy crust, flavorful cheese topping, salmon, roe that bursts inside the mouth & capers – simple yet mindblowing.

In the baked & fried section we tried a chicken quiche, an aubergine based item, Spinach Calzone & the most interesting Lamb pot pie.

The chicken quiche had a very good layery outer base & a general good look & feel except one disaster that is simply unacceptable – the chicken pieces used were old (smelled of over refrigerated chicken – maybe from Lord Clive’s days!!!!!). The only horrible expetience of the evening.

The Spinach Calzone was a fried item with spinach filling that looked like ‘gujia’ sweet served in North India during Holi. The taste & flavor were intense & thoroughly enjoyable. ……………. The calories, it seemed, were touching the sky though.

Lamb pot pie – curried lamb in a tiny pot, covered with maida (flour), baked together – The result was a crispy thin bread on the top & an unusual taste & flavor lamb curry that tasted too good.

For desserts we had a tailormade ice cream, orange tart, mango mousse, opera, pineapple upside down, bread & butter pudding, apple crumble, chocolate lava cake.

The tailormade ice cream was ice cream with snickers, gels, choco chips, almonds & what not – the kinds that u get at Gelato counters – but this one is surely much better.

The orange tart was good – had a fresh orange piece on the top, a nice creamy filling & a layery munchy base.

The mango mousse was recommended by the gentleman in the dessert section – turned out to be Super good. A layer of thick mango extract on the top, a mousse section in the midde & the extract again at the bottom, with little bits of choco thrown in. Wow.

The cake called opera was again too good – layers & layers of different layers. Multiple tastes & flavors – including chocolate & coffee.

Pineapple upside down was good but it got lost in the crowd of ‘better’s &
‘Best’. In simple terms – though its score was above 80%, it lost out on CGPA.

Bread & butter pudding was lovable. I haven’t had it so good in India for a while.

By the time we reached apple crumble, we wud have eaten 4 times of our usual dinner. So we liked the crumble but wud have loved it better probably in normal circumstances. I assume that it wud have tasted better with a little heating as well.

The last dessert for the evening was a chocolate lava cake – sinfully rich dark chocolate, molten chocolate – outstanding & one of the best (not the best) I have ever had. This was freshly made after we asked for it.

See loads of pics of another Day spent at Pullman having an Oriental lunch – Click here

See loads of pics of another Day spent at Pullman having a breakfast – Click here

Overall – Wud surely get back to try out the other sections here at Sen5es – Super loved the experience.