In a nutshell:

A breakfast arranged for residents of the Hotel (and other guests) in the Banquet – Good service, Good food, way to go to catch up with even group hotels like ITC Sonar etc.

Address & other details:  ITC Grand Bharat

Meal for 2: Part of stay package. Not aware of retail price of breakfast only.

Cuisine type :  vegetarian & non vegetarian

Disclaimer: All restaurants / eateries reviewed by YUMMRAJ were visited by YUMMRAJ himself & he has paid for the full Bill & tips also. http://www.yummraj.com does not have even one featured / sponsored reviews. YUMMRAJ believes in going to a restaurant in anonymity, as a normal guest, experience everything & give a honest account of the same to you.

I rate all the food items & then give a final overall rating which is a simple average of the individual item ratings. What the ratings stand for: 5 = Excellent, 4 = Very Good, 3 = Good, 2 = Fair, 1 = Disaster.

Short description – in case ur in a hurry:

ITC Sonar, Kolkata , a business hotel, is much well equipped for breakfast as compared to this luxury hotel. I recently had breakfast at Sonar and must say that the sheer amount of variety on the spread was great. It had middle eastern dips like baba ganoush,tahini, hummus etc, Japanese sushi, a good variety of eggs including eggs Benedict. I was delighted at the spread. All that jazz was missing at the breakfast of ITC Grand Bharat.

Here breakfast had 4 kinds of fruits, options to create ur own fruit juice, dosa/ uttapam counter, I overheard someone asking for meduvada ( not available), an egg counter that offers only masala omelet that too by a junior guy with lack of imagination. North Indian section had kachori, pooris etc. continental section had French toast, hash browns , baked tomato etc. Cheese platter had relatively more options. Healthy food corner had 4 kinds of corn flakes , no muesli, no Bircher muesli. Cakes and Danishes were there……………..& I guess just a handful of other items that I cant remember.

In short, the breakfast at ITC Grand Bharat was not as ‘grand’ as compared to the other itc hotels.

The staff members were very warm, attentive and helpful. I randomly asked about two things & they took some time but arranged the same. This was beyond expectations.

Food in general was good but I have surely had better.

Detailed description – in case u have the time to NJOY reading:

We started with a plate of fruit – melons, papayas, watermelon etc.

For juice I did what I usually do – told the chef to give me anything that he cud make best. The juice he served had beet root that gave color and a bit of junglee vegetable feel. It did not taste great but felt very refreshing. Rate the juice 3.5/5

We created our own cheese and cold cuts platter. The chorizo was outstanding. Intense in terms of both flavor and taste. Loved it and rate it 4.5/5.

The salamis were outstanding too – full of fat , these salamis were yumm to taste. Rate them 4.5/5

Loved munching on the cheese and grape. Rate this 4.5/5

Super loved the mustard dip. Rate it 4.5/5

The white dip was good. It was somewhat creamy and smooth but wud hv been better if it were to b a bit tighter. Rate it 3/5.

Smoked salmon was very good too.  Rate it 4.25/5.

Chicken patties with a dollop of cheese on top was outstanding.  This dish was a revelation. The patty was soft, juicy, perfect to taste and tasted great on its own as well as with the cheese. Way better than expected. Rate it 4.5/5

Sausages were kept on a heat roller. They tasted yumm. The intensity of taste and flavor of meat had been preserved and enhanced with spices like pepper. Rate this 4.5/5

Hash brown was mashed potato with a sprinkling of herbs tawa fried in low oil. I loved it, though it was different from the deep fried aloo tikki type of hash browns that r served in many Indian restaurants. Rate it 4/5

Potato skins were nice. Crisp on the edges but soft inside. They had perfect salt balance. Rate them 4/5

We Also tried a yoghurt oats dry fruit glass. It was quite good to taste. Rate, it 4.25/5

In the heathy section we found non maida muffins. They tasted different and nice. I loved the texture. Rate it 4/5

Coming to the omelet section, I was surprised to find only 1 option of masala omelet. I asked if they had ham /bacon and if they cud make some continental style omelet. The chef said he will ‘arrange’. So he did. The continental one turned out excellent. Moist inside, a hint of cheese, excellent ham ( generous helping) and perfect balance of taste. Rate it 4.25/5.

The masala omelet was fit for, I guess foreign tourists and Indian kids. No chillies, sub optimal salt, nothing in that omelet stood out for something. It was a directionless ‘baby food’ meant to fill up the tummy. It did not taste bad / inedible though. Rate it 2/5.

Wud recommend the hotel to spruce up the egg counter and b more creative in the offering / have someone senior who can do magic on the plate, with limited resource. It can delight guests beyond the ordinary.

Last food item we tried was thick ghee masala dosa. This came with 4 chutneys and sambar.

The, dosa was thick, fluffy, soft and nice, it had a mild fermented feel to it, which I liked. It was somewhat dry and flavor of ghee was not anywhere as much as u get in ghee roast dosas at say Murugan idly or Saravana Bhawan. Rate the dosa 3.75/5.

White chutney was good. NoThing great. Rate it 3/5

Orange chutney was pale in taste and quite directionless. Rate it 2.5/5

Dark orange chutney was strong, pungent and nice. Rate it 4.25/5

Green chutney was excellent . It retained the texture from mint and other leaves. Intense, thick and yumm. Rate it 4.5/5

The sambar had nice veggies in it. The liquid was thick and sweetish. It was good to taste. Rate it 3/5.

Overall rating of dosa and accompaniments averages out to 3.6/5

 

We requested for South Indian filter coffee strong, sugar separate. It took them 20 minutes to arrange it and the wait was worth. Excellent filter coffee. Rate it 4.5/5

Overall rating of breakfast buffet at ITC grand Bharat averages out to 4/5

 

I wud expect it to b grander in future and wud give it another shot a year later, maybe.