We had been planning a family lunch at Vivanta by Taj, Trivandrum for quite some time, finally it happened last Sunday. I had heard that their Sunday brunch was good with lot of options but I didn’t think much about it .While on our way to Vivanta , I just mentioned to Anil that I would like to try out only different salads and soups for lunch. Of all things why salad? Well, somehow I measure the quality and standard of the food of a place by the variety of salads they offer (of course the taste matters :) ) - yes, I might sound weird but try out next time you go out for some fine dining. The erstwhile Muthoot Plaza used to offer a large spread of salads before it closed for the present Hilton Garden Inn and it’s there I picked up interest in salads.
Ok so let’s get back to Sunday Brunch at Vivanta. We reached some time past noon and the restaurant had just couple of people having lunch and the live music was about to start. I was told that Sundays are usually crowded, but then I didn’t see too many people, guess we were early. We were warmly greeted by Biju, the Restaurant Manager who told us, that particular Sunday they were starting something different in the Salad section! A whole spread of Salad was set up for lunch buffet. What a coincidence! We moved to the buffet area and the whole place looked so vibrant with the main central attraction of Salad section :)
I must appreciate the thought which had gone behind presenting and arranging the buffet. At the start of the counter was the Kiddies counter – lovely spread of mini burgers, varieties of juices, cookies, fruit sticks and chocolate fountain to dip the fruits. My children loved it and they were on their own from there on, I didn’t have to worry about keeping them engaged. Next to Kids counter was the Western Live and Egg Counter / Pasta with choice of sauces. Then at the centre was the attraction of the Buffet – the Salad carpet – it had so many variety in both veg and non veg that I felt I won’t have to look at the main course itself. I could not have asked for more!
Beetroot & orange salad with dill yoghurt, Grilled zucchini roll with blueberry mayonnaise, Olive marinated grilled artichoke with cherry tomato, Cheese roulade with tenderloin & mushroom salad, Asparagus wrapped ham with mustard dressings, Smoked salmon with sour cream salad, Grilled prawns with watermelon salad, Egg with cream Salad, Potato in cream, Humus and mini pitta bread and a variety of salami / sausages.
I took mix of veg and non veg salads, and kids enjoyed salads with fruits and cream combo, while I enjoyed smoked salmon, grilled prawns, zucchini and humus , we got Chef’s recommended assorted starters consisting of Shrimp Tempura, Natholi porichathu and Reshmi sheikh kebab in non veg & Achari paneer tikka shashlik, Mini masala vada, Vegetable wantons and Pani puri. With some chilled white wine to balance the saltiness and sweetness of the salad / starters, it took us almost one hour to get through the salad adventure with lovely background live music to give us company.
For our main course again we had too many options - Chicken Pepper, Awadh Chicken, Tenderloin Steak with potato, Vegetables in cream, Awadh Bharwan Sabzi, Daal Makhani (Creamy Black Gram), Hyderabadi Mutton Dum Biriyani, Noodles – Vegetarian, and of course, the regular Steamed Rice, Kerala fish curry, and Pullissery.
Awadhi cuisine was something I had not tried before so my focus went in for Bharwan Sabzi and Awadhi Chicken – both the dishes were excellent! Specially the Stuffed Vegetables (Bharwan Sabzi), creamy rich perfect flavours of the spices – vegetables melts in your mouth – no wonder Awadhi cuisine from Lucknow is so well known for its ‘Nawabi’ food. Absolutely must try anytime. I also took a spoonful of Hyderabadi dum Biryani which turned out a bit too salty for my taste, but again the mutton was very tender and full of flavours.
Finally the Dessert section – well I did not have much scope of trying out anything more, but then how can you miss the dessert section! Again it was a generous mix of traditional Indian sweets to Pastries. Hot hot Malpau, Jalebi with rabri , Pista Jamun with cream, Ajeer burfi to Chocolate cake Baba-au-rum , etc.
Must say had a very fulfilling experience in Vivanta – almost three hours completely engrossed in eating with family, and for once I did not have to run around my kids asking them to eat, they went on their own, took what they wanted to eat and did not fuss about anything – they were at their best behaviour :) and yes in those three hours the restaurant was almost full!
One thing which I must mention is it’s not just the food, it’s the ambience of lovely music, the light conversations, birthday wishes, hospitality which the team showers whether in terms of giving suggestions what to try in food or drink, or keeping an eye on children’s need and interest or doing casual talk with the guests, Vivanta’s team was throughout very warm, pleasant, professional and best in their hospitality. The Sunday brunch at Vivanta by Taj, Trivandrum turned out to be a great food adventure!
Simmi Xavier
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