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For the fasting and feasting

The Sunday brunch at The Grand Ashok pleases the indulgent foodie and the self-denying dieter

DIETERS' DELIGHT For those who count their calories, the brunch offers over 20 varieties of salads

Is Sunday your feast-and-celebrate day? A day you love to stuff yourself with all the goodies you looked away from through the week. A day when you perhaps begin your meal and end it with dessert? Indulge, then, at the Sunday Brunch by the poolside at The Grand Ashok.

It's a really an unbelievably magnanimous spread of around 115 dishes! It includes the humble dal or rasam and curd rice and goes all the way mousse and cheesecakes.

Banking on Bangalore's growing weekend culture of chilling out and eating out, the poolside brunch has been revived, says Nimish Bhatia, Executive Chef at the hotel. "People simply want to have a fest on Sunday. Or there are others who very particular that they want only steamed food or their salad and soup. We have it all."

Oh yes, those on a diet and the salad freaks need not worry, because the brunch offers over 20 varieties of salads, whole wheat high-fibre pastas, and non-dairy sugar-free desserts too. Fresh sprouts, lettuce, fresh cabbage and carrots make up the really basic, no-mayonnaise-dressing kind of salads. Try the red and yellow pepper with corn salad for simplicity. There's also a host of cold macaroni and pasta-based salads.

The idea of the brunch, it seemed to us, was to offer a helping of something for everyone. Start off with a traditional south Indian breakfast of idly, dosa, pongal, uthappam or a north Indian gusto of kachoris, samosas and chola batura. The spread also offers six different kind of cereals, fresh fruits and juices, ham, bacon, sausages, croissants, muffins and the like.

So this should give you an idea of things to come through the day. The brunch opens at 11.30 a.m. and is on till a little after 3.30 p.m. Dishes are added on as the day lazily lolls by. So grab a light bite, go for a swim in their renovated pool, Lehar. Then come back and sun yourself and reach out for some health food, if you like. Don't forget your sunglasses or a cap. If the rain gods decide to join the feast, you'll have to run indoors to their coffee shop 24/7.

Or while you are sipping your beer or champagne, get yourself a relaxing foot massage, while your little ones go berserk on the lawns, gape at a magician or watch a potter at work, within your radar-view. There is also a children's menu that offers things such as smiley potatoes, chicken nuggets, cheese balls, fries, tomato and cheese pizza and finger sandwiches. You may also pick up some interesting recipes when chefs demonstrate.

Live counters allow you to ask the chefs to whip up something for you on request and in a jiffy — appams, barbecues, pesarittu, dosa, pastas, oriental food and, of course, kebabs.

But aren't they really spoiling a customer with way too much choice? "We are a commercial establishment and we must cater to our customers. It is an age of stiff competition. We must satisfy the five senses of the customer with our food and, of course, our service," says Nimish.

A range of cold cuts and cured meats share space with lip smacking rich dishes such as south Indian masala fried fish, quick fried chicken with dry chilli, zafferani dum kacche gosht ki biryani, murgh ka dum salan.

Vegetraians also have a flaming range of food to choose from — more than half the dishes are veggies. Pick from wok-flipped vegetables, steamed vegetables with rice, eggplants in sichuan sauce, burnt garlic noodles, hakka noodles, paneer lacchedar kadai masala, aloo anardana, arbi sabzi, palak aur sunheri makkai, rajmah sardari. New age vegetables also find space on their unending menu. Zuchini provencale, assorted mushrooms, lots of broccoli and exotic peppers.

The dessert spread is quite sinful — traditional Indian sweets such as the gulab jamoon and phirni rub shoulders with puddings, apple crumble, pear pies, brownies, sinful soufflé, and assorted pastries.

While seating at the poolside is unlimited, the coffee shop seats 105 (for those who prefer the shade). The menu changes every Sunday. Charges include taxes and champagne. Reservations are not necessary. The Sunday brunch comes at a whopping Rs. 700 per head. But if you are the kind who can do justice to the word "feasting", the deal's good for you. For details, call 2225 0202/22269462.

BHUMIKA K.

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