What would work for a customer who cannot spare more than an hour for lunch but would welcome a break from the monotony of canteen food? The idea is simple and it clicks.
Located in the heart of Electronics City, Blue Coriander in Lords Plaza has come up with an elaborate buffet as an answer to satisfy the corporate appetite.
Priced at Rs. 299, the menu has dishes from different cuisines and has a different line up of dishes each day. “A-la-carte wouldn't have worked because people here have little time for lunch. So we thought we could innovate with the buffet menu, giving our customers a wide range of choice,” said Vikas Suri, the assistant vice-president.
Though the restaurant does offer the option of ordering a meal, Suri says that it is the buffet that most people throng to. And evidently, when we entered the restaurant at around 1 p.m. on a Tuesday afternoon, we realised what a winner the lunch buffet was. Leaving behind their id cards on the tables, people ensured that they had their plates full for an hour. At around 2 p.m., an ambience which was filled with loud conversation plunged into sudden silence as they left for their offices. What is this winner of a buffet like? Two steaming pots of soup — the Italian chicken soup and the sweet and sour vegetable soup on a Tuesday, guard the entrance to the vast but organised line-up of food that is to follow. A well-arranged table of salads stands next to the soup counter. When the first leg of this journey is complete, an organised array of main courses pinned to the wall is the next destination.
Pasta arabbiata and canneloni lead up to vegetable jalfrezi, makki di roti and khichdi, and just when you think your plate is full, drums of heaven, chicken canneloni and noodles await you. Choose the makki di roti accompanied with sarson da saag over the pasta. Or even the jalfrezi with soft naans over the noodles. North Indian cuisine is clearly their forte.
Though the dahi vada and khadi with the khichdi was a little too sour, the puri and chole and the well-cooked chicken in drums of heaven made up for it. The buffet is laid out in two slots — one at 12.30 p.m. and the other at 1.30 p.m. to manage the crowd. “With a buffet, the main challenge is to keep the food fresh. We ensure that we replace cold food with fresh food as soon as possible,” said Suri.
Since they cater largely to an office crowd, weekends are slack, Suri said. ‘True value for money' is their tag line and the range of food does offer true value for money. Even though some of the dishes are a little bland, it is the sheer variety for a price of Rs. 300 that makes the place a popular corporate hangout. The restaurant is near Infosys Gate 1 in Electronics City.
