Nook

A chique ambience for a Sunday brunch. There was a huge spread of buffet, which included chats, salads, indian, Italian and choices of desserts. The vegetarian options could have been more though. We enjoyed a pleasant brunch with some good live music. The staff and chef were really courteous.

This place rocks!!! That's how I would like to start my review. I have tried their breakfast buffet and also the Chettinad Samayal during a festival. You can never go wrong with this place. Their breakfast spread is humongous and you are spoilt for choice. They have a varitey of Indian (North and South), Continental, Pan Asian delicacies for breakfast not to forget the healthy options that are served in a separate counter. They even offer soy milk, almond milk other than your regular juices, shakes, smoothies etc. They offer a lot of fresh and seasonal fruits. I haven't seen a better range of cheese being offered anywhere. The service is top-notch and they are willing to customize items to suit your palate. I am a vegetarian and went there during the Chettinad festival as well. The chef and his team ensured that I got to taste the true Chettinad delicacies like Raw Banana, vada , Curries made of okra, conconut rice etc. Truly impressed. They would get a perfect 5 on all counts. Must visit !!!

I was recently invited to experience the ‘The Taste Of Malabar’ food festival at Nook, my first time at the restaurant. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there, savouring the lovely food that was served to me. The festival was an attempt by Chef Aniket Das (Executive Chef at Nook) to showcase the cuisine of the Mapilla community from the Malabar coastal region. Mapilla – also called Moplah – is community of Malayalam-speaking Muslims in the Malabar, with a distinct cuisine of their own. I loved how the food festival brought Kerala to life. A little stall was set up to represent the chai kada (tea shop) of Kerala, complete with a variety of chips, bananas hanging off hooks and Malayalam newspapers. Coconut-leaf decorations adorned the ceiling. The front office staff were dressed the Kerala way too, with golden-bordered kasavus, white shirts, mundus and veshtis. The food festival menu is in addition to the regular buffet at Nook, at no additional charge. A walk around the buffet showed me that it was quite, quite expansive, spanning a vast variety of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes. I really mean it – the spread here is HUGE. As we settled into our seats, little pots of Kerala delicacies were brought to us to munch on – assorted chutneys, poppadums, rose cookies, tapioca chips, sweet and savoury banana chips, and jackfruit chips. Every bit of this was thoroughly enjoyed by yours truly, especially the lip-smackingly gorgeous pumpkin, curry leaf and raw mango chutneys. Next up, I tried out the somasi – wheat flour shells stuffed with different types of fillings and then deep-fried. I loved the two vegetarian versions, with paneer and mushroom stuffing within. The onion samosa that I sampled alongside was also beautiful, crisp and perfectly done, the filling delicious. I chose some salads from the regular buffet to sample, next. There are different types of chaats on offer at the counter as well. I loved the Capsicum Salad here, with a sweetish dressing, served with bits of feta. The Jackfruit Salad (yes, you read that right! Nowhere else have I come across a salad like this!) was a close second favourite. The Ripe Fig Salad was good too, as was the Soya Nuggets Chaat (the latter, again, something I have never come across before). For main course, I tried out the Kerala Red Rice with Ulli Theeyal, a tamarind-based preparation with shallots. While I loved the earthy taste of the red rice, I felt the ulli theeyal could have done with a bit more flavour. The Cabbage Mezhukkuperatti or stir fry that I sampled alongside was very well done, too, mild and simple, yet full of deliciousness. I also tried out the Vegetarian Pizza, Singapore Noodles and Hot-And-Sour Vegetables from the regular buffet, which I felt were just about okay. I loved the Paneer & Papad Sabzi I sampled from the buffet, too (Just how innovative that is, right?!) The dessert counter at Nook is vast, just like the salad bar, including stuff for every kind of sweet tooth there is. Thanks to the food festival, the dessert counter had typical Kerala sweet dishes like buckwheat halwa, Calicut halwa and Vattayappam (sweet steamed rice cakes made with toddy). This was apart from the regular sweet dishes like ice cream, pannacotta, mousse and various Indian desserts. I was able to try out very few of the desserts, of which I adored the chocolate gateau and the buckwheat halwa. The vattayappam, basboosa and mango-ginger mousse were so intriguing that I had to pick them up but, sadly, they did not hit the right taste notes with me. Considering that Mapilla cuisine is predominantly non-vegetarian, options for vegetarians are relatively limited on the food festival menu. However, the regular buffet more than makes up for it. The buffet is definitely value for money (Rs. 1099 + taxes per head), with or without the food festival, considering the huge spread.

Good ambience, courteous staff but options in buffet are very less. Taste is okay.

Went for buffet .... i liked d dessert section most .....main course n salads was gud too