Fifty-Five East, Hotel Grand Hyatt (Santa Cruz East)

Every bit worth the financial indulgence

Let's face it - a Sunday brunch at a premium restaurant inside one of the city's leading five-star hotels is not going to come cheap. What you can rest assured of though is that the exorbitant amount will be well-spent here unlike at Marriott's Lotus Cafe. Named evocatively after the PIN code (400055) of the Hyatt and the fact that it is on the Eastern side of the Santa Cruz Station of the Western Railway, Fifty-Five East is where you go for the choicest in both oriental and occidental cuisine. In terms of the look and feel, the restaurant is the ultimate in the open kitchen concept with virtually everything (barring the Indian main course) available at live counters. The chefs are also extremely cooperative when it comes to customisation - you can actually choose a sauce from a different counter, and it will be willingly served you. An obligatory start would be at the sushi counter, where the tuna sushi with wasabi sauce delights in its perfection while the traditional hotategai (scallop sushi on rice) appears much too pungent for the Indian palate (and may therefore be assumed to be the real thing). If you want scallops at their best though, they are available at the next live counter where they are served whole in a glwith a sauce of your choice (lemon garlic or cocktail is recommended). The tuna or chicken cold salad is best left alone thanks to its dryness, and a good idea now would be to pass on to the western counter for the excellent chicken thigh in fried onions, best enjoyed with barbecue or Dijon mustard sauce. Among the other commendable western delicacies is the chargrilled prawn, which starts right where the scallops left off. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the chargrilled fish which reminds one suspiciously of the hilsa from Bengal; or the chicken counterpart which you may try with any sauce you like but always with the same result (you do end up admiring the different sauces though, mushroom being the best of the lot). The roast chicken with potatoes too fails to impress. Among the more traditional Italian dishes, the cannelloni with minced meat is decent, but the chicken sausage and pepperoni pizza is absolutely delectable in its simplicity (sausages and pepperoni slices neatly arranged on a wonderfully prepared crust). To come back to the oriental side, one thing you should not miss is the Thai shrimp ball noodle soup - a delicious broth containing flat noodles, shrimp fillings inside dough balls, and sprouts that is as nutritious as it is tasty. If you still have some space left for the main course, you can try out the pan-fried noodles with the chicken thai red curry, a tried and tested combination at various places. To get a little more experimental, the stir-fried vegetables and fish are quite brilliant, and the slightly pungent aftertaste of the fish will disappear with a generous helping of the dim sum sauce. Add the Asian favourite lobster crackers to that, and you have it all. By the time you reach the dessert counter, which is the largest of the lot, you are about to explode but try and hold it in looking at what is on offer. A perfect ending to a perfect meal comprises the seductive strawberries or chocolate mousse in vanilla ice-cream or a crepe with whipped cream and strawberries. The ice-cream, served from a dispenser, is incredibly soft, and some chocolate sauce added to it can make for a libidinous cold drink as well. One very significant positive on the buffet is the inclusion of beverages (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic) as part of the package, and it is difficult to resist the Duc de Roucher Brut champagne that you can have with your meal. Just make sure you have a bit of the champagne left by the end of the meal - for the strawberries in cream are best enjoyed with champagne, especially if you are here on a special date. And even if you are not, the very fact that you have paid over INR 3000 for this meal does entitle you to a little bit of food porn after all!

Ambience                ★★★★
Service                    ★★★★ 
Presentation            ★★★★★
Taste                      ★★★★★


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