Lotus Cafe, Hotel J.W. Marriott (Juhu)

Exodus Cafe...Of money, that is

Whoever believes that all reputable 5-star hotels have top-class restaurants with excellent ambience and mouth-watering delicacies is yet to visit the flagship restaurant of J.W. Marriott. At Lotus Cafe, the only thing matching 5-star levels is the charge for the brunch buffet - you can eat all you like to make the most of the obscene amount you pay, but the quality of food does not live up to the quantity consumed as a result. The salads, especially the chicken and seafood ones with a dash of Thousand Island, Mustard and Cocktail dressing, ensure your meal starts with a lot of promise, as does the rich and smooth Cream of Chicken Soup; but thereafter, things only go downhill. Among the other starters, the Alu tikia is soft but not particularly appetising, while the braised chicken breast in completely bland. The Tangri kabab, a tandoori preparation of a chicken leg, is quite palatable, but whoever went to a 5-star hotel in Mumbai to eat Tandoori chicken? And so you come to the live seafood counter, where the tiger prawns, groupers and salmons look quite delightful; and you order a sizable helping of each. Unfortunately, once they are prepared and brought to your table (i.e. a good 30 minutes later, by which time you may sample the Beef Wellington - made of pork - and get nauseated anyway), the taste has been done away with - the prawn, though served in quite a regal fashion, is inordinately bland (roadside Chinese eateries handle prawn better); the grouper is chewy though somewhat tasty; and the much-heralded salmon has a faintly putrid aftertaste. The live spaghetti counter disappoints just as much, as the penne in cream sauce turns out to be the same as that you would get at any other continental place in Mumbai, and the promised pink sauce turns out to be nothing better than the tomato-based red sauce that is widely available everywhere as well (with the notable exception that it is utterly unpalatable here). A disgruntled customer may choose to walk out now, or pay a visit to the desserts counter with his / her dignity still intact. Some solace may be found here in the chocolate pastry and the rather variegated collection of Baskin Robbins ice-creams that are on offer. For all the bad food that is served here at exorbitant rates, Lotus Cafe may be recommended for a decent offering of mocktails. While the Virgin Mary (with unnecessarily pungent tomato juice) is best avoided, the Virgin Pina Colada, Virgin Mojito, Dune Runner (mango and cranberry juice) and Salient (mango, cranberry and lime juice) are absolutely delightful and cheer you up even as you struggle to ingest the abysmal food spread. In fact, in case Marriott allows it, a splendid way of spending the lazy afternoon would be to curl up beside the pool adjacent to Lotus Cafe with a glass of Pina colada. If for nothing else, one is spared the overcrowded interiors and Epicurean disasters within.

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


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