Courtyard Marriott has opened a new property in the heart of the auto manufacturing hub in Chakan, Pune and invited a few bloggers to check it out over Christmas. Since it's impossible to cover the 2 days of awesomeness in 1 post, I've decided to split my post in 2 parts - so below is the post about their all-day dining restaurant, Momo Cafe. You can check my post about the property, accommodation and the cheese factory visit here:- The Property & Cheese Factory Visit
Knowing the kind of brand that Marriott has developed over the years and having experienced their amazing hospitality on various occasions in the past, I was quite sure that my stay will be a pleasurable one. What I was a bit skeptical about though, was the food at Momo Cafe. I'd visited their restaurants Al Fresco and Momo Cafe at their Hinjewadi property and was severely disappointed with the rather bland and tasteless food. Friends didn't have encouraging words about the food at the Momo Cafe at their Bund Garden Road property either. But the food at the the Chakan property took us all by surprise. And how!
On checking-in were were served a platter of 3 mini desserts comprising of Apple Crumble Tart, Christmas Cake and Truffles. The tart was heavenly and way better than the entire dessert buffet I'd eaten at the Hinjewadi property put together.
Before we embarked on an epic Christmas eve dinner, the management had planned a meet & greet event by the poolside where we were introduced to the management of the hotel and served a selection of wines along with some h'orderves like ham and melon, pear and feta, chicken pate, salmon with cream cheese, cheese-board accompaniments like crackers, olives, apricots and prunes and a few cheeses like brie, cheddar and emmenthal. I gorged on the ham and melon salad and was delighted to see brie because it simply is my favourite cheese which unfortunately no one serves in buffets because of the high cost. After a couple of glasses of wines we were guided to Momo Cafe for dinner. The restaurant is spacious and tastefully done-up with a show-kitchen which is quite always fascinating for me.
The first dish that caught my eye was the beautifully glazed turkey and I dove straight in to it without wasting any time. They even had some roasted chicken and beef wellington as Christmas specials along with peking duck and dimsums. The turkey, topped with cranberry sauce was gorgeous and so was the chicken..nice and juicy. The meat of the beef wellington was sadly over-cooked and had gone a bit dry and chewy.
The peking duck and prawn dimsum boasted of very authentic flavours and well-cooked meats though the pancake and the wrap could've been a little thinner. I ended my meal with the delicately flavoured combination of pork char sui and vietnamese fried rice. The flavours of the mildly flavoured fried rice still linger on my palate even a few days after the meal. Yes, it was THAT good!
Apart from the dishes I tried, there were salads, pizzas, cheeses, dishes like bacon wrapped steak, sweet potato and marshmallow bake and a huge counter of indian dishes, none of which i could try after the food onslaught and with the dessert spread still to be checked-out.
But the dessert section is generally the most ignored section in buffets and so even after seeing a stunning array of pretty looking desserts i wasn't very excited. But the proof of the pudding is in it's taste and the desserts here were just great. A rich and dense sacher torte, mini fruit tarts, baba au rhum, opera cake which was infused with star anise to give it a Christmassy make-over, a selection of chocolates, waffles, pancakes, gulab jamuns, rasgullas...and the list goes on. I tried a bit of almost everything and was simply stunned by the taste and quality of the fare.
I already know where i'll be on Christmas eve next year.....want to join in?
A breakfast fit for Kings:
Not to be left behind, the breakfast buffet that we tried the next day was quite stellar as well. All my favourites like crispy bacon, pork sausages, scrambled eggs, waffles, pancakes, south indian dishes, oats, fresh fruit juices were all vying for my attention. I settled for the bacon, pork sausages, scrambled eggs with ham and cheese, fresh fruit juices and pancake with berry compote and whipped cream. The scambled eggs were perfectly gooey, the pancakes were soft and fluffy and the berry compote provided that burst of fresh, fruity flavour that I so love in the mornings. It was during breakfast i noticed that the large french windows adorning the restaurant result in a beautiful sun-kissed cafe which only adds to it's allure.
If memory serves me right, the breakfast buffet here costs Rs.399/- incl. of taxes which along with the mind-boggling variety of dishes makes it one of the best {if not the best} breakfast buffets in town. So if you live close-by or are an early riser and fancy a drive to Chakan, check this place out for a hearty breakfast. You'll love it as much as we all did.
On checking-in were were served a platter of 3 mini desserts comprising of Apple Crumble Tart, Christmas Cake and Truffles. The tart was heavenly and way better than the entire dessert buffet I'd eaten at the Hinjewadi property put together.
Before we embarked on an epic Christmas eve dinner, the management had planned a meet & greet event by the poolside where we were introduced to the management of the hotel and served a selection of wines along with some h'orderves like ham and melon, pear and feta, chicken pate, salmon with cream cheese, cheese-board accompaniments like crackers, olives, apricots and prunes and a few cheeses like brie, cheddar and emmenthal. I gorged on the ham and melon salad and was delighted to see brie because it simply is my favourite cheese which unfortunately no one serves in buffets because of the high cost. After a couple of glasses of wines we were guided to Momo Cafe for dinner. The restaurant is spacious and tastefully done-up with a show-kitchen which is quite always fascinating for me.
The first dish that caught my eye was the beautifully glazed turkey and I dove straight in to it without wasting any time. They even had some roasted chicken and beef wellington as Christmas specials along with peking duck and dimsums. The turkey, topped with cranberry sauce was gorgeous and so was the chicken..nice and juicy. The meat of the beef wellington was sadly over-cooked and had gone a bit dry and chewy.
The peking duck and prawn dimsum boasted of very authentic flavours and well-cooked meats though the pancake and the wrap could've been a little thinner. I ended my meal with the delicately flavoured combination of pork char sui and vietnamese fried rice. The flavours of the mildly flavoured fried rice still linger on my palate even a few days after the meal. Yes, it was THAT good!
Apart from the dishes I tried, there were salads, pizzas, cheeses, dishes like bacon wrapped steak, sweet potato and marshmallow bake and a huge counter of indian dishes, none of which i could try after the food onslaught and with the dessert spread still to be checked-out.
But the dessert section is generally the most ignored section in buffets and so even after seeing a stunning array of pretty looking desserts i wasn't very excited. But the proof of the pudding is in it's taste and the desserts here were just great. A rich and dense sacher torte, mini fruit tarts, baba au rhum, opera cake which was infused with star anise to give it a Christmassy make-over, a selection of chocolates, waffles, pancakes, gulab jamuns, rasgullas...and the list goes on. I tried a bit of almost everything and was simply stunned by the taste and quality of the fare.
I already know where i'll be on Christmas eve next year.....want to join in?
A breakfast fit for Kings:
Not to be left behind, the breakfast buffet that we tried the next day was quite stellar as well. All my favourites like crispy bacon, pork sausages, scrambled eggs, waffles, pancakes, south indian dishes, oats, fresh fruit juices were all vying for my attention. I settled for the bacon, pork sausages, scrambled eggs with ham and cheese, fresh fruit juices and pancake with berry compote and whipped cream. The scambled eggs were perfectly gooey, the pancakes were soft and fluffy and the berry compote provided that burst of fresh, fruity flavour that I so love in the mornings. It was during breakfast i noticed that the large french windows adorning the restaurant result in a beautiful sun-kissed cafe which only adds to it's allure.
If memory serves me right, the breakfast buffet here costs Rs.399/- incl. of taxes which along with the mind-boggling variety of dishes makes it one of the best {if not the best} breakfast buffets in town. So if you live close-by or are an early riser and fancy a drive to Chakan, check this place out for a hearty breakfast. You'll love it as much as we all did.
More details and booking information about the hotel can be found here:- Courtyard Marriott, Chakan
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| Trio of desserts |
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| Dream brekkie: pork sausages, bacon, scrambled eggs |
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| Pancake with berry compote and whipped cream |
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| It's Christmas! - Turkey, Beef Wellington and Roasted Chicken |
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| Croquembouche |
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| Dessert Platter |
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| Selection of Chocolates |
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| More desserts: yule log, mince pie, opera pastry & strawberry pavlova |
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| Gorgeous! Baba Au Rhum |
Thank you for sharing this Information.
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