Cafe in the park :Radha Regent Hotel

Radha Regent, earlier known as Radha Park, has been around for ages. Now I'm not that great with directions but I do know that it is located on 100 foot road (apparently this is called Jawaharlal Nehru Salai); where exactly on this road, I have no idea.

Anyway, I've been to this particular place countless number of times. Conferences, meetings, parties, or dinners with family have brought me here more often than I care to remember.

Well it just so happened that I had the chance to visit their restaurant Cafe in the Park for Sunday brunch last week; and hence the review.

We had made an appointment and we were shown our table without any delay. I found out that their tables were booked out for the day so I would suggest you call in advance and make your reservation. The restaurant tables are conveniently arranged around the buffet table, so you don't need to walk too far to get yourself another serving! (Yes, these small things matter to me).

On the whole, the ambience was good. The two-person band hired that day played mostly country and instrumental music which would have been ideal if their volume was turned a little lower. The music completely overpowered the conversation, and in retrospect I feel I should have spoken up.

Service was good, plates were cleared up, cutlery replaced, glasses refilled without too much of a wait.

The Food:

Now this was a brunch buffet, so in my opinion what should really stand out is VARIETY. And on this front, Café in the Park, delivered well above the par. There were three varieties of fruit juices served at the salad bar which was adequately stocked. One particular salad which stood out consisted of shrimp seasoned minimally (but tastefully) and was an instant favorite. The salad dishes totaled around eight in number and were well put together (or so I was told). Being more of a main course person, I did not spend too much time at the salad bar.

The main course section of the buffet was again adequately served. Apart from the expected dishes (Biryani, Curd Rice), I found a good variety of both vegetarian and non vegetarian items. In total, there would have been around 6 – 8 non vegetarian items. I enjoyed the Chicken Kabab, the sausages and the Malabar Mutton Curry. I did not care too much for the Chicken Biryani. The vegetarian dishes consisted of two paneer items, and others which included mixed veggies in Alfredo sauce which looked (and tasted) good. I enjoyed the Paneer Tikka thoroughly; the softness of the paneer, laced with rough charcoaled edges, served with green peppers and tomatoes and that characteristic tikka masala. It was definitely something! There was a section on the side where a chef would make dosas, paniyarams etc, on request.

The dessert section too showed ample variety. Fresh fruits were served at one corner, ice cream at the other corner. There were three flavours of ice cream if I remember correctly. The rest of the desserts were a mix of both Indian as well as Western dishes, such as rasgullas, Peppermint Cheesecake, Caramel Custard and other pastries and soufflés. I was impressed with the variety of course, but the dish I was most looking forward to, the Peppermint Cheesecake, fell short of my expectations. It was more like a soufflé than a cheesecake. I do not understand how people continue to get this wrong!

Side note: In my opinion, the consistency and taste of a cheesecake must be compared to the Philly’s Cheesecake at Sandy’s Chocolate Lab as the benchmark.

The price of the buffet was Rs. 525 inclusive of taxes. This puts Café in the Park of Radha Regent in the same price range as Main Street at Residency Towers.

On the whole, the brunch was a good experience, (save a few shortcomings); something that I would definitely recommend!


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