le meridien is a brand that always elevated kochi to next level. infact, it is one of kerala's biggest convention hub. so naturally, i was expecting a much premium level buffet service.
unfortunately i was disappointed to the core. been to several le meridien across india and outside, so i must say, the lunch buffet is one of the most ordinary, perhaps more fit for a 4 star hotel than the levels of le meridien.
i cannot say, the food was bland or tasteless. infact it was tasty. but the options were too little that i believe fits more for a 4 star hotel than a 5-star hotel, especially when le-meridien has a worldwide repute as gastronomic's paradise.
i feel if compared to its competitor brands like marriott in kochi (please see my review about marriott), le meridien's flagship restaurant- the latest recipe stands no where. i am not intending for a direct comparison as the rates were different and probably the uninspiring nature of le meridien's buffet may explain its lower rates.
there were around 5 salads + assorted veggies on the day i visited. i personally loved the german potato salad and the grilled chicken salad. but rest all where ordinary, something we can cook at our homes. i was surprised to see how our normal papaya thoran being presented as a salad, which was just average.
the breads were okay, especially the onion bread. the options were limited to just a country bread, onion bread, and few rolls. but surprised to see butter are made available on request, not kept as an option either on the buffet or on the table. two soups were there, which i didn't try, so not commenting.
there is a pasta station, but no board listing the options. we need to ask the chefs about the options. but still i would say, i loved the pasta as the best dish in the whole buffet. however, the preparation took ages to reach to our desk. infact we almost finished the buffet, when the pasta which we ordered first arrived and i had to cancel one option it was ordered for one of our group member who had her tummy full by then. i don't know whether its fair to complain because i felt they were making fresh pasta. still they could have told us, that it will take some time.
in main course there was 1 chicken kadai (north indian dish), one continental chicken dish (guess it was baked chicken with potato wedges), one fish dish, one mutton dish. the fish was okay-okay. it wasn't bad nor excellent.
chicken kadai was really good. it was highly authentic and really good. the continental chicken was too bland, but the worst to complain was it was as cold as taken freshly from fridge despite of listing as a hot food. i complained to the chef, who removed it. but by thetimehe brought, we almost finished our food. mutton too was not hot enough, but still okay as it was warm. average fare.
coming to veg, i tried only the paneer dish. it was fair enough. there were 2 more other options which we didn't go thro'. tried hakka veg noodles which were cooked by the chef in front of us and served. that was good, though oily. the 2 rice options were average.
the chef at paratha station couldn't tell us what all options he can offer. he said, there was only naan (plain and butter), tandoori roti etc. when one man asked do you have aloo, he said no, immediately a senior chef came and said yes. so he and i ordered one aloo paratha each. its hard to believe, that single paratha took 25 mins to reach our table. the waiter later said, these orders will taketimeand we decided not to order any more aloo paratha considering thetimeframe required for one paratha.
coming to sweets option, it was too limited. they had 3 pastries (brownie, strawberry cheesecake, and mango sorbet cake), umm ali and ada payasam. umm ali was just average, perhaps local arabic cafes in kochi can make much better than this one. ada payasam was normal fare.
coming to ice-creams, they have a coldstone for ice-cream mixing and hence a dessert chef was there at the counter to offer ice-cream. but thetimehe takes to mix those ice-creams were mindblowing.... i calculated using a stopwatch. its exactly 14 mins-21 seconds to mix just one small kid scope of chocolate with another similar sized butterscotch. i don't understand why he needs so muchtimeto just mix two ice-creams, that too without any toppings or even a sauce. infact nearly 1 hour was lost in this process of getting ice-creams to our table. in meantime, some of our members even had a walk in nearby gardens.
the waiters were good enough, but they were helpless with the extremely slow cooking process. infact my main complaint will be this erratic delays to get the dish on the table.
towards the end, the waiter who was assisting our table also started helping in ice cream counter as even some other people in other tables were complaining.
i won't say the food was bad or lack tasty. but there is a purpose in coming to a 5 star brand as we expect something premium. unfortunately, there isn't anything premium, rather a much ordinary. even some 3 star/4 star hotels in kochi serves much bigger and better one.
anyway, one won't feel cheated as the rate is low, just less than 750 rs per head inclusive of taxes. but not the premiumness that you expect from such a brand.