Awadhi Food Festival at Jeon, Sea Princess

The first thing that comes to mind when we take the name of Hotel Sea Princess, has to be Trilogy or amazing location by the sea or even their Poolside Parties! So when we were invited for their Awadhi Food Fest, we were a little apprehensive. But again and again, we come across the saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover!!”

Mutton Shorba

The Place:
Now everyone knows that Sea Princess is bang on Juhu Beach and needs no introduction for its location. The main reason we wanted to check out the Food fest was because our very own ‘Foodie’ is from Lucknow and she wanted to see if they’ve stayed true to the recipes or not. The Food Fest was at Jeon their all day dining restaurant which is a stone throw away from their lobby.

Paneer Adraki Tikka

The Food:
Before we entered the coffee shop, we did not know it would be a buffet setting, and we aren’t pro buffet either. But alas a buffet it was! Probably all you readers are thinking this might not end up good for the BombayFoodies, but trust us guys, it was one of the best meals we’ve had in a while!!! We started off with a small portion of Chana Chaat and Murmura given to us by a server who was sporting quite the attire. Moving to the Soup we had the Mutton Shorba and for the vegetarians there was a Palak and Akroth (walnut) Shorba. It was so nice and light that our Foodie had two bowl fulls with assorted papads. For appetizers we a regular Murgh Malai Tikka and Mutton Galouti but what stumped us was the vegetarian Moong Daal Galouti (on Cover Photo) and Croquettes. Lightly spiced and a decent amount of Kevda (Rose) water this kebab was spot on on all levels, only thing missing was an Ulta Tawa Paratha.

Murgh Malai Tikka

Going to the main course, we had a really high expectation especially after the start of the meal. Generally most buffets have just a small segment dedicated to ‘Food Festival’ menu, but not here. All the non-vegetarian dish had an Awadhi Influence. In the Vegetarian section, barring the three Oriental dishes there was a great spread of veggie Awadh inspired dishes. In the meat section there was a Dum Chicken Biryani, Murgh Do Pyaaza, Nalli Nihari and a Fish Kofta dish, none of the above disappointed. The Biryani like the Lucknowi Biryani wasn’t high on spice but one could taste the stock in which the rice was cooked. The Murgh Do Pyaaza had succulent pieces of Chicken and was tossed in a tangy gravy with two types of onions.

Clockwise: Murgh Do Pyaaza, Daal Awadhi(In bowl) Fish Kofte, Nalli Nihari, Dum Biryani.

The Fish Kofta and Nihari just hit a f*cking home run for us! We called for a couple of crispy Butter Kulchas and it was just a match made in heaven. Both the dishes were nicely flavoured but did not have the “spiciness” that most of the other Awadhi restaurants have. The dishes were so good that our Chef had another helping of both the dishes. For the veg options we had the Daal Awadhi, Sighada (Water Chestnut) Kaliyaan, Dhingari Dolma (Mushroom and Paneer Korma) and Baigan-Mirch Salaan. The food had a great quality and was tasty, like made us feel we were in the olden Awadhi Raj times!

Assorted Desserts

Dessert and Final Views:
Desserts had a few Indian sweet dishes like Phirni, Shahi Gulan Jamun, Falooda and a Carrot Kheer, but we settled for the regular European fare. A soft and subtle Blueberry Pannacotta, Baked Cheesecake, Apple Pie slice, Egg-less Chocolate cake and a Chocolate Flan. The fact that we finished everything (except the Falooda — too full) on our plate just tells you how good and simple the dishes were. At 1791/- all inc. this buffet is not to be missed, the Food Fest is on till the 15th of November so BombayFoodies go and book your table now!!

Have to end with Falooda!!

(Even though the BombayFoodies were invited to this dinner, honest Reviews and Opinions have been given.)