Brunch at The Leela Kovalam, A Raviz Hotel

Some of life’s gifts are like the orders from Amazon, you know you are responsible somehow to receive it! My brunch at The Leela Kovalam, A Raviz Hotel, was something very similar, I had started food blogging before I received an invite.

It is funny how this was my first ever dining experience at a five-star property despite being trained at one! I have hogged shamelessly while working in the kitchen, but that doesn’t count as a luxury experience, does it?

Vinay, Aslam and me, we received an invite from Emy Alex, PR Executive - The Leela Kovalam, A Raviz Hotel, for their special Sunday Brunch. Though we go for a lot of tasting sessions together, this one was had a charm, so we got dressed in the best possible way, not like anyone was going to recognize us, but you know!

We were welcomed at the entrance by Mr. Akhil who later handed us over to Mr.Prakash, the humble and lovely F&B Manager who was our host for the day. He gave us a brief idea about the property and offered us some drinks to Kickstart the brunch.

DRINKS:

• California Fruit Punch: A blend of pineapple, orange, and mango. A summer special in a glass I would say.
• Apple Iced Tea: They probably stalked my Instagram profile before inviting me (just kidding), I mean, how can someone correctly serve me Iced Tea? This one did justice to what Iced Tea means, apple and tea flavor balanced each other out on this one.
• Cabernet Sauvignon from Big Banyon wines: medium-high alcohol, medium dry wine. Loved this one. The red of the wine looked super contrasting with the blue from the swimming pool beside.
• Non- Alcoholic Sangria: wine infused with apples (for over 48hours). This one came all the way for Aslam.

After the drinks were served, I somehow felt like I was in some part of Harry Potter, so much food everywhere. Please forgive me for not writing about everything I ate there; it was a feast and I might have to make this article a series to cover everything.

We went to have a look around and we noticed a live counter with Kerala food, they also told us that this one’s theme keeps changing every week. Tandoor, Kerala Toddy shop, Tea shop specials are some of the examples. At the entrance, there was a cocktail plus beverage section, followed by the buffet.

Something very cute that I found was the kid’s buffet, placed low, this section had smiley fries, fish fingers, mini donuts, cupcakes, French fries and more, almost everything that got me glued to that side of the buffet.

Something very cute that I found was the kid’s buffet, placed low, this section had smiley fries, fish fingers, mini donuts, cupcakes, French fries and more, almost everything that got me glued to that side of the buffet.

We were served appetizers and starters on the table:

• Grilled Prawns: South Indian style masaledar prawns garnished with fried curry leaf. I have to admit, it is astounding how the smell of curry leaf and coriander leaves differentiate between south and north Indian food. The prawns were fresh and had a bite to them and they were power-packed with spicy masala.
• Tom Yum Prawn and Chicken Satay: This one was super easy to eat as it came in a skewer, these South East Asian yummers were served along with peanut sauce! Allergen Alert! The prawns and chicken were cooked to perfection.
• Paneer Satay and Mix Veg Grill: For the lovely vegetarians out there, a skewer of paneer and one with capsicum+ babycorn+ carrot+ zucchini marinated in the same flavor of masala as the above.
• Pani Puri (Indian street food: Chaat: small hollow fried puris filled with spicy potato filling and sweet/spicy masala water): I have zero hopes when chaats are served by high-end restaurants, they usually serve very bland water and not so crispy puri, but this one had really good spicy water.

The main course buffet was so extensive that we had burned all the calories we gained with the appetizer while clicking pictures of the feast.

• I started off with three things on my plate: Grilled Chicken in Red Wine Sauce, Warm Pesto Grilled Veg, and a Veg Pie with carrot, mushrooms, zucchini, and cheese layered with creamy bechamel sauce. The veg pie was so gooood!
• In the second helping, I took Beef and Crouton Salad (the beef could have been a medium rare, but that’s okay), Roti Jala (pronounced ‘haala’) with chili sauce (net pancake: a Malaysian snack made with flour, eggs, and coconut milk), Chicken Galantine (French dish made with de-boned poached meat, served cold), Prawn Nigiri (sister concern of Sushi with a raw delicate prime prawn on top) and other siblings of Sushi. They ran out of wasabi by the time I ate, also I missed a chance to practice my chopstick skills.
• I was in a dilemma when it came to the dessert plate, I was lost amidst all those options: I chose a Rose and Lychee Choux Bun (made differently using the Eclair batter), Sticky Date Pudding (I will definitely go back a hundred times for this one, so bloody brilliant), Raspberry and Earl Grey Mousse Cake (this idea made me go crazy, they made the sponge base and infused it with earl grey tea sugar syrup and then layered it with raspberry mousse), Fruit Custard (creamy eggy custard topped with dragon fruit, muskmelon and mango), White Chocolate Tartlet (a mini tart filled with white chocolate, I was a bit disappointed with the soggy tartlet base, but I guess that was because it was kept for display for a while).
• Oh, I forgot about the Awadhi Mutton Biriyani, by the time I went to get some, it was done and dusted, but Vinay somehow got lucky and was drooling over it.

If you are a food blogger or if you love clicking beautiful pictures, or if your Instagram is a food feed, but at the same time want to have an amazing meal, The Leela Kovalam, A Raviz Hotel, is the place. Oh also, if you like to feel special too, the service staff at The Leela Kovalam, A Raviz Hotel, will make sure you do! The Sunday Brunch comes at INR 1,690 per person plus taxes and it is worth every penny.

Can’t wait to take my family out for brunch and see them go excited about dining at a five star, oh also to witness my dad only choosing Biriyani out of all those options. Haha!

               “Dreams should have a time limit, once that hits, its time to make them happen”