An Exquisite Buffet - Entree, E-Hotel - Restaurant Review

Outlet: E-Hotel, Royapettah

Address: E Hotel, Gate Number 1, Lobby Level, Express Avenue Mall, Pattulos Road, Royapettah, Chennai

Cuisine: North Indian, Continental, Italian - VEG ONLY

Overall Rating: 4/5

Express Avenue being top on my hangout list I am not new to 'E-Hotel'. Haven't got the chance to dine their but they were on my wish-list for a while. An exclusive luxury hotel that focuses and serves pure vegetarian food, with three different dining setup: Entree, Éclair - Patisserie, and Elixir - Lounge bar. And the bloggers meet came along the way and I was with fellow food bloggers to enjoy the food experience.

E-Hotel - Picture Credit

Entree, E-Hotel - Picture Credit

It shouldn't be hard to locate the hotel as they share space with the Express Avenue (EA) mall. They have a huge parking space for themselves (that isn't part of the mall). And the restaurant Entree is located near the lobby. The decor was neat and the color combinations used were pleasing to our eye-sight; though couldn't spot anything unique the dining space is simple and well-maintained.

Welcome Drink

After meeting the chefs, greeting and sipping through the welcome drink; we settled down to enjoy the buffet spread along with the chefs who conceptualized and presented the food. The spread was vast considering the fact that it is only vegetarian food. Here's my take on everything on the buffet:

Disclaimer: There buffet spread keeps changing every day. Here's the food that I tasted.

Soup & Starters: They were served on our table.

Spicy Corn Veg Soup – It was good but more spice could have been added to the soup.

Paneer Tikka & Cheese Croquettes - I loved both of them. Paneer tikka was delicious with the mint sauce. The croquettes were good as well but the stuffing can be cheesier. More starters would be more welcoming :-P

Soup & Starters

Salads

Salad Spread

Fruid Salad, Corn & Cheese salad, Grilled Veg salad, Aloo Chaat, Tenga Manga salad and Pesto Tomato salad - Salad is never my pick when it comes to eating (so better not to go by my judgement). But I did taste every salad; I loved the Aloo Chaat, Tenga Manga Salad and Pesto Tomato Salad. Being a chennaiwala by default I liked the 'Tenga Manga'. Aloo and pesto tomato tasted great; the flavors used were spot-on. Nevertheless was the 'Grilled Veg Salad'.

Salad Bar

Main Course - A big list. And Let me try to fit in everything spread over the buffet.

Baby Corn Tempura - Favorite. Tasted great; tangy-spicy outer crisp was the best.

Sapo Veg Dumpling - Good, the sauce was good with fried-rice and noodles.

Golden Onion Fried Rice - The rice tasted good but I wasn't a huge fan of crispy onions.

Veg Hakka Noodles - The noodles flavor were spot-on but they were unevenly cooked and made it tough to eat.

Veg Biriyani - Good! And Yum.

Pasta in Alfredo Sauce - Favorite again. This was one of the best pasta I have tasted in the recent times.

Country Vegetable - Good! But with so many good dishes I really couldn't find the need for this.

Corn, Noodles, Veges & Pasta

Dal & Dumplings

Biriyani & Fried Rice

Gravies: Satrangi Sabzi, Paneer Butter Masala, Baingan Shimla Mirchi, Dal Bukhara and Papad Ki Sabji.

Papad ki sabji, first time I am hearing such a dish and it was the best pick for the day. All the other gravies were good with the roti’s. Nothing much to complaint.

Gravies - Paneer, Papad, Baigan, Satrangi

South Indian Delights

Rice, Sambar, Poriyal, Rasam and Curd were there to satisfy the South-Indians but I couldn't eat anything more.

DESSERTS

The part of the buffet I love the most is 'Desserts'; as usual there were ample number of desserts. Surprisingly, I loved everything I ate! Yes, I am a DESSERT LOVER but still every sweet isn't going to impress me. But they are getting FULL MARKS on their dessert.

Mocha Panna Cotta, Kiwi Pastry, Mango Pastry, Strawberry Mousse and Kesari Bath were BRILLIANT - Tasted YUMM!! Lava cake was good but could have been softer! The ice-creams and gulab jamun were match made in heaven.

Strawberry Mousse, Mocha Panna Cotta, Lava Cake

Kesari, Mango and Kiwi Pastry

Being a buffet spread, there isn’t much to comment about service. They did the job perfectly. The food variety were sumptuous considering a vegetarian spread. The order in which food-dishes were placed in the buffet table could be changed; and the management took every feedback positively and implemented them right away. The lunch buffet costs Rs.625 (plus tax) during weekends, a good-deal if you eat more.

Ice Creams & Jamuns

Breaking Down Points

Location & Parking (5/5): Positive. Easy to spot, park and dine.

Ambience (3.5/5): Good. Looks pleasing and good; but not the one to rave about.

Food Variety (4/5): Positive. Buffet, ample variety and good selection of vegetarian dishes.

Taste (4/5): Good. There were ups and downs! But overall they taste great couldn’t complaint much! Desserts – top-notch!! (5/5).

Quality (3.5/5): Good. They got this almost right. But the order of food/course in buffet table could be changed i.e. soups-starters-salads....desserts!

Quantity (5/5): POSITIVE. No negative here; eat how much ever you could. :-D

Pricing & Service (4/5): Positive. Can’t really comment her being an invite. But the service is great. Pricing, definitely a good deal considering the variety.

Entrée, an elite hotelier that master at vegetarian delicacies. The buffet spread makes it ideal for large group to sit, relax, eat, chat, eat and eat. Their food varieties are vast spread across different cuisines. The service, ambience, location are their big positives! With petite corrections in the buffet presentation and taste they could grab more food lovers! Indeed a value for money considering the spread! BEST DESSERTS!! A luxuries veg destination.

P.S. The review is based on my food experience at the restaurant.