Art Brunch, Courtyard Marriott, Teynampet

The airy dining section 

Courtyard Marriot's Paprika Cafe has been coming up with many creative concepts to make the usual Sunday brunch a little more memorable. This effort is one more such event among them. I loved the "Back to School" themed brunch that was held last year where waiting staff bore students uniforms and there was Gol Gappe spiked with vodka! ;-) The Sunday brunch at Paprika Cafe usually has a very wide spread and it was no different this time!

What's special this time is that the artists Pradeep L. Mishra, Madhu Venugopal, K. Sudheesh & PP. Pradeep. Now intriguing artwork from these artists have been placed in strategic locations around Paprika Cafe and while they are in the background, they would definitely provoke the gourmand. If he spares the time to look up from his full plate that is. The artwork's interpretations could easily spark discussion so keep an eye out for them.

Lamb Chops!

They have a small space for kids to play about while the adults get busy eating. 

We started off with a small portion Prawn Bisque that a fellow blogger wanted to sample. It was superbly made with that savory flavor that made my mouth water! The flavor of prawns wasn't overpowering and I could taste some of the shell's saltiness in there. The blend of spices rounded the flavor in a wholesome way. Just what a soup should be. 

Salad section:

Lovely Salad Section

Paprika cafe's salad section is usually presented beautifully and it was the same this time. There were options with feta cheese, aubergines (looked good) and more.  

Main Course:

There are usually separate counters for each cuisine or kind of food manned with their own chefs. This time there was a stall for making rolls with meat or veg filling, a Ceviche counter where the dish is served up in shells placed over lots of ice! Ceviche is raw seafood marinated in citrus and was an interesting bite! I didn't feel it was raw surprisingly because of the strong marination!

We then tried the amazing looking pork belly (in a seperate counter) which was sweet from the maple sauce glazing used. This was almost melt-in-the-mouth stuff and the sweetness was just right. Enjoyed having two helpings of the golden skinned pork belly meat along with the tender fat. In fact, I even topped off the mild flavored thin-crust chicken pizza with some pork meat for some custom "fusion" food. ;-) There was also a burger section with patties being freshly fried and placed in activated charcoal based buns. Interesting but flavorwise same as the white buns.

For those opting for the alcohol version of the brunch, there's a separate makeshift bar stall where you can have cocktails made. There's some brands like Napolean, Beefeater gin, Tequila, Barcardi black and some others to pick from.

 

Notwithstanding the food stalls there's also an entire buffet section inside another part of the Cafe near the pizza ovens. You can order pizza of your liking as well which is included in the brunch! The buffet section consists of a curious selection of items like crab varuval, beef tenderloin, curd rice, a chicken curry and a lot more. There's a surprise in the biriyani section namely the bamboo biriyani that seems to be social media's darling. There's a server in Mundi (traditional clothing) who pushes the steaming biriyani out of the bamboo stick. Tastewise it was kind of mild and low on spices. There's also the Hyderabadi biriyani that was more to my taste being spicier. 

Desserts

Creme Brulee

Shortcake!

Now the dessert and salad section is where the dishes were most creative. Loved the Mango salsa mousse which was presented in a white chocolate mould holding vanilla mousse topped with the best mango slices. Simple yet amazing this one was. There was also Pineapple upside down cake, creme brulee, shortcake among others. In fact, the desserts were getting eaten up faster than we could try many of them. Presentation was also elaborate. Ice creams and nitrogen dipped treats were brought to the table as well. 




All-in-all a very sumptuous spread with plenty of variety for virtually any palate. We were quite impressed by the effort put into most dishes by the chefs. For a price of 1699 and 2699 respectively for the non-alcohol and alcohol versions respectively, this is a great deal if the quality and enthusiasm in serving is maintained till the end of this art  festival on May 13. It's available only on Sundays so reserve your tables if need be.