Temple Food for the Soul

In this auspicious month, when Lord Ganesha touches our hearts in some way or the other, a brave task was undertaken by JW Marriott—to provide diners with temple food. The ever-popular Lotus Cafe, known for its buffet spread, is serving mostly vegetarian temple food under the title, Temple Feast.

Ambiance: A live sitarist played beautiful music in the background, and each table had bio-degradable plates, which were soon removed by the wait staff—strangely, that was just part of the decor!

Food: There were three live counters set up serving daals, Pongal and harvest specific dishes, and rotis. Sticking to the temple theme, vegetable style Kerala stew, Punjabi daal makhani and palak paneer,  and a Rajasthani inspired mixed vegetable were the first set of dishes to be brought to the table.

This was accompanied by Malabari paratha and khamiri roti. A lot of food to dig into! I tasted the stew and fell in love with it. Perfectly seasoned, with no overpowering flavour of coconut, and no overcooked vegetables, this was a definite win. I then moved on to the mixed vegetables, which too was a hit with its well-balanced flavours and not over the top spices.

The palak paneer was different from what you get in most restaurants. Usually, this dish comes with a creamy spinach paste but at the Temple Feast, you get coarsely cut spinach along with soft paneer, which when eaten has a perfect blend of flavours.

The rich and heavy daal makhani was followed by Amritsari chole, tamatar aloo ki sabzi and puris. The subtly spiced chole and the sabzi reminded me of what I once ate at a langaar.

Chef Himanshu Taneja, Head Chef at JW Marriott, explained, “Each dish has been created the way it is supposed to be,  with chefs from different regions being roped in to prepare the dishes while a North Indian chef makes the Amritsari chole, a South Indian chef prepares the avial. They have taken care to make the dishes as you would get them at a temple.”

For dessert, I had the ada payasam, semiya kheer and alvaa (South Indian halwa, made with palm jaggery and coconut). The desserts were fabulous, especially the alvaa—I tasted it for the first time.

The dishes, desserts, and live counters change every day, as there are so many festivals and celebrations in the country.

Overall, the food here is great, the service matches that of fine dining, and a beautiful ambiance that makes one forget that it is pouring outside.

Where: Lotus Cafe, JW Marriott, Juhu
When: September 5 to 22, 7.30 pm onward
For reservations call: +91 22 66933344
Buffet Pricing: At Rs1,667, you are getting a real good deal here.

Food: *****

Ambiance: *****

Variety: *****

Presentation: *****

Value for Money: *****

About the author
Kumar Jhuremalani is the co-founder of Pet Pujaris, a two-year-old Facebook-driven foodie community, which is now present in Mumbai, Pune, and Bengaluru.

Log on to facebook.com/petpujaris for more. A digital marketing consultant and a food photographer, he also loves travelling and board games.