Shangri-la has a special place in my heart. It might sound filmy/funny, but Mr. Amitabh Bachchan starrer Cheeni Kum which released in 2007 was partly shot in Delhi and Mr. Bachchan stayed in this hotel. People who are close to me know that I am a huge fan, like infinite others, of Mr. Bachchan. Another event – “Khanna sutra” launched happened in February 2013, where for the first time I got a chance to meet Chef Vikas Khanna.
Besides this, during winters, we used to go here regularly, as my son loves their strawberry pastry that we buy from their lobby lounge. Well, enough reasons for this hotel to be special for me. When Jiggi Verma , Manager PR invited us to review Sunday Brunch at Café uno, I was of course delighted!
Shangrila, one of the most luxurious hotel in the heart of Delhi, started in 2004. Earlier it was Hotel Kanishka, managed by IRCTC which Eros group had bought and then tied up with Shangri-la to build the luxury hotel. Next to kansihka was Rail Yatri Niwas where now we have Royal hotel.
Café Uno is the only dining place right now at the hotel as 19 oriental avenue is shut for renovation. As per my discussion with Mayank(Restaurant Manager), their entire F&B at hotel is going through revamp. Café Uno too will shut down in few months and they will come up with two specialty restaurants and the cuisine will be Chinese and the other, Italian. Instead of 19 oriental avenue they are now coming up with much bigger and swanky all day dinning place with a different name. I think it’s a much needed move. Shangri-La doesn’t offer too many dining options to its patrons and this move will certainly help them to increase their customer base.
Café Uno is all day dinning place which not only offers lunch/diner buffet but they also have great A- la-carte . They have an excellent breakfast buffet, which I was told is liked by most of their guest.
We were here for Sunday brunch and were expecting great spread. They have different brunch options, including champagne.
I took a round before the start of my brunch and, it was extremely impressive with the options that they offer. There were huge breads and vide range of cheese , excellent cold cuts – chicken ham, pork ham, chicken salami and pork salami, seafoods , along with excellent salads with cold cuts(must try). Their fruit section too is equally amazing! Apart from seasonal fruits, they have rallied up exotic fruits too (I had dragon fruit). Besides this, truly excellent variety of fruit juices and smoothies!
Café Uno offers, Indian, pan Asian and western cuisine and these cuisines comprise of some great soups, starters and of course, delicious main course. The classic combination of Pork chops in apple sauce was excellent! The grill section has beef, lamb, chicken and prawns with different choices of sauces. Apart from pork chops which was excellent, I loved their grilled tenderloin and prawns – If your meat is tender, juicy, has the right marination and cooked well – everything else falls perfectly in place. It is difficult to move away from their grill section! I also had Thai curry with rice and it was great. The only thing that failed to impress me was their fish gassi, however I loved their grilled chicken. Their spicy ( not too spicy – just the right dose) Aloo Naan was lip smacking as well and we ended up ordering it twice .
Café Uno not only serves great food , but their service is par excellence, and their super prompt service along with pleasing and impressive active servers – makes everything just perfect and great place for Sunday brunch! The lavish green view that you enjoy watching and the pure indulgence of the Sunday brunch – A perfect way to spend your lazy Sunday afternoon with kids and family!
