Bengali Food Festival @ JW Mariott Bangalore

Saturday, October 22, 2016

The moment I think of Bengali cuisine, the images of sweet Rasogolla, mishti doi and loads of sweets come to my mind. My presumption of Bengali cuisine was only limited to sweets until I got a chance to experience a slice of Bengal at JW Mariott in Bangalore.

As a food blogger, I was invited to attend the 'Essence of Bengal' event, which aimed a sprinkling a bit of Eastern essence on your platter.

Bengali Food Festival @ JW Mariott

As we entered the M-Cafe, the decor was overwhelming with the entire buffet arranged in Bengali style. The pretty ladies dressed in traditional Bengali saris, fresh fishes kept on ice and the chefs making Patisaptas on the tawa.

Dining Area

Ambiance : The place as decorated specifically to reflect the Bengali culture. There was a huge wall at the back where some images were projected and an artificial waterfall. I love open air places in Bangalore, as the evening breeze is very refreshing in the city. The buffet stalls were set up at the backdrop of this splashing water, the lights were dim, and music was light.

Variety of pickles/chutneys

Food -

As this was a Bengali food festival, the menu was to set to include all the Bengali food specialties. Here is a photo journey of the foods that I tried and absolutely loved.

As a start, we were served with Aam Panna and Gandharaj jhol as drinks while we socialized. The Aam Panna was delicious and to get it in October was even more delightful. There was also another drink based on Pomogrannate and lemon, very refreshing indeed.

For starters, there was Fowl cutlet, Mutton chop, Ilish bhaja, Potol bhaja, Luchi and Cholar dal. I loved the chicken cutlet as it was very soft and spicy. Another dish i loved was Luchi served with Cholar dal - no dominating flavors which actually keeps the natural taste of dal, lovely.

Vegetarian buffet counter

The main course included both vegetarian and non-vegetarian options.

For vegetarian we had choices among Thor Kumro, Begun basanti, Basanti pulao, Aloo potol posto.

Yummy Luchi from Bengal

I am a big fan of Aloo Posto, this is something I also try to make at home using recipe books but never quite have achieved perfection yet. I was happy to find my favorite in vegetarian and overfilled myself with it.

Aloo Posto.. my favorite

The non-vegetarian food included Macher jhol, Mutton biryani, Kuchi pathar paturi, Kosha murgir mangsho, Daab chingri

Macher jhol was yummy, very rare to find a soft fish cooked in mustard oil and yet retaining its original flavor. Loved it totally.

The mutton biryani was also delicious, along with Kosha murgir.

Prawns dish served in Tender coconut

Spicy Chicken

Mutton delicacy

Ahh.. now comes the dessert - too many options but I was so full by trying the starters and main course that there was no space for desserts. But how can you leave a Bengali food festival without trying the best desserts. Options were many, including Rossogulla, Pati shapta, Shondesh. I have tried Rasogulla and Shondesh earlier but Pati Shapta was the first time. These are simple pancakes with a filling of jaggery and coconut.

I also loved the Malpuda, which was soft even until the edges.

Famous Bengali Rasgulla

Service - As this is JW Mariott, service was unbeatable.

Price - The price is 1050 plus taxes for lunch and 1550 plus taxes for dinner. The timings are 12:30 to 2:30 and the dinner timings are 7 to 10:30 PM