I’m a sucker for all-you-can-eat buffets. It’s the best dining-out option for a family like mine, where our appetites are as big as our mouths. Very few buffets manage to give both; a large variety of dishes without compromising on the quality of food. As a part of Branded Bawi’s hunt for the city’s best buffets, I had previously reviewed the brunches at D’Bell, Lotus Cafe at J.W.Mariott, and Out of The Blue, Bandra. 

It was a weekday. I was in Andheri east. Hence, we decided to eat out in the area. My pick was the lunch buffet at Saptami, Holiday Inn. The hotel is literally ten steps away from the Sakinaka metro station. (On a different tangent, God bless the metro. It’s made travelling in the suburbs so much easier, noh?). The restaurant was swamped with office goers from the neighborhood and kitty partying aunties. In fact, too packed for a weekday afternoon.

The buffet had a salad and cold cut counter, soups, live egg and pasta counters, mains comprising of Indian and continental fare, chaats, and desserts. I spotted an equal number of vegetarian and non-vegetarian options, too. Here are the top five things that I liked about Saptami’s lunch buffet!

1. Comfort Food:

Again no fancy, gourmet food here. There’s stuff we grew up eating; manchow soup, macaroni salad, chicken tikka, hakka noodles and rainbow hued pastries. I enjoyed the pasta counter. The pasta here is the desi soggy, creamy, cheesy pasta that we all enjoy. Another favorite of mine was the batter fried fish and calamari with a traditional tartar sauce.

2. Papads and More: 

My papad intake is higher than that of an average Sindhi. I heart papads and I was thrilled to bits to see a variety of papad, large and small, here and also, some delicious fryums.

3. Sweet Tooth: 

The buffet has an equal number of Indian and Western desserts, and I enjoyed that. Ranging from Kiwi Phirni, to Bengali sweets, to Kala Jamun and then there were pancake rolls, Mud cakes, and candy coloured old-school pastries. The Indian desserts won me over, and I enjoyed that, because a lot of buffets don’t emphasize on Indian mithais.

4. Service: 

While I took a crazy, long time in the washroom, (applying a fresh coat of lipstick), the staff noticed that and offered my friend a plate of chaat to make the wait easier. Small gestures like that win me over. And I’m not one to eat chaat at big restaurants, but the chaat here was fab!

5. Money Matters: 

The weekday buffet lunch is priced at Rs. 599/- all inclusive. It’s definitely value for money, for the variety of food on offer. And a lot of people seem to agree with me, looking at how crowded the restaurant was that afternoon. The buffet is worth a try if you’re in the area or working there and looking for a leisure lunch.

Contact: 
Holiday Inn, Sakinaka Junction,
Andheri Kurla Road, Andheri East,
Mumbai.
Phone – 022 40851800, 022 61161800.