Sundays have become brunch days. Most people want to spend their Sunday afternoons chilling with friends over a good meal and relaxed ambiance. Especially after Saturday night’s drinking and debauchery. That explains the popularity of the Sunday brunch concept in the city. And so many restaurants cropping up with Sunday brunch buffets. The latest one I tried was D’Bell at Lower Parel.

D’Bell is situated inside the posh One Indiabulls Center, and it is quite a maze to get to. I had to encounter two security checks, a long trek through a parking lot and an endless wait for an elevator before I finally made it. I guess I took the back entrance but they definitely need more signage put up considering the number of restaurants in that row. This long walk surely worked up my appetite.

The interiors are fun and cheery. They have walls with assorted music and movie posters framed. Then there was this blackboard displaying the menu for today’s brunch. I personally loved these shelves filled with books, knick-knacks, souvenirs and this adorable tiny television. My favorite corner of the room.

The Sunday brunch is a pretty decent deal at Rs. 699/- plus taxes where you can stuff your face at their live egg and pasta counters. They also have soups, starters, mains, salads, and assorted desserts. The brunch does not include alcohol however.

We skipped the soup and dove headfirst into the food. The salad counter is fairly extensive with vegetarian, egg, seafood, chicken salads. They also cover hummus, lavash, pita bread and assorted dips. There are also some sandwiches and breads to go around.

I personally enjoyed the sea food salad with generous servings of the calamari, shrimp, and basa hidden among the greens. The boiled egg salad was pretty darn good too. The Lebanese fare was average, and can be skipped. You can also choose between iced tea or fresh lime soda/water to go along with your meal.

We ordered an egg white masala omelette from the egg counter, which had an overdose of green chilli. The penne pasta in tomato sauce was decent, like any red sauce penne you would get elsewhere.

The starters were brought to our table. The Fish Cake was nothing but fish fingers served with Tartar sauce. The other non-vegetarian starter was the Chilli Milli Chicken Wings. Both of these were your typical bar snacks that deserved a pint of beer to go alongside. The chicken wings fell right off the bone and weren’t much of a struggle to eat. Decent starters but nothing to write home about.

The Mushroom Duxelle on Toast were bland mushrooms served on hard toast. Skip this! The Mexican Potatoes was the highlight of brunch. Teeny-tiny jacket potatoes served with steaming hot salsa on top. Such a burst of different flavors, we totally enjoyed this. 

The mains ranged from Laksa curry, to Grilled Chicken in Mushroom. A mix of different dishes from different cuisine. We were too full to eat any of them. We did sample the Kung Pao Potatoes which were more like Chilli Potatoes you would get at a Chindian restaurant. They were delicious nevertheless.

My reason for skipping the mains was to save space for dessert. I wish I hadn’t done that. All the desserts from the Kiwi mousse to the chocolate mousse to the tiramisu were very average. Me and my sweet teeth were left very upset.

There are tons of brunch places in Mumbai, why go to D’Bell? I think what works in their favour is the price point. A buffet brunch with so much variety of food for Rs. 699/- plus taxes is s good bet. Especially if you’re a teetotaler and don’t want to spend too much on  an alcoholic brunch since you don’t drink. Drinkers head elsewhere. Stuff your mouths at the salad counter, egg station and pasta station, and you’re sorted! 

Contact: 
D’Bell, Tower 2A,
Lobby Level, One Indiabulls Center,
Jupiter Mills Compound,
Senapati Bapat Marg,
Lower Parel West,
Mumbai.

Phone: 022 65374666, +91 9665171189