Inviting India: A Week in India (Part 4) - My Experience at the Marriott Hotel Whitefield Bangalore
>> Sunday, September 18, 2016
Malaysia had 2 consecutive long weekends, so I was kept occupied with activities that I didn't have time nor the mood to complete my blog post. Furthermore, there's just too many photos to choose from to share with all of you! :D
It's almost the end of the week now & soon to be the start of a new week. Can't wait for holidays (again) :P Anyway, as promised in my last blog post, I'll be sharing on my stay at the Marriott Hotel in Whitefield, Bangalore. I was there for a week of work, so all of us spent minimal time at the hotel, mostly for breakfast & sleep time only. But I was really blessed to meet some really friendly staff at the hotel, who made my 1-week stay a truly memorable one. I can say that it's the best hotel experience I've ever had with Marriott from the few business travels that I've experienced! :D
*****
What's to complain when I had a room with pool view as requested in my reservation (under the 'special requests' section)? It was just lovely to wake up to a mix of nature & city in the highly industrial & concrete jungle of Bangalore, where IT offices are aplenty.
I had the room with a single King-size bed, all to myself, for the entire week. The bed felt a 'lil too big for one & I wished that my other half was there for the week too. He would have loved & enjoyed the hotel stay as it was no doubt 5-star or more!
The bathroom was just fantastic! I loved the bathtub although I didn't get to utilize it to the max as I didn't have the luxury of time to spend more time in the shower each day. Almost everyday, we get off work late & by the time we're done with dinner, all I wanted to do was to sleep. Yup, it's nice to just soak in the bathtub & chill after a long day at work, but sleep time felt a 'lil too precious to sacrifice :P
Fluffy bed that's very comfortable. The pillows were slightly too soft for me, but I had 4 pillows to myself, so no complains :D
Bliss! Thankful for a comfortable stay amidst the busy work week.
At the Marriott Hotel Whitefield Bangalore, M Cafe, their main coffee house, serves what I feel as one of the best hotel meals...no kidding. The chefs were also very open to try out new recipes & dishes, & invited us to share recipes of what we crave that they will then cook according to our wants. Fuh!
Being an avid Indian-food lover, I just HAD to try every other familiar Indian food that I can find in Malaysia & taste the difference of that same dish in India itself. My 1st order was no other than the thosai or what they call as 'dosa' in Bangalore. I ordered the thin/paper thosai that was served with a side of dhal & 3 different types of chutneys. The thosai/dosa was THUMBS UP, #1! Crispy, well-balanced in flavor (slightly sourish, slightly salty) & the chutneys were so delicious that I could eat 'em on their own!
The chefs served me 'egg hopper'/appam with egg to try
A typical egg hopper is eaten as it is without any coconut milk or dips as the runny egg yolk serves as the 'dip' itself. Yums. It was sweet-ish, crispy on the outer layer & slightly spongey/soft on the inner layer. It's very different from what I had previously, in Malaysia, as the egg hoppers here do not have the whole runny-egg at the center, but the egg is beaten & is part of the hopper.
Pretty much my staple every morning for the whole week apart from the other dishes that I try as well
Their vada is the BEST that I've ever had...again, no kidding! Crispy on the outside, soft & fluffy on the inside, not overly spiced/filled with herbs or over-spicy, well-balanced in the sour taste & the best part is that it's ALWAYS served fresh, warm/hot. Those in Malaysia doesn't seem to have this texture-consistency. The vada batter is either too clumpy/coarse, overly spiced or just dense/dry.
I tried at least 10 different flavors of chutney here!
It was such a 'gastronomical chutney journey'! I didn't know that there can be so many different chutney flavors as I've only had the normal coconut chutney, spicy chili chutney, tomato chutney & mint chutney in Malaysia. At the Marriott Hotel Whitefield Bangalore, these are the chutneys that I've tasted (in photo below):
Pineapple chutney, Ginger chutney, Peanut chutney, Coconut chutney, Tomato chutney, & Coriander chutney.
Beetroot chutney & carrot chutney were available on a different day
Mint chutney is a 'staple'
Tamarind chutney as well!
I felt like I was attending an informal lesson each morning on the extensive variety of Indian chutneys & cuisines. It was AMAAAAAZIIINNNGG!
There are at least 3 chefs whom I am really thankful to have met & would like to commend them for their great hospitality, service & dedication towards their passion in serving the best & only the best food & service to all their hotel guests. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to take a photo with 1 more chef as it was his off day on my last breakfast day at the hotel :( Hopefully we can meet again!
Chef Sanjay Rawat, Jr Sous Chef
Hats off to Chef Sanjay. I thought he's the Executive Chef at the M Cafe, but he was humbly one of the Jr. Sous Chefs who's co-supervising & managing the kitchen & M Cafe on the whole. He was like my go-to chef to learn from his knowledge & experience-sharing & it was like a 'dream come true' when he offered to show me around the hotel's kitchen! I've never done this, what more during a business trip, & I was overjoyed! Very friendly, teachable/willing to learn from different cultures & stories-shared, helpful, attentive to needs & situation in the restaurant & the kitchen as well, & just a very nice person to talk to throughout my week's stay. Thanks for making my 1-week stay more memorable!
The other Jr. Sous Chef is Chef Subha Adhikary, whom I didn't get to take a photo with cos he was on leave on my last breakfast day. He's alike Chef Sanjay, looks younger, but also a really good friend that I've found :)
Chef Ravi, Pastry Chef
I LOVE the pastries & especially the soft-centered chocolate cookies that he bakes together with his team! D's staple during his 1-week stay are the pastries, particularly the croissant! So flaky that it's best not to eat it out in the open space when it's windy as the crumbs fly everywhere! The soft-centered chocolate cookies are 'to-die-for'. Every chocolate lover who goes to Bangalore MUST try them! J, D & myself actually ordered 2 dozens each to bring back all the way from Bangalore to Malaysia/Singapore for our family & friends to try. It's THAT good! Chef Ravi is a young chef whom I think is truly skilled, talented & passionate with the pastries that he bakes. I wish I had more time there to learn from him. I don't get to meet him often as he's probably busy baking all the aromatic goodies for breakfast. Oh, the best part, we can even pack some pastries, breads or juices on-the-go to our office/when we left to the airport (without having additional charges appearing on our hotel bill)! My 1st time, so I was very impressed.
There was also one of the nights where the hotel had 'street-food stalls' as part of the dinner buffet! *yay* We didn't dare try the actual street food on the way to office/town as hygiene is a huge issue in India, so having to try the various street food at the hotel was a true delight!
Two of our favorites were the Pani Puri & Chaat.
Pani Puri
It consists of a round, hollow puri, fried crisp and filled with a mixture of flavored water (pani), tamarind chutney, chili, chaat masala, potato, onion and chickpeas - Wikipedia
It was interesting! I tried 2 flavors of the pani puri, one that has sour & spicy flavored water, while the other was sweet! It's so small that you basically just pop the whole ball into your mouth & enjoy the burst of flavors & textures oozing out of the mini puri :D
Chaat
It's like a 'rojak' or 'yee sang' minus the fish, but with an Indian twist! You'll find some crispies, fresh coriander, vegetables & nuts that's drizzled with a sweet, sour, slightly spicy dressing. VERY appetizing! J loved it!
The kitchen tour was an eye-opening experience. The day & time where I visited the kitchen was considered a low peak day, so there were minimal activities happening in the kitchen & it's just so neat & clean! Chef Sanjay explained to me what happens at each station & what each chef needs to go through as part of the kitchen rules. I was like on cloud nine cos I've always watched how kitchens are on tv, but have never walked into an actual one :)
Here's a short 3.5 minutes video to sum up my experience at the Marriott Hotel Whitefield, Bangalore
More photos can be found in this video.
Hope you enjoyed the post! :) More on Bangalore in the next post!
Indian foodie,
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