In this section, we visit a restaurant incognito, pay for our meal and give our impressions of the dining experience. We hope to be able to help our readers somewhat by introducing them to new eateries.

There are several reasons why you should pay – or you probably already have paid – a visit to Taste Resto/Bar in Mon Choisy. First, the setting is breath-taking. Tables are arranged on the veranda around beautifully manicured palm trees and alongside a giant swimming pool, so grand and real that one could easily imagine being beachside. The view almost from wherever you sit is stunning. The setting is made that much more pleasant with the faint sound of happy children cheerfully wriggling in the water, leaving the parents to dine in peace.

There is now an additional reason to make it your next destination on a lazy Sunday: they have just introduced a brunch between 11 am and 2 pm every Sunday. But first, let’s talk about the concept of brunch itself. According to Wikipedia, brunch typically consists of “the same dishes as would be standard in an American brunch, namely, coffee, tea, fruit juices, breakfast foods, including pancakes, waffles, and French toast; meats such as ham, bacon, and sausages; egg dishes such as scrambled eggs, omelettes, and Eggs Benedict; bread…”

Taste Resto/Bar have a different definition of brunch. They must define it as an open giant buffet where you sit and eat from late morning to mid-afternoon. So I must first apologise as I couldn’t taste everything for you. I nibbled at most items but could not get through it all. It literally is a full breakfast, a lunch and a tea all at once.

The full range of a continental breakfast was on offer with items such as the usual viennoiseries – croissants, petits pains au chocolat, petits pains aux raisins etc. – as well as a wide range of cheeses, hams, smoked salmon and smoked marlin, burgers etc. And once you are done with breakfast, you can tackle a proper lunch whose theme is chosen by the chef and changes every week so the guests never eat the same dishes twice.

We visited close to Chinese New Year so we were gratified by a mix of Chinese and Japanese cuisine in an impressively curated display ranging from a very good selection of sushi to noodles, sweet and sour fish, lamb teriyaki, penne chicken… The sushi was of excellent quality and tasted very fresh and the lamb was lean, tender and melted in the mouth. I really looked very hard for something to balance my review with but couldn’t find it, except perhaps the viennoiseries which had become cold by the time I got to them. Thankfully, I crossed a friend who told me that the burgers were rather dry. There! Something negative, though not from first-hand experience.

When you are done with the savoury section, you will not be allowed to miss the sweet table: another beautiful display of fruits, tartlets, macarons, brownies etc., so tempting you can’t pass even if you tried. Accompanied by tea or coffee (included in the price), that is another meal to finish off the day. And don’t worry, you won’t have dinner that evening. Trust me!

The restaurant was full and the service was excellent – smooth, fast and friendly. And the food was kept on display even after 2 pm. So anyone who still felt peckish could have yet another helping.

The price is reasonable for the quality of food on display: Rs1,800 per person including non-alcoholic beverages. If you book in advance, you save yourself Rs200 and pay only Rs1,600. So make that phone call. You will also know the type of brunch on offer that week. That might help you decide.