Not that everyone is a fan of lunch meetings, it is a very important way of bonding and getting good business. Want to make the whole ordeal a little more bearable? Try MoMo Cafe at Courtyard by Marriott
By: Soumya Jain
Posted on: July 10, 2011
Not that everyone is a fan of lunch meetings, it is a very important way of bonding and getting good business. Want to make the whole ordeal a little more bearable? Try MoMo Café at Courtyard by Marriott.
My fellow Delhites would know how important the area of Gurgaon is for our daily bread and butter. There are immense number of offices and commercial spaces in this NCR region to make you spend half your life there – whether it’s for serious meetings or to pick up that all important overseas client from the international airport and entertain him.Recently, my visits to Gurgaon also increased manifold for a few projects. That set me scrambling to hunt for some good lunch meeting places. And like magic, I discovered MoMo Café at Courtyard by Marriott.
The hotel is quite brightly designed for a business hotel. Vibrant bottles and cushions will meet your eyes at each nook and corner. MoMo Café is no exception. It’s brightly lit red walls adorned with glass designs are enough to squeeze out the mundane from a lunch meeting.
“Don’t confuse the name with the dumplings,” said Executive Chef Sahil Arora. “The name is a sort of acronym for ‘Modern Living Modern Dining’,” he elaborated. The name fits indeed. The lunch buffet that was spread it in front of my eyes looked healthy. With a lot of DIY options as well, you could control what goes inside your stomach.
The lunch buffet menu, which is different everyday, always features Oriental, Indian and Western dishes. The ratio of vegetarian food is always more than that of non-vegetarian food. “I guess since this is India, where you can be sure that vegetarian means strictly vegetarian, a lot of travellers prefer green dishes instead of meats,” said Chef Arora. That point certainly made me happy and MoMo café earned brownie points from my side!Tucked in happily with my large tumbler of extremely pleasant cold coffee, I listened as Chef Arora chatted about MoMo Café, other restaurants in the hotel, his vision, the buffet menus for dinner and lunch and their Sunday brunch. Finally, after the briefing from Chef, I impatiently rambled towards to the spread of food. First up was the soup. I chose the clear Spinach and Tomato soup. Side-by-side, from the live counter, I also chose a few toppings for my very own DIY pizza.
If you are craving a wine, they have a good selection available. My day was the Cabernet Sauvignon day with four wine brands available. There was also a small cheese table available to accompany your wine.
The wooden oven behind the live counter was belting out pizzas and pita breads (to be had with some good Hummus) for all those who demanded it. There were an assortment of ingredients – veggies, greens, cold cuts of meat and a variety of salad dressing. You can stand there and make your own salad. More daring, are you? Try your hand at making some pasta and sandwiches as well.
I had never enjoyed spinach as much as I did in this soup. Without any hint of bitterness, the soup was slightly lemon-ish in taste. As I quickly devoured it, my mini-pizza was presented to me. Although it was well-made, the crust was slightly hard. I could do with a softer crust.Skipping the Indian main course, I headed towards the Oriental-Western corner. I scooped up a good helping of chill garlic noodles, a few Fondant potatoes and steamed vegetables with garlic confit. The noodles, I was relived to note, were not that ‘wet’ and slippery. They were smooth and dry enough to be easily looped in the fork without making me try again and again to create an embarrassing situation! The Fondant potatoes were every bit authentic Italian. But those, who have a very strong Indian, flavourful palate, may find it a little bland. I topped it up with the whipped sour cream kept alongside and voila! It was wonderful!
Apologies if the non-vegetarians have been feeling left out in this review. Don’t despair! There was lamb osso bucco with glazed carrot and onion and sliced fish in black bean sauce as well.
The Indian main course counter boasted some quintessential Indian delicacies like Mutton rogan josh, Karahi murgh, palak paneer, gobhi masala, chana dal tadka and Khre masala ka pulao.
It was the dessert table which took my breath away. I could have just helped myself to the immense variety of desserts for lunch. There was blue berry pistachio roulade, cherry mascarpone cake, lemon butter cup cake, dark chocolate cake (one of the best chocolate cakes I have ever had so far!), beetroot flan, mango macroons, Cham cham, Beesting, fresh fruit tarts, rum marinated crepes with chocolate fool, malpua with rabri, Chocolate pudding, and sliced fresh fruits.
For a working lunch, the number of items was just enough. The food was good, simple, nourishing and healthy. And if you don’t like the buffet menu, then you can always order from the a-la-carte menu. What more can one busy individual ask for?
Coordinates: Courtyard by Marriott, Plot no - 27 B, Sector Road, B Block, Sushant Lok - 1, Sector 27 Gurgaon, Haryana, 122002, India
Ph: +91 124 4888444
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