Alfresco - The Lalit Great Eastern

Tushar Sarkar

1 year ago

5.0

We were staying in Lalit- The Great Eastern Hotel. This is a legendary hotel in India; built in the mid 1800s & still pulling off as a 5 star hotel!. More details of the stay will be shared in TripAdvisor; here I'm to share the foooood review. Ideally we had planned to eat out every time of the day. But on this fateful day it was raining so heavily that we decided to eat in. Luckily, on this day, the 24th of August, they had initiated the Ilish festival; and a fish lover like me would have it all if possible. Anyways, first we ordered fish & chips as snacks in the afternoon/evening time. The fish was perfectly coated, the spices perfectly blended. The french fries were ok ok for me, nothing new. The presentation was awesome. The tartar sauce was good. For dinner I was overwhelmed with what to eat & what to leave :(. Still I orders the Ilish- Shorshe Posto & my better half ordered the Khichuri with Ilish bhaja. Both are thalis & it's served on earthen plates. Khichuri with ilish bhaja: It came with a big bowl of khichdi (awesome taste, & the aroma it was giving out of the spices & the ghee was scintillating!), aloo bhaja, papad, fried vegetables (just plain fried & still it was yummy !!!!), Begun bhaja (fried eggplant), Ilish maach bhaja (with kasundi on top) and ilish maacher tel (it's basically the oil in which the fish is fried). I was drooling at the sight of this. & then came my order. Ilish - Shorshe posto: Ilish (Hilsa) prepared in a paste of mustard & poppy seed (awesome! Not hats off but heads down to the Chef), Begun bhaja, Papad, aloo bhaja, chatni (tamatar & khajur chatni as we make during the festivals), aloo sheddho (mashed potatoes) and steamed gobindobhog rice (a type of aromatic rice). You must have already guessed the taste of all the items & I bet you are drooling as am I while writing this even after so many days. Ambience: as a 5 star should have. Service is a lot slow (one reason was that this was the first day of the festival & the 2nd was probably that the food was freshly prepared). To the Restaurant: please let me know of such food festivals & I'll try my level best to gobble up.

Soumalya Sarkar

1 year ago

5.0

Excellent food and decent service.. items like Rogan Josh, Chicken Tikka and Grilled Prawns were delicious...

Adriza Chakraborty

5 months ago

4.0

Went for lunch with husband here. We ordered Chicken Lat Mai Kai, Prawns Salt and Pepper, Whisky and Chilli garlic chicken noodles. Its very spacious area with different seating type. Staffs are very helpful especially Tapas Pal. Food was very tasty with sufficient portions.

+3

769488

1 year ago

3.0

Had Puja special lunch today with family. It was a big let down from such a prestigious glamorous hotel. Surprised that in Kolkata, a restaurant doesn't have a proper fish item, with only Roopchand fry, a fish variety that is hardly consumed in Kolkata. Other items were also mundane. Wash room was stinking. However, service staff were quite well behaved though not very efficient. Overall not worth the money.

Rupam Banerjee

2 years ago

3.0

Good ambience. However expected better service in a premium hotel. Service much below par. Also mutton missing in buffet. Overall experience far below expectation

Arpita Sarkar

1 year ago

2.0

The food was of average quality. Dessert section doesn’t have any ice cream. Starters were very limited. The experience didn’t meet the expectation.

Shalini De Bhaumik

1 year ago

2.0

Not justifying it’s stature.. below average I must say. Very few buffet options. Enjoyed the desserts though..

Vandana Ramkrishna

10 months ago

2.0

the price for the food was very high. Limited options and food was not tasty

Shahrukh

1 year ago

1.0

It was Sunday, a day for exploration and indulgence, so my friends and I decided to visit Alfresco by Great Eastern, hoping for a luxurious dining experience – but let’s just say, our expectations were set a little too high. Let me take you through my ₹2,596 per person journey, which is one of my most regrettable financial decisions. The adventure began at the sophisticated Great Eastern lobby. But stepping into Alfresco, reality hit like a poorly timed joke. The cramped space with five tables arranged awkwardly in a row felt more like a waiting area than a dining space. The ambience? Depressing. The glass ceiling, which could’ve added charm, was marred by debris, and the walls sported damp patches and grime. A five star establishment, this was not! The staff greeted us warmly, which was nice until we realized there was no menu. “Explore it on your own,” they said. Explore what? A few trays of food that struggled to justify their existence? No welcome drinks, soft beverages, tea or coffee – nothing. Even after requests, the staff refused to offer anything remotely refreshing. Now, the food: - Starters: Doi Phucha, Dahi Bada, Papri Chaat, Chicken, and Fish had a few decent hits. - Main Course: Dishes like Basmati Rice, Moti Rice, Chicken Biryani, Roopchand Fish, Mutton Rezala, and Grilled Chicken were fine, but nothing worth going back for. - Desserts: A spread of ice creams, passion fruit, plum cake, tart, macarons, Belgian gateaux, Indian sweets, croissants, donuts, and flavoured buns was surprisingly decent, with the croissants and sweet treats earning some praise. While a few items rose above mediocrity, the overall food experience was sub-par. Limited variety, lacklustre flavours, and the shocking absence of beverages made this buffet one of my most disappointing dining experiences, considering the price. In conclusion, if you’re considering Alfresco by Great Eastern for a Sunday buffet, save yourself the money and heartache. For ₹2,596 per person, you would expect a spread that wows, but instead, you get peeling walls, no beverages, and a buffet that feels like a half-hearted afterthought.

+6

Sudeshna Guha Roy

8 months ago

1.0

What a colossal disappointment. Alfresco at The Lalit Great Eastern manages the impossible — a sprawling buffet with not a single dish worth eating. The only thing remotely edible was the luchi; everything else ranged from bland to downright bad. Limp papads, insipid mains, and desserts so awful they deserve their own warning sign. The so-called ice creams? A puddle of sweet soup. The atmosphere was no better — uncomfortably warm, as if air-conditioning was optional. In this climate, that’s not just careless, it’s unforgivable. The staff, meanwhile, seemed to have mastered the art of indifference. For a restaurant carrying the Lalit name, this was shockingly substandard. A buffet that looks lavish but delivers misery on every plate. Never again.