This second part of my blog post on The Serai Chikmagalur will speak about the F&B experience at the resort. For a highlight of the resort and activities in and around The Serai, click here for the first part of my blog. During our stay, we had in room dining, picnic lunch, Oriental meal, buffet dinner, Malnad meal and more – and the variety definitely demands a separate post.

Dining

The Serai Chikmagalur has three dining options. The first is the main restaurant – Odyssey, that serves cuisines around the world and food favourites both local and international. Typically, this serves breakfast, lunch and dinner – in buffet or a la carte depending on the season and occupancy. The second option is The Blue Sky – which is the bar. They have a menu of cocktails – classic and signature. The signature cocktails are created inspired from local produce ingredients, as well as using coffee grown in the estate. There is an a la carte menu at The Blue Sky which has select appetizers and mains. And there is an option of Outdoor Dining, in the midst of the coffee plantation – as you sit in the lap of nature and enjoy a delicious meal.

Cuisines

A beautiful destination like Chikmagalur that’s filled with history and richness of land and culture, the food is intricate and has evolved over time. And in luxury resorts, the food automatically becomes an important aspect. Because Indians and expats alike – love to experience comfort food and novelty both. The Serai Chikmagalur gave us an opportunity to try quite a variety during our stay there. The Oriental selection is lovely, it’s what we started with when we reached. The Thai Green Curry, Noodles, Chili Chicken were delicious, and we finished it all in no time!

Local Flavors

A cuisine I strongly recommend visitors to try is the local Malnad/Malenadu cuisine – usually served here on banana leaf. The Malnad mutton curry, their spicy chicken curry – Kozhi Saaru, paired with neer dosa or kadambu is yum! The local desserts especially like Holige and payasam made of khus khus, and pickles made of ginger and mango are lovely to try. We were supposed to do an outdoor lunch, but the rains made it a very different experience of dining in a private cottage.

World Cuisine

We had breakfasts and dinners at Odyssey, getting to experience the buffet spread. There was a notable variety of North and South Indian offerings, as well as Continental. My favorite at dinner was definitely the live counter where a chef was making appam. And there was a selection of vegetarian and chicken stew. It was great! Another dish that we loved was the grilled fish – the fish was beautifully done, and the lemon caper sauce was delicious. With a side of polentas and vegetables, it was absolutely yum! The creamy Tagliatelle was very well made too. We also had some of the salads from the a la carte menu, very well made.

The variety and quality of the food makes the dining experiences here truly superlative. The cuisines are each catered to in a very different way, ensuring the taste and authenticity for discerning patrons. Very impressive.

Beverages

The Blue-Sky bar is lovely. The cocktail menu has 3 sections – the Classics of course, and the Estate Selection followed by Inspired Cocktails. Ranjith and Swagat who manage the bar at Serai are two talented gentlemen. And we had some very creative recipes designed by the team. The Harvest and Mallige Moments were vodka based with a lot of interesting flavours and were recommended by the bar men. For the next round I chose for us – ordering the Malenadu Mist and Filter Crème Café. Because coffee inspired cocktails are of course a specialty here that I did NOT want to miss out on. Good call too, made with Talisker – it was just the right bit of smoke and the coffee, perfect for an evening cocktail or a night cap!

The Last Word

Food is an integral part of travel experiences. It is important to have local flavors and cuisines of a place, helps to understand the lifestyle and culture of a place. For groups, it helps if an assortment of food variety is available. And for when people crave for comfort food. You could decide to celebrate something special and think a fine dining spread is what your partner would like. In a luxury resort like The Serai, Chikmagalur, we absolutely loved the choices in terms of food and beverages, and enjoyed the local flavours as well. For booking, log on to their website, and use discount code DEBOLINATENOFF or TAPASHTENOFF for a 10% discount on your booking for The Serai Chikmagalur and Bandipur.

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