The All New Saturday Asian Brunch @Vasco, Hilton!

The Sunday Brunch at Vasco, Hilton is a big hit with a widespread multi-cuisine spread perfect to relish a wholesome meal over an easy, laid back extended afternoon. When Sunday is already pigeonholed to give the perfect Brunch experience, can Saturday be left behind? This is where Hilton tries to be different by not plainly following the same course of action but instead introducing a brunch concept with a twist in the sense this one is replete with items predominantly having a strong fort in the Far East and South East Asian sector.

A full fledged Asian Brunch is a rarity and this is where Vasco shows it's innovativeness by bringing something completely new to the table. It maybe a strategic ploy but analysing the background, the concept makes clear sense especially on two grounds:
a) Chennai City has a huge influx of people from especially Korea, Japan, China residing here thanks mainly to the presence of heavy duty multinational companies.
b) Also the fact that Asian food is a little similar to Indian food and it's apparent from the fact that Chinese/Thai cuisine have been lapped up in a large way by the Indian palette as opposed to any other cuisine from across the globe.

The Saturday spread is extremely lavish and the culinary spread traverses predominantly across the Asian regions bringing the best of the cuisine from Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Thailand and a host of other countries from Asia. The array of food on display was simply eye popping with a medley of stations specialising on different kinds. The salad counter had a plethora of stuff specializing on unique items such as the sweet spicy mushroom salad which is a Japanese specialty, a veg Kimchi salad which is more of a Korean dish and many more country wise signature items. They even had a bar for mangoes with different forms of cut mangoes festooned in various avatars apart from mango lassi and mango milkshake to quench the thirst.

For appetizers, we had a Cantonese style spring rolls and a rock corn tempura both which went along well with the sweet chinese style chilli sauce. There were also small portions of pizza's in the form of Margerita and a veg based one with limited ingredients. The crispy vegetable wonton soup had a dark broth with the wontons kept separately for you to dip them into your soup.

The action stations also had a dedicated spot for Sushi's and even the veggies had quite a few options on this front. There were also various forms of cheese which looked appealing and colorful. Momo's were not to be left behind as there were many variants in this area with even healthy options thrown into the fray not to forget 6 different versions of sauces to savor your round dumplings. For veg we had the Manitou which was yellowish in color and packaged beautifully with veg inset and there was even a sweetened momo in the form of a sweet bean bau.

One of the really happening counters where lots of the action was taking place was the Teppanyaki section. You would be hard pressed here if you are a vegetarian as this is one segment where the carnivore lovers will have a feast. It did have a bit of satay's cooked for veg also but majorly designed for the out and out meat lover containing a selection of poultry, seafood and meat.

The main course for veg had the Japanese sticky rice and the lemon zest chilli garlic noodles. To supplement them were a range of dishes of which my favorite was the Asparagus Wontons tossed up in a coconut cream with requisite spices. There were also other exotic stuff such as Tofu in Japanese style cooked with soya, vegetable pan cakes with a Korean chilli paste, Teriyaki glazed green beans and a bunch of other variegated curries.

The dessert draw was more generic in nature with your usual cakes, pastries, sweet rolls and Indian sweets. I guess with time we will see lot more specially imported region specific desserts. Mango held importance here too with quite a few of them made of this evergreen favorite fruit of the hot season. The mango based cheesecake especially was riveting to say the least. Over our extensive brunch sojourn we were also served drinks in the form of mocktails and cocktails and they were perfect foil in complementing the gargantuan spread on offer.

Overall, it was a wonderful experience being part of the launch of the Saturday Asian Brunch buffet. The service was extremely hospitable and they made all of us feel so comfortable. They were also really engaging and explained to us all about the concept and food. One really felt at ease and it was certainly a pleasure dining at Vasco.

You expect the ambiance in a hotel like Hilton to be high class and it was totally top notch. The wooden interiors, the lighting on display, the setup of the whole place all deserve the accolades. The decor too felt really comfortable and relaxed to have a prominent big ticket meal.

The pricing maybe a little steep at 1945 plus taxes for non alcoholic and 2345 plus taxes for the alcoholic brunch but quality does come with a price and Vasco will ensure you get your money's worth fulfilled thanks to it's enormous culinary spread on offer.

Overall, it must be said it's a great incentive by Hilton to have an exclusive Pan Asian Brunch and those having a love for food from the Asian regions can look forward to having a ball of a time in consuming all they love and more to their heart's content over a relaxed Saturday afternoon.

P.S : Review of special Korean Food Festival

Exactly 2 months after the launch of the Saturday Pan Asian Brunch which began operations on Jun 11th 2016, comes the showpiece Korean food festival which is running from the 11th to the 26th of August 2016. It's creditable the way Hilton is going the distance to popularize South East Asian food and this is another step in the right direction.

For the purpose of this Korean extravaganza, they've roped in Chef Jun Yeol Kim who works for Hilton in their Seoul branch. He is the man in charge of this largesse Korean fest and makes no stone un-turned to ensure that the best of Korea is landed onto our tables.

The ambiance is very pleasing and pleasant. The lighting and the woodwork gives it a very professional touch. The placement of stuff across the board depicting a lot of Korean culture and influence is also rather pleasing.

The food is based on the buffet concept. Unlike the Pan Asian Branch which had kind of an even mix of spread from various South East Asian countries, this one looks to specially popularize Korean food. Most of the items had a dash of Korean influence in them.

We began our sojourn with a minty mocktail called 'Milkis'. This was a delight and an apt thirst quencher comprising of a melange of lemon and mint in a vanilla ice cream base. It was lovely to say the least. Then we had a twist in the form of the spiced iced soya tea. With an essence of ginger, pepper in a soy milk avatar it was quite something. My first gulp and I didn't seem to like it. But as I started taking subsequent sips at it, started really enjoying this unique drink.

For starters, we got a few grilled assorted stuff, a soy based pureed veg, buttoned mushrooms and pumpkin green salad. The thing about these were they were little different than usual and I guess you need to be acquired to this kind of authentic cuisine to really enjoy it. For veg, options were little limited but the non vegetarians had a royal feast.

There was also a very different kind of light soup with layers of Tofu which I enjoyed a lot. We also had bites at versions of Tofu as well as momo's. Just to add a difference, also requested for a white sauce based pasta with veggies which was done up really well.

The dessert draw again had items specially brought in from Korea such as the sesame pancakes and yagkwa which are korean version of biscuits. I had a mixed feel with regard to these as it's difficult to tell on the taste having never tasted such stuff before. We also had the usual round of cakes and pastries which were yum.

The service was fantastic and they were always there at our beck and call. They were extremely amiable and more than willing to help us with whatever we needed. It is always a pleasure to be dining at Hilton and this was just another occasion where they proved it.

As we were on an invite, I wouldn't really comment on the same. But I must add the rates are same as the regular buffets and there is no extra surge because of the festival.

This is a great option for those looking for an authentic diverse Korean spread. The meat lovers especially can have a fest and those willing to savor something different from their usual palette, this is your big chance. Also noteworthy credit should go the team of Vasco, Hilton for always innovating and coming up with new avenues time and again.