I’ve long heard about the Colonial Cafe at the beautiful Hotel Majestic but yet to pay a visit until couple of Sundays ago when we were invited to dine and enjoy their Sunday Curry Tiffin Lunch. Sunday Tiffin is basically synonymous with over indulging of curries, vegetables and rice. This tradition is believed to begun in India back in the 1800s by the British people. Well it’s only fitting for Colonial Cafe to relive this tradition by introducing the Sunday Curry Tiffin Lunch.

The Cafe is as classy as it gets, with a grand piano right in the middle and on Sunday afternoons we have Isabella Solianos serenading us with slow romantic jazz tunes. That in itself is worth crawling out of bed for. Another bonus would be the view of the Orchid Conservatory.

Of course, the main star would still be the food. And be prepared to get totally stuffed! The Tiffin lunch is basically a super posh version of Banana Leaf Rice, where you get bottomless rice and condiments. This indulgent set also includes 4 different main courses. To start, the waiter will place a piece of banana leaf and then spoon the rice on top until you say stop. Then the condiments are served.

If all the condiments I liked the fish puttu the most. Fish puttu is a traditional recipe from South India made with shredded fish flavoured with various spices. Here it’s deliciously light and aromatic. The marinated cucumbers were delightful too.

We were also given a shot of Salted Lassi, something I’ve never tried before. It’s rather strong with a sprinkling of cumin seeds, a great appetiser to the meal ahead.

And once everyone’s been served, the pretty tiffin carrier arrived on the table, inducing a wave of excitement.

Revealing the shiny cover, the first curry was gloriously red Hainanese Chicken Curry hitting us with its intense aroma.

Let’s take a closer look:

I love how it comes with nice big pieces of chicken and chunky potatoes, all cooked to perfect tenderness. The curry gravy is match made in heaven with fragrant white rice, so I couldn’t resist pouring it all over. This is as good as chicken curry goes. Although it looks really red, the spice is mild.

While the Mutton Varuval packs a little more spicy kick, it is also balanced by a hint of sweetness. Since this is heavy handed in spices, the flavours are quite complex and intense, which is great because I’m not a huge fan of mutton in general but I enjoyed this.

Hard-boiled egg in curry? Hand it over please! As egg lover I would indulge any form of egg dishes and this gets the tick of approval from me. The gravy is a mix of spices, tomato and onions, another great one to mix with rice.

The large slices of Mackerel are marinated and fried to a crisp. The liberal use of spices toned down the otherwise distinctive fishy taste of Mackerel. If only it’s a little tenderer I would have loved it more. Then again this is purely personal preference.

For a good long while, the table was silent as we slowly work through our big meal.

I brought Frank along with me and since he’s a fussy eater (almost vegetarian) we requested for a meat free menu and the kitchen very kindly prepared 4 vegetarian main courses for him.

My favourite would be the Cauliflower and Potato curry, it’s like a wetter version of Aloo Gobi. Frank managed to polish most of these up.

We finished our meal with a super sweet dessert.

And a comforting glass of Masala Tea, a milky tea flavoured with spices like cardamon, cinnamon, clover, ginger and more. As it was a rainy afternoon, this was perfect.

The Sunday Tiffin Lunch is priced at RM78++ per person and is available for lunch only on Sundays at Colonial Cafe, The Majestic Hotel KL. It is served from 12pm to 2pm and comes with beverage options of salted lassi, masala tea or fresh juices as you prefer.

For more information or reservation enquiries, please call 03 – 2785 8000 or visit www.majestickl.com.