Salt of the Sea

There is no greater feeling in the world than a nice leisurely brunch with copious amounts of good food, polished down with great alcohol. This is exactly the kind of treat you are in for, if you decide to partake of the brunch at C Salt, the seaside restaurant of the Sheraton Grand Resort & Spa at Mahabalipuram. Just a short drive on the ECR brings you to this expansive property, but it is the new brunch menu here that is simply very good. A lot of the food and drink has been curated by Chef Koushik Shankar, a.k.a The Mad Chef.

Grills are supposed to be healthy and at C Salt, you can get it done exactly as you like it. We started off with the Mutton roast. The marination was excellent, as was the grilling. You could taste the goodness of the meat and it was not overly chewy. Full marks to the Chef on this. There was some roast chicken as well, and this was quite flavourful. The roasting again was just right, and a bit of brown sauce on the side elevated the taste levels. The most important thing on the menu however was ‘Catch of the day’. Fresh seafood brought in from the morning lined up a side of the grill, and one could order whatever cooking type they fancied. We decided to get some butter garlic crab and prawns, with hot appams and it came out really well. We were tempted to order another round, but decided against as we had to sample the regular fare as well.

There were many varieties of seafood, chicken and lamb on offer. We started with the Varuthuaraicha kozhi curry, basically chicken cooked in homemade and hand ground spices. The garam masala really played with the white pepper and thin coconut slices to give a rich and spicy taste to a traditional Kerala recipe. Best had with string hoppers, this one was a lovely play on the palate. We also love eggs and hence could not let go of the Kodava egg roast curry, that had cumin, coriander, mint, turmeric and coconut in one flavourful explosion that had our senses wanting more. This one we had with traditional ghee rice, with our craving for carbohydrates beckoning us.

After this we decided to go a little international, so we helped ourselves to the Balinese chicken rice. Made with fresh basil and chicken, this somewhat different fried rice was also very fragrant to the senses and gave a subtle hint of even a palate cleanser in a way. Roasted chicken with fennel mushroom sauce took care of our continental cravings. A wide variety of desserts ranging from mango macaroons to Yuletide logs, different varieties of pastries and Christmasy cakes meant that even the sweet tooth got full attention. All this food was of course accompanied by some excellent cocktails and special mention must be made of the Bloody Marys, as they were simply one of the best we had in a long time.

If you are looking at a nice way to spend your Sunday afternoon, C Salt is definitely worth checking out. A good siesta is recommended post the food therapy.

Cost for one person: INR 3200++ (without alcohol)

Open for brunch, Sundays 1230 – 330 pm. Open on weekends 1230 pm – 12 am.

At: Sheraton Grand Resort & Spa, ECR Road, Mahabalipuram