Harnoor Channi-Tiwary and her husband visited the Park Plaza hotel in Noida to celebrate the birth of their lovely baby daughter and were pleasantly surprised at the spread it had to offer!

Having a baby is a great joy but the immediate weeks that follow can get a little consuming. The Husband and I decided to take some time out and go out for a lunch date to celebrate.

So where do you go to celebrate something so momentous within Noida?

Options in Noida have been explored so often that they did not seem to fit the bill! And then I remembered the relatively new hotel in Noida called Park Plaza -- a great property that loses out only because of its obscure location.

A few calls confirmed their availability and we were all set. The day rolled in, I finally got to dress up after weeks of being in shorts and home clothes. And we were off.

We decided to lounge first in their bar area and have a drink. They shook me a great watermelon martini (Rs 425) though the husband preferred his Gin and tonic (Rs 350).

Advancing to the buffet area, we were pleasantly surprised! Their spread was as lavish as any five-star hotel in NCR.

The salad section had around 10 options for the vegetarian diner and 10 non-vegetarian options.

My favourites were chicken and leechi salad, bacon and beansprout salad, a tuna and corn mix, the chicken Hawaiian salad, a sumptuous fish salad served with strawberry dip and the aloo chaat.

As we were digging into the salads, our soups were served on the table. I asked for the chicken minestrone and the Husband went for their tomato basil soup. The tomato soup was quite ordinary but the minestrone won me over hands down.

Do you have a favourite restaurant or cuisine? Or have you sampled the latest haunt on the block? Be it Manali or Kanyakumari, Kashmir or Goa, Jaipur or Nagpur -- we would love to know more about the eating out options in your village, town or city. Simply e-mail your reviews to getahead@rediff.co.in (subject line: 'Restaurant review') and do try to include a photograph of the establishment; we'll publish the best ones right here on rediff.com

Their extensive spread included a great selection of Continental, Chinese and Indian items.

The chicken in butter garlic sauce has a nice twist to it that made it similar to a stroganoff and was finger licking good! The roast lamb in red wine jus and fish in saffron sauce were phenomenal in their own right.

The Indian selection included Biryani, butter chicken, mutton korma, matar paneer, methi khumb, daal tadka as well as kaali daal and many more items. Of special mention is each of their lamb dishes. The chef had mastered the art of cooking lamb and the dishes were so tender that the meat would just melt in the mouth!

Having absolutely no appetite left but the entire dessert course still to cover, we thought we would be conservative in our selections. Alas, the variety of deserts available did not allow us to pick and choose. How can one choose between raspberry mousse, caramel pudding, mocha mousse, blueberry cheesecake, kiwi tarts, chocolate truffle cake, rasgulla, gulab jamun, sewain and a few more!?

By the time we were done and called for the cheque, it seemed like we would need to be air lifted from there! Not very light on the pocket at Rs 899 + tax per person, the extensive buffet proved to be great value for money!

So next time you are this side of the Yamuna and have an occasion to celebrate or just are craving a great buffet, just drop in at Park Plaza and devour their buffet lunch. Don't just take my word for it try it out for yourself!

Details:
Hotel Park Plaza
C Block, Sector 55
New Okhla Industrial Development Area, Uttar Pradesh 201307
Tel: +91 0120-4678888

Harnoor Channi-Tiwary is the founder of Journey My Way, a personalised travel advisory firm journeymyway.com

Do you have a favourite restaurant or cuisine? Or have you sampled the latest haunt on the block? Be it Manali or Kanyakumari, Kashmir or Goa, Jaipur or Nagpur -- we would love to know more about the eating out options in your village, town or city. Simply e-mail your reviews to getahead@rediff.co.in (subject line: 'Restaurant review') and do try to include a photograph of the establishment; we'll publish the best ones right here on rediff.com!