Malabar Café

"I visited Malabar Café recently, and I had a mixed experience. There are things to like, and some areas that need improvement. What’s Good 👍 • Ambience & Setting: The restaurant is beautiful. The decor is pleasant, with a modern yet relaxed feel. The seating is comfortable, and the views (especially for those facing the water) are lovely.  • Service: Staff are courteous and attentive. They try hard to ensure guests are comfortable and respond well to requests.  • Authenticity & Specialty: The Kerala / Malabari dishes have some good touches — especially the use of fresh, in-house ground spices. Some items like the Karimeen fry, curry dishes were well executed and flavourful. What’s Less Good 👎😡 • Beef / Meat Quality & Tenderness: The beef items (steaks, beef fry, beef mains) were too tough. The texture was hard, making them difficult to eat and enjoy. • Value for Money: For the price, I felt the buffet spread or menu variety didn’t always match expectations. Some food items felt average, especially given that it’s a luxury hotel setting.  • Variety / Buffet Spread: The number of options in some categories (especially starters, desserts or non-Kerala cuisines) seemed limited. For those expecting a wide multi-cuisine spread, it may disappoint.  • Consistency: Some dishes were excellent; others less so. For example, bread items like porotta might be harder or less well made. Certain live counters or sauces/spice levels seemed uneven. I am very much disappointed with the food from here i hope they will be considering the reviews and will take some action items"

"Too crowded at times. Had buffet lunch. Was very late to open. Regular opening time of 12:00 pm was not honoured. Opened only by 12:45 on 27/12. Maybe because a DJ party was scheduled on that night. Food was satisfactory. Service was good."

"I went with my family for the dinner buffet. We were all really excited for the hyped up buffet at Grand Hyatt. Unfortunately, I'd say this was rather disappointing. For a buffet worth 2400 per head (and then stupid taxes too), the spread was just above average when it came to variety. But most of the food was amazing and absolutely delivered when it came to taste. I especially adored the dessert section, which had some hidden gems (I devoured their berry based desserts—so good!!) My mom loved their kerala spread of plain rice, curries and veggies — they were superbly prepared! The juice section was rather lacking in my opinion, especially compared to various other buffets I've been to. The live counter food, especially the praws and the pizza were phenomenal. I was stuffed, but I still couldn't help eating the pizza. The crust was so thin and the base was dripping with flavour. Ahh, absolutely wonderful pizza — it's gunna haunt my dreams. So the main problem was that the spread needed more variety and originality. I have went to many buffets in Kochi (with lower prices) that served up rather similar dishes. Their rice options in particular need to be more diverse. My mom was pretty disappointed with the biriyani, the chicken's cook was not great. Also, the amount of meat based curries started blending in my head and dulling my palate. Ooh but their pickles and other fermented dishes were so gooddd!!! I kept coming back for more. Also their salads were very boring. Other than a ham salad, there weren't many meat based salads. I also wish they had desserts like puddings, sorbets and icecream cake — which is more suited to a dinner buffet that payasam. Some of the staff—not the waiters or the servers—were somewhat cold and perhaps a little borderline rude with the way they regarded us or gave us instructions. I think it's also very disappointing that their customer service could not speak in Malayalam when we called ahead to reserve a table. Any restaurant in Kerala should be able to converse with customers in Malayalam. That is basic respect to the land itself. It gave me a very bad first impression. I was also really disappointed by our table. It was rather small for a family of our size and we were placed right under the A/C vents. All of us where shivering while eating and it made the whole dinner very uncomfortable. I have woken up with a very sore and itchy throat. We were also placed in a secluded nook behind a lot of pillars, and it made it really hard to get around, especially since it was a buffet dinner. We also had to wonder why we weren't placed in the plethora of tables lying around empty. So while the architectite was spacious (I loved the industrial influences to the decor) and the lighting was lovely, it was kinda ruined by all of these things. Which is why this turned out to be a 3 star experience for me. But I definitely wouldn't say this was a depressing dinner. We celebrated my sister's 21st birthday, and my whole family was happy and excited just to be there. We finally have Grand Hyatt ticked off our list, though it was, as I explained an underwhelming experience. Definitely not worth the big bucks you spend, unless you say you're spending it on the whole Grand Hyatt experience — which wasn't much by the way, except for the few minutes we spent admiring the fountain and the sparkly lobby. We couldn't even get a glimpse of the sea or whatever since they had placed us next to a pillar, all cramped up against a wall (guess I'll be pissed about that for a while lol). Ok, I am gunna stop now :). Basically, it was rather underwhelming— especially for the hype and freakish price. (This review is not proofread, so there might be typos and errors, here and there)"

"We visited Malabar Cafe Grand Hyatt Bolgatty for the Iftar buffet with family, expecting a premium five-star experience. While the ambiance was excellent, with a beautiful setting and comfortable dining space, the food experience was a mix of positives and letdowns. The seafood section was the highlight, with fresh and well-prepared dishes. The dessert spread had a good variety, which we really enjoyed. However, the rest of the buffet featured very basic, home-style dishes, similar to what we usually prepare in Kerala homes. There were no Chinese or unique international options, which felt a bit underwhelming for a five-star buffet. The drinks were also quite ordinary and didn’t stand out.Service was mostly good, but the staff at the dessert section were extremely inattentive and unresponsive, which was disappointing. Given the expectations from a five-star restaurant, the overall food experience felt too simple for the price. While the ambiance and seafood were great, we expected a more diverse and premium spread. Would recommend it mainly for the atmosphere and fresh seafood."

"Fantastic restaurant—fancy enough that my wallet sighed, but completely worth it. The food was great except a few dishes but not everything has to be perfect, the atmosphere was beautiful, and Nesha’s service was outstanding. She took care of us like we were longtime VIPs. For my wife’s birthday, they even brought out a scrumptious and lovely birthday cake that made the night feel extra special. Great food, great service, and a perfect celebration. Would definitely come back."