Malabar Cafe

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.

I enjoyed the food. Service was top-notch. If you're someone who has explored a lot of food in the Malabar region, you may find the main courses a bit lack-lustre. Desserts were absolutely awesome. Overall a good experience.

Malabar Cafe at Grand Hyatt - A Great Team Lunch Experience! We visited Malabar Cafe at Grand Hyatt for our team lunch, and it was a fantastic experience. The variety of dishes they offer is impressive, with each one being delicious and well-prepared. Their dessert collection is extensive and definitely worth trying! The quality of the food justifies the price, especially if you're looking for both variety and great taste. The staff were attentive, and the atmosphere added to the overall enjoyable experience. Highly recommend this place for team lunches or any occasion!

This simple plate of food at Malabar Cafe was the star of our stay at Grand Hyatt Bolgatty, Cochin. I usually find a way to escape from a five-star hotel for my lunch and dinner for two reasons - one, I am not a big fan of buffets and random fusion food and two, I love to explore local regional cuisine. I am often surprised by how rarely a five-star hotel serves the regional food of the city they are based in. You will typically find Southeast Asian, Continental and more recently the addition of Mediterranean cuisine, but very rarely authentic local fare. After we checked in, my friends decided to stay back and have lunch at Malabar Cafe, while I planned to have lunch with Oneal, who had promised me a good local meal. Since my friends were hungry, they started eating and I stayed with them until Oneal came to pick me up. As they ate, I couldn't resist nibbling on some things from their plates. Each morsel tasted better than the last and I slowly started regretting my plan to go out for lunch. However, I consoled myself, knowing I would be around for another two days. The food, prepared under the supervision of Chef Latha, who heads Malabar Cafe, felt like a home cooked meal. Every dish had its own unique flavour, made with the freshest ingredients, whether it was meat, seafood, vegetables or masalas. Chef Latha mentioned that the masalas were ground fresh every day, making each meal, breakfast, lunch and dinner an ode to Kerala food. Chef Kedar also gave me a tour of their kitchen and storage. For a hotel of that size, I was impressed by how well-organized they were, with hygiene being a top priority. Way to go, Grand Hyatt Bolgatty! Please continue serving regional food and bringing happiness to guests who travel from all over the world to experience the true flavors of Kerala.

We visited Malabar Cafe for lunch buffet on Nov 30 at 12.30pm. We got one of the best premium dining experience in Kochi. They served a wide varieties of welcome drinks, starters, grills, main courses and deserts. Here are few of the reviews of the food that I tasted. 1. Welcome drinks - there were 4 types including passion fruit nannari, peach ice tea, pineapple juice and strawberry lassi..I tasted Passion fruit and was super refreshing. 2. Grilled foods - Tasted prawns and fish.Both are super fresh, nicely cooked and tasty. **Grilled items are served based on request. 3. Soups - one veg and one non-veg soup was served which is just average 4. Starters - they covered main items like chicken fry, mutton dry, paneer,chembu, chammanthy, some patties..which can satisfy majority of the Kerala taste buds. 5. Main course - Tried mutton biriyani which was outstanding and perfectly blended with masalas. Highly recommended. Rice with almost all vegetarian dishes, fried rice..were also served. 6. Deserts - If you are having a sweet tooth, then enjoy your heaven here with N number of desert items. The pista laddu has a unique taste and got my tick mark ;) All are freshly prepared/baked with an eye catching presentation. Hats off to the baking team. 7. Pickles(both veg and non veg) are of good quality and super tasty especially the prawns and fish pickle. Pappads, Kerala chammathies are also served. The restaurant is decorated with simple and elegant decors and have a great ambiance for dine-in. The staffs were very welcoming and always ready to help. Mentioning my sincere gratitude to Anand and Riyuni, who took care of our table. If you are looking for a premium level dining experience with a budget of 2000+ per head, then Malabar Cafe lunch buffet is highly recommended. Visited again on Nov 22, Friday...the quality, taste, customer service .. everything is still on top notch.. Appreciations to the staff Bibin for assisting us in our dining..kudus to entire team

Yesterday, my parents had the most incredible dining experience at Malabar Cafe. It was their first visit to a 5-star restaurant, and it couldn't have been more perfect, especially as they were celebrating their 28th wedding anniversary. The food was beyond exceptional--each dish was a masterpiece of flavors that left them absolutely delighted. The presentation, taste, and variety were all impeccable. They couldn't stop raving about how delicious everything was! The ambience was equally breathtaking. The restaurant's elegant decor, soothing lighting, and overall atmosphere made the evening feel truly magical and special. A huge shout out to Rejeesh, who went above and beyond to organize a beautiful cake and thoughtful anniversary arrangements. His attention to detail and warm hospitality added a personal touch that made my parents feel so cherished and valued. Thank you to the entire team for making this a memorable experience. My parents are still glowing from the evening, and we're so grateful for the care and excellence you provided. Highly recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for an extraordinary dining experience.

The restaurant has a casual vibe to it befitting one that offers a buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It's clean, spacious and quiet even with a large crowd present. The restaurant offers seating for large groups. Casual clothes are fine. While you are there, enjoy the views from the balcony and the walking area in the lower level before, during or after your meal. The staff were really nice and friendly. They tirelessly work at almost every table to help the guests enjoy their made to order section of the buffet. The buffet is quite a large spread of various dishes from across the north and south of India stretching more than 200 linear feet of culinary treat. I didn't measure the distance or count the number of dishes as it would have seemed silly. Taste is subjective so your experience could be different. The restaurant offered four different non-alcoholic soft drink selection. The kids and adults seemed to like them. Right next to that is the made to order breads (roti, parotta, appam...) and meat and sea food grilling stations. We ordered few appams and phulka roti with almost all the seafood and meat on display (6 in total). The breads were soft and good. The sea food and grilled meat were delicious. I would load up on just a couple of plates of the shrimp and the thin cut fish steak the next time. There were couple of non vegetarian and vegetarian starter options and couple of soups. I didn't care for the soup but a few in my group did seem to like the soups. I expected to see a few more starters on the spread. They non-veg(fish deep fried and chicken tikka) and the veg starters (panner tikka and veg balls) were good and just tasted like they should. In between the grill station and the starter is the oddly placed spread of a large number of pickles and accompaniments like chammanthi (chutney) and raita. Wonder why they found a place there. They have a good selection of entrees. Mutton biriyani. Chicken, mutton and fish curry with creative traditional name badges on all. I tried various entrees and they all tasted like they should. Again nothing to write particularly about. I didn't care to taste any of the North Indian spread (about 10 dishes) or the vegetarian Kerala specialities. I guess they all tasted okay I guess as nobody in the group that had them went for a second helping or raved about it afterwards. The European, American and Mediterranean items were dishes out of a single station towards the far end of the buffet. About half the station is dedicated to pita, a selection of olives and pickled vegetables and meat, cold salads both veg (like german potato) and non-veg (like asian beef). There is a hidden shawarma pole serving tandoori tasting soft shawarma. I liked it though the taste was more Indian than anything Mediterranean or middle eastern. The kids enjoyed the pizza. The orange/lemon infused fish was good. I don't think they were many takers though. The polenta and steak was a big letdown. I can't wait to go back to a soulfully cooked polenta and shrimp soon. I ignored the lamb and vegetable stew. Why bother!! The highlight of the buffet is the cake and pastry station. A huge island offering petite portions of decadent desserts. There should have been at least 30 individual offerings all so delicious. Loved the tiramisu, passion fruit pie, lime pie, Black Forest cake , blueberry tart. The one thing that I didn't like was the mango (mousse kind of dessert) it just tasted like taken straight out of an old can of mango puree. The fan favorite was the blueberry tart. Loved the cappuccino. Just perfect for the long drive home. They also serve cold coffee, hot traditional tea and coffee. Overall, I loved the service and the comfy restaurant. I would have loved to see a bit more of the taste and flavor of the God's own country come through in some of the traditional dishes. Priced at 2600 INR including taxes per head. Children 5 and under eat for free. Go for the experience, variety and quality time with your family if you care not much about taste and the price tag.

In short: bland and lacking flavor. Had a disappointing experience with the a la carte menu. The Kottayam style 'Koshi Chuttathu' missed the signature smoky taste, while the beef fry seemed reheated, which is unexpected from a 5-star hotel like Hyatt. The Attirachi (Lamb) biryani didn't taste like biryani at all, and the soup resembled a vegetable curry more than an actual soup. And the staff least bothered by the feedback. We had dine-out at Novotel,Kakkanad on the previous night, We rank Novotel - 5 and Hyatt -1.