Let me confess I am not a ‘buffet’ fan, much more prone to eating what I wish rather than what is on offer. But then I had guests over from Karachi who claimed Lahore had the best ‘Sunday buffet brunches’. Why they think so I do not have a clue.

The club I frequent, I must confess with sadness, has fallen in my esteem as far as food quality goes. They have not been able to get a simple coffee shop started even after it was completed three months ago. So I was in search of the best ‘Sunday brunch’ on offer in eateries and clubs. After considerable inquiry my choice was the Royal Palm Country and Golf Club on the Lahore Canal. In my school days my father played golf at the old Railway Golf Club, while we brothers tucked into snacks like hungry wolves. This club offered the best ambience, impressive entry, a huge car park and from experience I knew that they had some very good chefs. So a table was booked and off we went.

The food was laid out over an expansive area, with separate sections for sweets, salads, the huge main menu table, an outdoor ‘tandoor’ and a separate barbeque arrangement on the balcony, a special and elaborate breakfast table, a separate fresh juice counter and of all things a separate ‘paan’ stand near the entrance. Of all things they had a unique ‘grilled fish stand’. This meant that one could manage to research and then decid just what was needed. This overcame my disdain for buffets – to some extent - and I was able to find exactly what I wanted, as did my guests.

My choice for starters was a grapefruit juice. A sour start, but exactly what is needed in the morning. This I followed with a wee portion of French toast, just half a toast. It was fine. Then I decided to reeve up and go for a ‘puri’ with ‘bhaaji’ and some ‘halwa’. The waiter brought me a piping hot ‘puri’. It was delightful experience. He brought another one and I, to the shock of my wife, refused. Let me move on, I commented and left to search for a lunch starter. I thought might as well try their salads. I must confess that the variety was there, but the quality salads I was looking for were missing. So I picked up a small fruit concoction and tried it. Tasty, I thought. Now I moved on to the food. I had made up my mind not to have rice. So I went for an excellent baked fish in olive oil and to balance matter I took a small portion of pasta with a light sauce. To feel pious I took some greens. Oh, it was delicious. I enjoyed the combination.

The best thing about this place was that one can experiment and try combinations to suit one’s mood and taste. I skipped the sweets and that was my meal. On the chair next to me ‘paayay’ was the favoured dish. I wanted to try it for the record, but was told they were delicious. The waiters walked around with baskets of fresh ‘naans’ of different sorts, making sure guests always have then fresh and hot.

It was delightful outing with good quality food. I will mark this ‘eating out’ experience on the Michelin Scale of one to nine. For food quality they get seven (remarkable quality for a buffet setting), for taste they get six, for choice of menu a healthy seven, for cleanliness a well-deserved seven, for service also seven, for the ambience seven and for prices six (this is no cheap fun). This means this place gets 6.7 out of nine, which is very good. Recommended if going with the family.

BIG B BREAKFAST: Last week I picked up a few ‘bakarkhanis’ from Sufi, the original Kashmiri ‘tandoor’ opposite the Baking Versa shop on Railway Road just off Gowalmandi Chowk. This man is from Srinagar and though each piece cost an unbelievable Rs60, I now have a bowl of milk with some honey and a genuine ‘bakarkhani’ for breakfast. It is an amazing start to

the day. I remember my grandmother praising Sufi to my father, who agreed. So I had to try it, and it is amazing. — AMSHE