Tulips - The Coffee Shop

The Scene
If you think you know all that happens in Hotel Green Park after just a couple of visits to Escape, you are probably right. Like a good samaritan, Tulips, as Escape, lets you do your dig without interference. A brightly-lit, long buffet table entices your visual senses as well as does things to your stomach, as you are promptly seated at one of the dream-white-and-cream tables. Sleek waiters, while not crowding you, will be nearby for assistance.

Tulips, located right in the Green Park lobby at the far end and overlooking the lobby (making it almost an outdoor restaurant), is not as big as the other restaurant at the popular hotel - it can seat about 50 - but is perhaps more popular, both because it is the coffee shop, and also because the famous Green Park midnight biryani is served here. It's not uncommon to see upcoming Tollywood types past midnight, though it's more likely to be from the mensfolk.

The Food
Tulips is a coffee shop, and you find all that you expect in one - a good bit of continental stuff, kebabs and tikkas, North-Indian curries and naans, desserts and more. While the cuisine varies, the food remains a grand affair. Each day of the week is a different offering - from Mughlai, Punjabi and Hyderabadi to South-Indian, North Indian and Lebanese, Tulips keeps its stables full of fresh stock. From salads, like wheat sprouts and sesame sprouts, to kebabs, biryanis and an assortment of desserts ranging from rasogullas, papita murrabba and rabri to icecreams and sundaes, there are dishes fit to please a royal household.

The midnight biryani buffet, priced at Rs. 242 at the time that we write this (Feb 2008), is a popular draw - soup, veg and non-veg biryani, 4 side-dishes including mirchi ka salan and raita, scrambled eggs and a dessert (plus free mineral water) make for a compelling proposition for all those people who realize the dining scene in town shuts down at 11pm. Heavy crowds on Fridays and Saturdays have resulted in the buffet being extended to Once Upon A Time as well on these days.

The Verdict
Actually, it's not a bad idea to sit from where you can see the entire lobby of a popular star hotel thrumming with faces, no? Good food and great service provide the perfect foil at Tulips. And even if that's not the idea for you, there's little to dissuade you from dining here if you can afford it.