Lunch at Bengal Lounge

I've mentioned the Fairmont Empress Hotel in my previous posts. It's classified as 5-star hotel; however, there's been a mixed review on tripAdvisor.com. Based on individual travelers' reviews from TripAdvirsor, the 5-star Fairmont Empress is more like an average hotel, rated 3.5 out of 5 taking into consideration of room, service, value, cleanness, and pool. While some were very happy with their stays, others weren't very enthusiastic about it.


I've never had the opportunity to stay there, so I cannot really comment on the hotel in those aspects. However, I was impressed by the Bengal Lounge where we enjoyed a traditional Indian curry lunch buffet. The setting was adults oriented, suitable for business meetings, romantic dinners, and even semi-formal family and friends gatherings. One feels just as comfortable, dressed up in business attire, reading the paper and drinking martini at the bar, or taking your family out (at least the grown up ones) for a Sunday brunch.


We learned from our server that most decors in the restaurant were originally imported from India. I was particularly impressed with the majestic pillars and the wall mounted Bengal tiger skin seen in the photo above. They remind me of a British colonial style dining room from a time long past. Overall, it was an unique and fun experience, and I gave it a high rating for. However, I would definitely take the English "High Tea" at the Empress next time, served with an amazing variety of fancy and fattening pantries. Probably a better fit for the English style city, eh?