Renu Dhole visited Citrus, the new destination for foodies in the PCMC area and found it promising

Right in front of the PCMC building, in the crowded address of Pimpri stands the plush property of Citrus Hotel. Step in the premises and you'll be cut off from the din of the traffick-clogged world. Workday afternoons are not meant for leisurely meals, but the feeling of space uncoils the mind anyway. And the sight of well-dressed hotel staff greeting you with a smile feels welcoming. So, when we’re escorted to Beso, the coffee shop of this recently launched five star hotel for a quick lunch, we’re naturally hoping the food lives up to the expectations that the elegant surroundings have raised in our minds.

Beso is relaxed, yet business-like. Floor-to-ceiling glass panes on one side of the hall visually bring in the outdoors, while a centrally laid-out buffet table in the unenclosed dining area invites you to feel free and help yourself. The courteous staff is around if you need anything brought to the table. Starters, a la carte options, we're told, will be served. So we get up from our comfortable cane chairs to reach for the soup. Cream of Asparagus and Chicken Tom Yum are the soups of the day. Asparagus is a premium product. How does this European delicacy fit into a Rs 299 (plus taxes) multi-cuisine buffet, we wonder. “I’ve a free hand in the kitchen. As long as we provide good quality and variety of food, my boss is not complaining,” jokes Zubin D'souza, corporate chef.

Variety, there is. The salad section offers 13 varieties while the tempting dessert counter flaunts around 16. The salad and the dessert bar form two ends of the oblong slab and maincourse dishes (3 non-veg and 6 veg) are displayed on either side. The arrangement isn’t very consumer-friendly since whenever you want to get up for the entrees, you have to go round the sweets corner....and resist the seduction.

Asparagus soup is fine, light and good to taste. Starters — Crispy Corn, Chicken Chatpata, Fried Fish with Tartar Sauce — leave us with nothing to complain about. The ingredients are fresh, the flavouring is not off the mark. We like the slight twist of taste that fennel lends to the chicken starter. Smart thought. Fennel continues to delight us with Melon and Fennel Salad too. Juicy bits of watermelon acquire a delightful edge with the freshness of saunf. Kimchi salad, Chinese Pickle, Spicy Cucumber, Rosemary Pumpkin, Fish and Pasta, Chicken Salad, Cocktail Eggs sound and look like they’ve come from a creative chef's kitchen.

We sample Paneer Mushroom Masala, Chilkewali Dal, Aloo Poshto, Murgh Nilgiri Korma, Baked Corn and Spinach Augaratin, Burnt Garlic Noodles, Pokchoy (Chinese cabbage) in Plum Sauce, Zaffrani Pulao for main course. We like the colourful mix of Oriental, Continental and Indian food and the selection of unusual dishes. What we don’t like is the unpleasant stark colour of red curries. Zaffrani Pulao lacked the richness and finesse that is associated with it and the meat dishes fell short of complete perfection. We truly missed live counters for noodles and pasta. Certain dishes taste good only when cooked and served a la minute. Indian veg stood us in good taste.

Desserts left us wondering where to begin — Gajar halwa or Gulab Jamun, Rasmalai, Amrakhand, Dry Fruit Barfi or Plum Cake with Custard, Chocolate Mousse, Orange Souffle, Pineapple Gateaux or assorted jellies.... But the appeal came more from the variety than the look of this section. Even our taste buds didn’t register the gastronomic orgasm that these meal-enders generally afford.

 But in spite of the disappointments, the place does hold promise. Let them figure out the customer preferences, set up some more attractions, get into the groove of things and we're sure this will be a culinary destination not just for residents of Pimpri, but for Puneites as well. Soy, their Oriental restaurant, is already calling us!