Karthik's musings

Mysore: Metropole v/s Lalit Mahal Palace

Had been to Mysore last weekend. This time got a chance to explore the two great dining places in Mysore, the Metropole and Lailt Mahal Palace.

Metropole is housed in a building that has a colonial aura and was used as a guest house during the British period. It is currently in lease to Royal Orchid group, who own the Tiger Trail chain of hotels. The entrance lobby has an awesome silver swing and silver couches. The wooden stairs look as stylish as you can expect from a colonial building. The restaurant has both open-air and enclosure options. We chose the open-air area that had a nicely curving tree to add to the attraction.

Food was great in Metropole. The drink options are pretty good, if not plenty. The yhad something called paratha pizza, which is paratha with cheese spread on it and some toppings, a la pizza! Interesting concept, and tasted good. There was a live concert when we went (not sure if they have it daily) and I appreciated that he was singing Hindi songs of Mukesh, Talat, Rafi among others. The food came to less than 300 bucks per head.

Lalit Mahal Palace was again constructed during the British period, but being a palace, has all the colors you can expect from one. The view of the palace from outside - with itz classic white exterior - is majestic. The interiors are also quite awesome, if not mind-blowing. They may not be as rich as the palaces in Rajasthan, but they do give a very good ambience neverthless.

The sad part about Lalit Mahal Palace is that itz run by the Ashoka chain of hotels of ITDC. A great example of where the Govt should not be! The service is pathetic.....the waiters have an horrible, bureaucratic attitude that stinks. The toilets reminds you of Sulabh Shauchalayas and stink even more. It looks so out of place in the serene, subtly-lit surrounding with beautifully painted roofs, nice galleries and some exquisite craft pieces, including a beautiful elephant made of sandalwood. Add to this the live concert - we had sitar played.

The food was ok-ish at Lalit Mahal Palace. One of the starters we had was Pineaple & cheese stick, which was awesome. The Makhmali Kofta was pretty bad, but the Masala Bhutta and Aloo Dhum were good. We had Kasmiri Naan, which was just naan stuffued with some nuts and jelly fruits....not really authentic Kasmiri stuff, but tasted good neverthless. The Bisibelebath was great, and the Mysore Majjige was good as can be expected. With no alcoholic drinks, it came to about Rs.400 per person.

Overall Comparision:

Metropole: Good ambience, good food, quite easy on your pocket.
Lalit Mahal Palace: Fantastic ambience, food ok, pathetic service.

Verdict:

Both not to be missed! Lalit Mahal Palace has lunch buffet most of the times (the day we went it was not there). Go for that, and go to Metopole for a nice dining experience :)

If one does not learn to listen to the music of nature and appreciate her beauty, then that which impels man to seek love at its remotest antiquity.
-Swami Rama