As I drive into the kerb of the Raintree Hotel at 12 noon on a mildly hot Sunday , I am greeted by a sculpted, reclining Buddha, surrounded by calm waters: and he beckons me to the virtues of patience, moderation and small food portions.

I am about to abandon all of these as I join a couple of friends for the Sunday Brunch at the hotel. We decide at the outset to sit through the entire three hours of the brunch and laze it out.

Having been to many “Rainbow” Restaurants (the fabulous Rainbow Tower at the Hilton in Hawaii comes to mind), I wonder how this will measure up; but it does just fine.

The buffet is truly elaborate and lavish with an extensive choice of Chinese, North Indian, South Indian and Continental dishes and a mammoth salad bar. As I looked around, I found it to be a favourite hangout of the expatriate community in the Alwarpet area.

As we sat at a corner table, we were ordered our drinks : Cold coffee with ice cream, watermelon juice and sweet lassi : which were downed by us like a car needs coolant : delicious and cool.

There was some music playing outside but we cared more for conversation . I had the vegetarian soup - a wet noodle light soup – honestly the best part of the meal; so don’t skip the soup.

If you really want to know what the salad bar consisted of , then let me play ‘memory’; extremely wide array consisting of veg & non veg sushi, smoked salmon, curried mushroom and vegetable salad, grilled eggplant with mayonnaise, sweet potato salad, a baby corn starter, yoghurt salad , spicy chicken salad and loads of cheese. We tried the desi ones like spicy chicken salad and the curried mushroom and both were quite tasty.

The service was very prompt and attentive. Even though the restaurant was packed to capacity they did not nudge us along.

After the soup and salad, we took a tour of the spread, and ate more by just looking; there was way too much: a full chat counter including pav bhaji, hot dosas and idiyappams made to order and, and a full sandwich counter with numerous bread varieties and fillings; in an upmarket Subway style.

We said “No” to the Sandwiches and settled for the main course: it would be too voluminous to put all of it down, so here’s what we had: Bengali Fish curry, Murgh Dum Biryani, Peas pulao, roomali rotis and parathas, vegetable siciliana ,vegetable makhanwala, achari paneer and a dal dorangi; and were nicely bursting thereafter. The roomalis were very nice and soft and the best that I have had in Chennai. The food was fresh and hot. The makhanwala and the keerai masiyal were especially good. We had a variety of desserts: Cut kala jamun, kaju kathli, swiss chocolate mousse, brownie and two scoops each of sinful butterscotch ice cream , washed down by coffee.

This place is ideal for a family get-together and they have spared no efforts to ensure that everybody goes home happy and full.

We spent three hours and didn’t know where the time went .Truly a resplendent meal.

Sunday Brunch at the Rainbow Multicuisine Restaurant at the Raintree Hotel, 120 St Mary’s Road. 12 p.m. to 3.30.pm

Call 24304050 for reservations.