If you’ve never been to the Grand Hyatt, upon entry you will be wowed by the grandeur of the curling steps that lead you from the ground floor lobby to the first floor atrium where Tiffin is perched. The grandeur extends into the restaurant, where diners are seated in lobby-style sofa chairs, against expansive floor-to-ceiling windows; the impressive acoustics enhance the mood-setting live music daily. Diners are invited to gather in the middle to retrieve their food from an elaborate daily buffet, and the setting couldn’t better for a casual meal. However, we did the find the lighting rather dim in the evenings

The extensive international buffet at Tiffin has a bit of everything, including tom yum goong, smoked salmon, liver terrine, Tandoori chicken and various molluscs from the seafood platter station. However, as the name may suggest, there is a magnified focus on the Indian kitchen. Out of the bountiful offerings, the thick-cut home-cured smoked salmon struck a good balance; it had a pleasant smokiness without being overbearing, and the flavour of the salmon still shone through. The signature pan-fried foie gras is prepared by the chef upon request, and paired with a slice of crisp bread and pineapple, unfortunately we found this quite disappointing: the foie gras was rather flavourless, lacking the rich fatty flavour and buttery texture that comes with a better quality goose liver. Luckily, roasted prime rib, hand-cut by the chef to orer, was much better, being succulent, moist and tender to the bite. We would recommend you leave some space for the monstrous dessert buffet; aside from standard offerings of seasonal fruits, the buffet also offers a generous selection of cakes: the cheesecake, sachertorte and tiramisu are worth making some room for. Separating itself from most buffets, it also features the more uncommon offering of DIY chendol, while the Chinese tofu custard paired with brown sugar was also a winner.

We ordered the delicious Chianti Superiore Santa Cristina 2010 from Tiffin’s wine list – and enjoyed it thoroughly. However, it is important to note that Tiffin customers can also order wines from the impressive wine tome offered from the Grand Hyatt’s formidable cellars.

As expected the service from this five-star institution was flawless, however we did find it a little harder than normal to get the attention of the wait staff from time to time.

Considering the expansive selection of food, at HK$1,300 for a meal for two at a hotel including wine is a fair bet.