This July, Novotel Hyderabad Airport pays tribute to a fascinating chapter of India's culinary heritage with Monsoon Dak Bungalow, a specially curated Sunday brunch series that brings a forgotten era of travel dining back to the table. Far from a routine brunch offering, the experience reimagines the kitchens of colonial-era dak bungalows and railway refreshment rooms in a contemporary setting, inviting guests to savour the stories behind every bite.
There was a time when travel in India moved at the pace of steam and storytelling, when halts were unhurried, and a hot meal always waited at the next dak bungalow or railway refreshment room. These modest outposts, scattered along colonial-era travel routes, were where Anglo-Indian cooks quietly created some of the country's most enduring comfort food, dishes born of necessity, shaped by local produce, and seasoned with influences from across the world. As travel continues to evolve, some of these flavours risk being forgotten, and it is this chapter that Monsoon Dak Bungalow sets out to revive.
It was at these unassuming halts that British administrators, Anglo-Indian families, and local cooks came together to create a cuisine that was neither entirely Indian nor entirely Western, but distinctly its own: a Mulligatawny Soup born from a Tamil pepper broth adapted to British palates, a Dak Bungalow Chicken Curry simmered with whatever a remote kitchen had on hand. These dishes carried the rhythm of a slower era, when a meal was more than just sustenance, and it is this spirit that Novotel Hyderabad Airport recreates every Sunday this monsoon.
The brunch opens with starters that hint at the diversity of routes once travelled, from Hyderabadi Tawa Fish Bites and Hara Bhara Kebabs to a comforting Paya Shorba and the iconic Mulligatawny Soup. The main spread deepens the story, anchored by the Dak Bungalow Chicken Curry and a fragrant Mutton Dum Biryani, alongside Jhinga Masala, Dal Dak Bungalow, Khubani Kofta and regional specialities such as Dondakaya Jeedipappu Iguru, Dum Aloo Benarasi, Bharwan Shimla Mirch and Vegetable Jalfrezi.
True to the spirit of travel, the brunch also extends to a global buffet, featuring Chicken Rendang, Fish Moilee, Grilled Fish Steak with Béarnaise Sauce, Spinach & Sundried Tomato Stuffed Chicken Roulade, Korean Gochujang Tofu and Roasted Cauliflower with Romesco Sauce, alongside a live pasta station, artisanal salads, gourmet cheeses, cold cuts, chaat favourites, and an indulgent dessert selection.
“With Monsoon Dak Bungalow, we wanted to tell a story that is slowly fading from memory,” said Sukhbir Singh, General Manager, Novotel Hyderabad Airport.
“As the monsoon sets in and the pace of life slows just a little, it felt like the perfect moment to bring guests a meal that asks them to do the same: settle in, take their time, and rediscover flavours that once defined the very idea of Indian travel.” “What drew me to this idea was how much history sits quietly behind food we think of as everyday comfort,” added Amanna Raju, Executive Chef, Novotel Hyderabad Airport. “Dak bungalows and railway refreshment rooms were such ordinary, unglamorous places, yet they shaped the way an entire generation of travellers ate. Bringing that world back, even for a few Sundays, felt like a story worth telling.”
Set against the soothing rhythm of the monsoon, Monsoon Dak Bungalow is as much an ode to nostalgia as it is to flavour. Every Sunday this July, Novotel Hyderabad Airport invites guests to step away from the rush of the everyday and into a slower, storied past, one leisurely course at a time.
