'Tis the season to be jolly' -  and the only way we know to do that is with some great food. The wonderful thing about the festive season - be it Easter, Onam, Ganesh, Chaturthi, Diwali or Christmas is the indulgent spread on the table - each one unique to the festival. This year, I will be at my mum's place back in Mangalore eating my way through Christmas, Mangalorean style. The folks at Novotel were kind enough to extend an invitation to the preview of their Christmas lunch this year. A bunch of us bloggers headed to what is most probably the last event of this year that will bring us all together over a meal. And a wonderful meal it was.

This four course meal will be served on Christmas day for lunch and dinner at the Square in Novotel. It is priced at Rs 999/- person plus taxes. It does not include alcholic beverages, apart from a glass of mulled wine. Take a look at what the menu has. A good set of choices for both vegetarians and non-vegetarians. 

We ladies did order a couple of cocktails that afternoon. The menu has a good selection of them. 

The bread platter which was great. Though it would have been much better for the butter to be scooped into a bowl and presented rather than have Amul butter packs on such an elegant platter.

Forgive the lipstick marks on the glasses, the aroma of the mulled wine was too good to be able resist a sip before the photograph

The Amuse Bouche was a goat cheese over a balsamic glaze with a beetroot chip. The chip was the star of this dish for me. The goat cheese was stuffed with tidbits of garlic/onion making for a tart, cheesy, crunchy beginning. 

Course 1 is standard across both menus - a roasted pumpkin soup with truffle oil. Robust and heavy, the portion on this one runs the risk of filling you up. Its a great soup and with the breads on the side tempts you to lap it up to the last drop. But, try not filling up too much.

Course 2 - The starter - For the non-vegetarians you have the Seared scallop, confit of pork belly, celeriac apple puree and fennel salad. While the scallop and the puree are just about nice, it is the pork belly that steals the show here. 

For the vegetarians is the French Bean salad with poached pears, orange, blue cheese, pine nuts and a honey mustard dressing. A lovely, refreshing salad, which hits all the right spots. 

Next comes the palate cleanser - a Pineapple sorbet with black pepper. Low on the ice crystals, full on the flavor, this was an excellent cleanser, with the pepper cutting through the tartness of the cold pineapple

Course 3 - Mains - For the vegetarians, is the Mille Feuille of crisp potato, cottage cheese and vegetables with a herb cream sauce. From the looks of the vegetarians at the table this was a great dish

I had the Oven Roast Turkey with stuffing. This was served with whipped potato, ribbon vegetables, poached apple with cranberry chutney and turkey jus. A massive platter of food this was and everything, especially the cranberry chutney was absolutely lick-the-plate worthy

You may also opt for the Fillet Mignon done to your choice. This comes with sauteed beans, artichoke puree, fondant potato and Madras curry sauce. The meat was more well done that medium as requested, but the medallions did taste great and the sauce gets top marks. 

Course 4 - Desserts - come on a massive platter and the photo does not really do justice to how pretty the platter was. One look and a few of us decided to split a single platter between us. It had Christmas cake, steeped in rum and all things good, a warm, buttery, sinfully gorgeous stollen, mince pie, plum pudding with brandy sauce where every bite can give you a heady feeling and a scoop of vanilla gelato to round it all off. 

This Christmas menu rounds off with tea or coffee, cookies and chocolate rocks, if you have the space to take it all in. The Christmas menu packages the spirit of the season perfectly and is all about indulgence, as the portion sizes will tell you. This four course meal will be served on Christmas day for lunch and dinner at the Square in Novotel. It is priced at Rs 999/- person plus taxes. It does not include alcholic beverages, apart from a glass of mulled wine.