Bring your loved ones and enjoy a Sunday filled with delicious food, good company and unforgettable moments.
TIL BDR GHALLEY | Thimphu
Imagine a Sunday afternoon where Beef Wellington is carved fresh before you, sushi rolls are prepared to order, grilled meats fill the room with their aroma and a chocolate fountain keeps children returning for more.
After a week of hurried breakfasts, packed schedules and meals squeezed between work and family responsibilities, Sunday offers a chance to slow down.
And that is what Le Méridien Thimphu is offering food lovers on September 6, as its monthly Sunday Brunch returns to Latest Recipe with a spread designed to turn an ordinary weekend meal into an afternoon of culinary discovery.
Held on the first Sunday of every month, the brunch brings together Bhutanese, Indian, Asian, Western and other international flavours, with live cooking stations adding freshness and variety to the four-hour dining experience.
Running from 12pm to 4pm, the brunch gives diners time to move through the different stations, try dishes at their own pace and return to their favourites without the rush of a conventional lunch.
At the carving station, guests can enjoy freshly served Beef Wellington and Five Spice Rub Pork Belly, while the sushi station prepares rolls to order. The live chaat station offers a selection of Indian street food, bringing together spices, tangy flavours and contrasting textures.
The grill station will serve a selection of meats and vegetables, while the egg station will feature Le Méridien’s Signature Mushroom Omelette and Gluten Free Egg Benedict.
The wider buffet takes diners across a range of flavours, with dishes including Chicken Reshami Tikka, Goan Style Rawa Fried Fish, Kashmiri Chicken Korma, Mutton Kosha Mansho, Beef Stroganoff, Seafood Pie and Thai Fish Yellow Curry.
For those looking for lighter options, the spread also includes international salads and mezze, artisanal breads and cheeses.
Dessert brings another selection, with cakes, pastries, desserts and ice cream sundaes. Younger diners have a dedicated kids’ station, complete with a live chocolate fountain and sugar candy station.
Nake(y) Datshi will feature among the local offerings, while locally sourced ingredients will be incorporated whenever available. The result is a menu that allows diners to move between global cuisines while still finding familiar Bhutanese flavours on the table.
The menu has been curated by Chef Aman Dev, Executive Chef of Le Méridien Thimphu, bringing together a broad range of culinary traditions while placing an emphasis on freshly prepared selections.
A diner can begin with sushi, move on to chaat, sample Beef Wellington, try the Thai curry, return for a Bhutanese favourite and finish with ice cream or something from the pastry counter.
That freedom is part of what distinguishes a brunch from a conventional meal. Rather than deciding on one dish from a menu, diners can explore different cuisines, try what they want and return to the dishes they enjoy.
But the appeal of a Sunday brunch can extend beyond what is served on the plate.
After a week of work, school and daily responsibilities, Sunday can provide families with an opportunity to slow down. A shared meal gives people time to sit around the same table, talk and spend time together without the pressure of getting through another weekday schedule.
There is also research suggesting that spending on experiences can offer a different kind of value from buying material possessions.
A 2020 study published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology found that people experienced greater moment-to-moment happiness while engaging with experiential purchases than with material purchases. The study included meals out among examples of experiential purchases and used two large-scale experience-sampling studies to examine how people felt while consuming their purchases.
The finding does not mean that every meal out necessarily produces happiness. But it does point to a broader distinction between spending on things and spending on experiences.
A meal out can be one such experience. Beyond the food itself, it can provide time away from routine, conversation around a table and an opportunity to create shared memories.
Research on family meals points to other potential benefits. A 2023 systematic umbrella review published in Nutrients examined 41 eligible systematic reviews on family mealtimes and their relationship with health and psychosocial outcomes. It found that more frequent family meals were associated with healthier dietary outcomes and several positive outcomes related to children’s and adolescents’ wellbeing, while also noting that evidence from interventions designed to increase family meals was mixed.
The research does not suggest that every family meal needs to be elaborate. Rather, it points to the potential value of the shared mealtime itself: sitting together, eating together and making space for conversation.
For families looking to turn that time into a longer Sunday outing, Le Méridien is also offering a pool-inclusive package.
The brunch is priced at Nu. 2,199 per person, while the Nu. 2,699 package includes access to the hotel’s indoor swimming pool. Both prices are exclusive of taxes.
Children under 12 receive a 50 percent discount on the applicable brunch rate, while children above 12 are charged the full rate.
The pool option allows families to extend the afternoon beyond the dining table, giving children time in the pool after the meal while parents can use the opportunity to slow down and spend time together.
For Thimphu’s evolving dining scene, experiences such as the Sunday Brunch also reflect a wider shift in how people use restaurants and hotels. Dining is increasingly about more than simply eating. It can also be a way to socialise, celebrate occasions, spend time with family and friends and explore food that may not ordinarily appear on the home table.
At Latest Recipe, that experience comes through the sights and sounds of live cooking, the aroma of the grill, sushi prepared before diners, the familiarity of Bhutanese flavours and the variety of an international buffet.
And because the brunch is held on the first Sunday of every month, September 6 is not a one-off event. It is part of a recurring opportunity for diners to make a meal an occasion, whether with family, friends or simply in search of something different on a Sunday afternoon.
After a long week, spending on a good meal can be about more than buying food. It can also mean buying a few hours away from the usual routine, sharing a table with people who matter and making time to enjoy the moment.
For those who enjoy making food part of their weekend plans, there is another reason to mark the calendar: the Sunday Brunch is held on the first Sunday of every month at Le Méridien Thimphu. September’s edition falls on September 6, offering diners four hours to explore the spread, return to their favourites and spend an unhurried Sunday afternoon with family and friends.
