Sunday Brunch by the Pool: An All-Day Estate Escape
Most Sunday brunches run on a clock. Doors at twelve, last call at three, a buffet that peaks in the first forty minutes and thins out visibly after that, and a table you are politely aware someone else is waiting for. You eat quickly because the format asks you to. Then you drive home in Sunday evening traffic, having spent four hours doing something that felt faintly like a queue.
The alternative is not a better buffet. It is a different structure entirely — a Sunday where lunch is the anchor rather than the entire event, and where nothing about the day has a scheduled end.
If you are looking for a Sunday brunch near Pune that works that way, the Irada Pool Club at Hotel Irada is built on almost the opposite premise from a city hotel brunch.
À La Carte, All Day, No Sitting
The Irada Pool Club — IPC to the people who work there — is an all-day dining space. Midday staples, served whenever the mood strikes. There is no fixed brunch window, no buffet counter, and no second seating waiting on your table.
That single structural difference changes the whole afternoon. You order what you want, when you want it. You order more two hours later because the conversation is still going. Nobody is managing turnover, so nobody is managing you.
For a group that has driven out from the city, this matters more than the food does. The point of leaving Pune for lunch is to stop being on a schedule. A brunch with a last-call time simply relocates the schedule.
The Setting
IPC sits against an Olympic-sized checkered pool, framed by manicured greenery that runs deliberately wild at the edges — tangled ivy, climbing roses, and the vineyard beyond it. Past that, 4,000 acres of reserve forest.
The estate covers 66 acres of working vineyard, so the view from the table is agricultural rather than landscaped: vine rows on a real growing season, changing shape across the year. In January the vines are heavy. In July the whole valley is green and loud with water.
It is a genuinely different backdrop from a hotel terrace, and it is the reason a weekend lunch near Pune out here reads as a day out rather than a meal.
What to Order
The menu runs long and moves across registers — Asian small plates, tandoor, Italian, Indian mains, and a section of poolside bites built for grazing rather than sitting down to a course.
To start, poolside. The misal pav crostini (₹600) is the one to order first — spiced sprout ragout on toasted crostini with a pav-butter crumble, and a smarter piece of cooking than pool food usually is. Pool nachos (₹500) do the obvious job well. Wild mushroom and truffle croquettes (₹600) and charred broccoli steak with coriander labneh and smoked chilli oil (₹600) both hold up. On the non-vegetarian side, IFC — Irada Fried Chicken, buttermilk-brined with caper ranch (₹750) — and prawn 65 with curry leaves and garlic (₹1,100).
Salads that are actually worth ordering. The Mediterranean caesar with pomegranate molasses, sumac and parmesan shards (₹600 / ₹800) and the classic som tam (₹600).
If you want a proper plate. The truffle shroom burger with parmesan cream and caper ranch (₹700), the Korean fried chicken burger (₹800), or the lamb burger with chimichurri and caramelised onions (₹800) — all served with fries and salad. Pizzas start at ₹550 for a margherita with San Marzano tomatoes. The IPC classic pasta (₹700) comes as penne or spaghetti with alfredo, arrabbiata, aglio e olio or pesto.
For the table that wants Indian. The tandoor section runs from mushroom and truffle galouti (₹600) through paneer tikka and chicken tikka, classic or gunpowder (₹750 each), to mutton galouti or seekh (₹800). Dum handi biryani — vegetable, chicken or mutton, sealed and slow-cooked (₹1,100) — is the order for a long table.
Dessert, because there is no reason to leave yet. Lotus Biscoff cheesecake (₹500), the IPC choco lava cake with vanilla ice cream (₹500), or rasmalai tres leches with a three-milk reduction (₹500).
Menu items and prices are as listed on the estate’s published Pool Club menu and are subject to change.
How the Afternoon Extends
This is where a Sunday at the estate stops resembling brunch anywhere else. Lunch ends and the day does not.
Lola by the Pool picks up as the light drops — crisp highballs, fast pours, and music that improves as the sun goes down. No bar stools, by design.
Subko x Irada handles the coffee end of the afternoon, a collaboration between the estate and the specialty roaster built around the idea that vines and beans are speaking the same language.
The Estate Wine Tour, led by Australian Estate Manager Craig Wedge and starting from ₹2,000, walks the working vineyard, the tank rooms where wine is tasted straight from fermentation, and the barrel cellar with its Bordeaux-imported oak casks. You can book a winery tour to bracket the meal at either end.
Nyāsa Wellbeing offers spa therapies, the Agave View Sauna with floor-to-ceiling forest views, steam, and a hot plunge.
Forest trails run out into the reserve, with Indian chinkara across the grasslands. Closer to the buildings there is padel, pickleball, minigolf and croquet on the West Lawn.
The result is that lunch becomes the middle of the day rather than the whole of it — which is the actual difference between a brunch and an escape.
For Bigger Tables
Birthdays, anniversaries and family Sundays scale up naturally here. IPC covers 15,000 sq. ft. and holds up to 200 guests as an event space, so a large table is not an imposition on the room.
For something more contained, private dining at the estate runs to a forest picnic under the canopy, a vineyard lunch between the rows, a tower-top nightcap, or the helipad for a dinner with the valley underneath it.
Stay the Night Instead
The honest case against driving out for lunch alone is the drive back. The estate is rural — that is the entire appeal — and a long lunch with wine and a two-way drive is a poor combination.
If the Sunday goes well, the rooms and suites run from Reserve Rooms (340–425 sq. ft., private balconies over the courtyard or the vines) through Gallery Rooms with Burgundy bathtubs, Vineyard Suites with arched ceilings and sit-outs facing the vines, to the 1,250 sq. ft. Collector’s Suite with a terrace over the vineyard.
A Sunday lunch that turns into a Sunday night is usually the better version of the plan.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a Sunday brunch near Pune at Hotel Irada? The Irada Pool Club serves all-day à la carte dining beside the estate’s Olympic-sized checkered pool, rather than a fixed-window buffet brunch. Contact the team to confirm timings and availability for your date.
Do I need a reservation for lunch at the Irada Pool Club? The estate is rural and the Pool Club is a working restaurant, so booking ahead is recommended. Confirm with the team over WhatsApp or email before you drive out.
What does the Irada Pool Club menu cost? Poolside bites run from roughly ₹500 to ₹1,100, burgers and mains from ₹550 to ₹1,100, and desserts around ₹400 to ₹500, per the estate’s published menu. Prices are subject to change.
Is the Pool Club suitable for families? Yes. The estate runs a Kids Club alongside minigolf, croquet, pickleball and forest trails, so a long lunch works with children in a way most brunch formats do not.
Can I use the pool if I come for lunch? Pool access arrangements should be confirmed with the estate team when you book.
What else can I do around lunch? The Estate Wine Tour from ₹2,000, spa and sauna at Nyāsa Wellbeing, forest trails and deer spotting, and padel, pickleball, minigolf and croquet.
Final Thoughts
A city brunch gives you three hours and a queue for the eggs. A Sunday at the estate gives you a table by a checkered pool with vines behind it, food ordered when you want it rather than when the format allows, and an afternoon that can go in whichever direction the group feels like — a wine tour, a sauna, a walk into the forest, or nothing at all.
See the dining outlets, or contact the team on WhatsApp at +91 7080250472 or by email at info@hotelirada.com to confirm timings and reserve a table.
