Café Crawl - Delhi

"A pub crawl (sometimes called a bar tour, bar crawl or bar-hopping) is the act of one or more people drinking in multiple pubs or bars in a single night, normally travelling by foot or bus to each destination and occasionally by cycle." 

"Well, we are doing a 'Café Crawl'!" we thought aloud as we sat at the cafe inside Alliance Française, on Max Mueller Marg in South Delhi, drinking our third round of beverages for the afternoon. It was a hot summer's day in May. We were draining ourselves to the hot and humid climate walking from a cafe to another, teasing our palates.

We started at Kunafa, an Arabic café that serves an assortment of Middle-Eastern sweets and a range of beverages including a variety of teas and coffees presented beautifully in jars behind glass counters. Located near the Meharchand Market in Lodhi colony, this place is a small café - more like a take away with almost no seating arrangement. Nevertheless, the warm yellow lighting that caresses the Arabic decor of the place makes it very attractive. We treated ourselves to some Baklava and Turkish teas/coffees. The baklavas, we felt, had a taste similar to some Indian cuisines - particularly Anarsa, a Maharashtrian  dish made for Diwali. It enhances the experience of your beverage further as the teas/coffees are served without sugar letting you taste the real flavour of the concoction. The combination leaves your taste buds tingling for more. But more is not affordable at this place lest it should empty your pockets sooner than you think. So we had our share of expensive exotic food and made our way out into the glaring sun. 

India Habitat Centre is only a ten minute walk from Kunafa. This place is grand like an architecture university campus. It's well designed in terms of the art-y feel and large open areas that make way for the display of various artistic works and performances. Fitted with solar panels high up across adjacent building tops, it certainly is the work of an ingenious architect and the most intriguing use of technology. What's more, a cosy little amphitheatre ensconced in a thick shady tree cover genuinely completes the look of the place. By this time we were very hungry - rather I was. This place has many eateries including one called Eatopia. This is like a gateway to several chains of food joints that serve various types of food. I chose a paneer tikka kathi roll from Tikka Town and a salted fresh lime soda from Grandma's (or something like that, it was called). Later, I realized it was a wrong choice because the salted fresh lime soda was too salty and the oily paneer tikka kathi roll left my already parched mouth in drought! But that was to come later when we left the air conditioned premises of Eatopia and walked into the sun again. Now it was time to relish some desserts from Grandma's bakery. A fresh fruit tart, a chocolate tart and a cream caramel pudding... some indulgence huh! Having greedily satisfied our evidently insatiable stomachs we moved on from there to hop to our next destination. 

This one took some time to walk down, or so it seemed. I was already thirsty again as if I hadn't had any liquids since morning. Having walked down the Max Mueller Marg from the IHC we had crossed the WWF and the UNICEF buildings and I found myself looking at the Alliance Française - Delhi branch. I think the prestige of the institute just increased manifold given its location next to the UNICEF building. They have a security system at the entrance comprising luggage checking and metal detectors! A chic looking modern construction with solar panels on the roof, this place is much inviting. To be frank, I have always looked at Alliance Française as an institute that conducts French language teaching courses and grant diplomas and certificate-qualifications. But from what I saw inside the premises, I feel it does much more for the cultural exchange than just granting language qualifications. They screen movies and conduct cultural programs have libraries of their own and I believe provide great avenues for nurturing international camaraderie. To add to that, they have a great café! It gives the feel of a garden-side library café where one can sit and read/write/study for hours over steaming mugs of coffee and glance at the overlooking garden beyond the glass wall and let your rejuvenating mind do the rest for you. They also have some open to air seating arrangement on the other side of the glass wall will umbrella sheds over your heads. 'If only it were raining!', I wished. 

I decided I needed something cooling again since the drought in my mouth induced by the paneer roll was worsening and I couldn't put up with a hot beverage at this point. So I chose a peach iced tea. We sat there enjoying the place and discussing public libraries and possible frequent visits to this place. Contemplating whether to visit the Lodhi gardens or to go to the Khan market next, we spent some leisurely time just sitting and pretending to come to a decision. Finally one of us said let's do Khan market and we stood up reluctantly to leave this amazing place for the day. 

So Khan market it was! This I understand was a longer walk than any other we had before but it didn't seem as long. Having crossed Lodhi gardens on our way I made a note that I had to come back here for it.  Khan market is a maze of lanes and by-lanes full of classy stores with mega brands and unaffordable prices. Here you find boutiques, spas, pet shops, Vero Moda, Da Milano and apparently Opticians who sell Mont Blanc eye-glasses worth Rs. 35,000/- only. No It's not a typo - I didn't type 1 zero extra... And no the frame was not gold plated/diamond studded ... if that's what you are thinking. Yeah well, I can buy 17 eye-glasses in that much money. Or if at all I happen to buy a pair of spectacles worth 35K I'd keep them safe in a bank locker or something! Phew! Jokes apart, I was thirsty again and I could drink an ocean now. I know it sounds outrageous how I seem to be just living for food and beverages but don't forget it was a May afternoon in Delhi. And we were walking. So we walked into a certain funny sounding 'Café Turtle'. I didn't know what to expect until I actually saw it. It is a bookstore cafe. Have you ever walked in the aisles of a bookstore closely surrounded by books on three sides and just lingered around looking at them feeling your mood being lifted automatically? Yes this one is for those kinds. You walk through the bookstore densely packed with books of all kinds and discover a narrow staircase among them leading you upstairs to an art-y looking café. With chairs and walls crudely painted in strokes of blue and green as if a painter had just casually passed this place, the café not only had a great ambiance but it also had some amazing beverages to offer. Preparations of fresh juices made from a combination of apples, oranges, coconut, beetroot, spinach, pineapple, mint among many others were the most enticing elements of the menu. They sounded more interesting because the menu read something like this - Fountain of youth (Pineapple +Coconut, It's a perfect detox. Rich with Vitamin A and C, potassium, magnesium, B -complex). I suddenly felt like I could surrender my health in their hands and I would never fall ill ever after. I tried this very item in the menu and detox or not, I was certainly soothed by its flavour and ice cool feel of the drink as it ran down my oesophagus! 

Totally taken by the wonders of four different cafés, I decided I wanted to call it a day and take these moments home before I could go thirsty again. All in all, Café Crawl is an activity one must experience and which could be enjoyed any time of the year. Perhaps with a larger group and more places in winters could make it more fun! We shall see...