Friday, August 25, 2006

Indian Coffee House

Stumbled across a portion of history while taking a walk down MG Road. It was around 10 in the morning and I, along with a few friends, was looking out for a place to have a coffee & grab a few bites on our way to see the 11 o clock show at REX theatre.

Since I don’t relish eating breads & stuffs falling into this category, I avoid the multinational coffee chains like CCD (a.k.a CafĂ© Coffee Day), barista, etc. Another reason being the absence of sugar in the coffee served there. You need to help yourself when it comes to sugar. :( . So while looking out for a place to take our breakfast, we came across the Indian Coffee House. It’s situated at maybe the most prominent location on MG Road, but is as likely to get missed. We had taken that road for n number of times & we had missed it. But the n+1th time turned out to be different.

The moment we entered the restaurant, the first thing which I felt was a feeling of stepping out of the present and into the past. It felt like a place which had just sprung out of the books by R.K.Narayan.

A black & white photo of Gandhi adorns one of the walls. There are also quite a few framed advertisements/ pictures.. old..faded.. (could not take a good look at them though). The waiters are dressed in off-white uniforms (must have been white once) with the classic Indian turban on their head. The chairs & tables are pretty old fashioned. No flashy frames, no modern-arts, no ethnic/modern furnitures… nothing that would urge a dekko. The interior of the place takes a backseat. So that you give your full attention to the coffee and your companion(s).

It’s the ideal place for khatti (oriya slang for “a little chit-chat” ;) ). Just the place to spend a lazy Sunday with your friends. And I mean “friends”.
Want to experience the past? Just visit Indian Coffee House.

PS: People finicky about cleanliness stay away! That’s not one of its USP. (USP: Apart from the ambience, it’s the Coffee, with “sugar”, and Dosa-chutney, kind of “home-made”)

PPS: Another uniqueness: No Sambhar ;)