The Last Cup of Coffee – Hunting for Coffee in Delhi
Posted by Darya Dmytruk • Tuesday, November 22, 2011 • Category: Crossing Cultures
[This article is not for those who drink solely tea, or the ones who are certain that a cup of coffee can kill a horse.] When you live in Delhi, you bargain successfully every day with rickshaws on the way to your office and can barely breathe through your scarf in the compulsory traffic jams. Everything is fine until one day you realise, that the supply of “as if it was always there” coffee in your kitchen, that used to be the best moment of your morning, is over. And at this very moment you understand that your day cannot start right, that the sun set and this city had finally got a chance to catch you. If the caffeine-deficiency in your body is not that high and you can still think, you go to the nearest market and try to find something like your favourite Lavazza.
Do you know what the chances are? Zero! Smiling and helpful locals will try to sell you Nescafe as that very coffee you are craving for. I am living in Delhi for the next two months and I must survive. Being ready to struggle for my well-being, I decided to find the places, where it is possible to buy and drink fresh ground coffee – the coffee that will help all of you hold out until you land in Rome and get your Lavazza, or you land in Frankfurt and get “something-like-coffee”.
First I tried to find out the biography of the coffee in my kitchen by writing to my flat mate, who was on holiday in Ukraine for two months. INA and Khan Markets were the first in my coffee places list. However, the practical part of the research started on my way to the office, when I saw a coffee box through the window in Café Coffee Day. That gave me hope that I would enjoy my passion tomorrow. Yes, that was the desired coffee – Rs. 150 for 200 gram! Unfortunately to my question whether it is espresso or coffee classic I got a fuzzy answer “yes Ma'am, for espresso and for coffee”. Ok, let’s try this universal wonder. The paper bag (long live environmental protection!) with the longed-for coffee made me so happy and I left the blessed shop.
After being sure about my supply of coffee at home I started the empirical part of the campaign. My first stop was the widely advertised United Coffee House at Connaught Place. Just find the E Block and right in the centre of it there is a big wooden door and golden letters above it. The word “Restaurant” and the empire style décor inside did not frighten me and I fearlessly stepped in and decided to test the Indian Filter Coffee. Stay cool and unflinching when you finally get the twin of Nescafe in your cup and afterwards the bill of Rs. 147.
I was fed up of spending my hard-earned money in fancy places even if it is a part of my field exploration. If you miss alternative cafes of Berlin or Barcelona make for Majnu ka Tilla, the Tibetan colony in north Delhi, where I was promised to find the worthiest café with the best freshly ground coffee ever. So, I turned my steps toward the North.
Like all the new places I found the International Coffee House surprisingly fast in spite of the fact that it is situated underground and the entrance is not flaring. If you take the main street of Majnu Ka Tilla, after 10 minutes (or 1 hour if you are a woman) of passing the shop windows with the countless wonderful stones and handicrafts, you have to be more attentive and find the stairs down. Here you are!
The first thing that inspires your heart is the coffee grinder just in front of you. In no more than 5 minutes smiling Tibetans served me their fantastic brew. After the exhausting way there through the streets of north Delhi I was going to examine the whole coffee list… After a cup of Latte, one more Cappuccino, and one espresso at the end I placed it firmly on the top of my “best-cafe-list” in Delhi.
Hunting a cup of good coffee in the city I found those secret spots that will allow me to be sure that the next two months the cherished smell of coffee will continue to fill my kitchen. (See the help-list below!)
Scrutinizing the roots of coffee culture in India thoroughly, you would probably find out that the best place to search for is the southern part of India: Karnataka and Kerala. There it will be planted and packed for export.
The competent people assured me, that the best coffee is served in Kolkata. If you are not so lazy and associate the word “Kolkata” not just with the dirt, but the intellectual capital of India, go ahead and visit the most popular Coffee House at College Street, which is situated (in line with Indian tradition of confusing place names) on Bankim Chatterjee Street. The Coffee House was established during the dark era of World War II and is the meeting place for the intelligentsia of Kolkata. On a par with the best coffee, you get the chance to test yourself in the famous addas sessions (intellectual discussions).
After a week of my purposeful exploration of Delhi I can affirm, that this city has well hidden its coffee treasures. I can just slightly open this curtain and let other coffee fans build upon this list.
Where to go if you need ground coffee:
- INA and Khan Markets
- “Barista” (Lavazza)
- “Le Marche” in Gurgaon (for Illi)
- “Devan´s” Coffee in Khanna Market, Lodhi Colony (for Indian coffee)
- “Mittal Teas” in Sunder Nagar Market
Thanks to all, that helped to find these places!
(c) by Darya Dmytruk
Do you know what the chances are? Zero! Smiling and helpful locals will try to sell you Nescafe as that very coffee you are craving for. I am living in Delhi for the next two months and I must survive. Being ready to struggle for my well-being, I decided to find the places, where it is possible to buy and drink fresh ground coffee – the coffee that will help all of you hold out until you land in Rome and get your Lavazza, or you land in Frankfurt and get “something-like-coffee”.
First I tried to find out the biography of the coffee in my kitchen by writing to my flat mate, who was on holiday in Ukraine for two months. INA and Khan Markets were the first in my coffee places list. However, the practical part of the research started on my way to the office, when I saw a coffee box through the window in Café Coffee Day. That gave me hope that I would enjoy my passion tomorrow. Yes, that was the desired coffee – Rs. 150 for 200 gram! Unfortunately to my question whether it is espresso or coffee classic I got a fuzzy answer “yes Ma'am, for espresso and for coffee”. Ok, let’s try this universal wonder. The paper bag (long live environmental protection!) with the longed-for coffee made me so happy and I left the blessed shop.
After being sure about my supply of coffee at home I started the empirical part of the campaign. My first stop was the widely advertised United Coffee House at Connaught Place. Just find the E Block and right in the centre of it there is a big wooden door and golden letters above it. The word “Restaurant” and the empire style décor inside did not frighten me and I fearlessly stepped in and decided to test the Indian Filter Coffee. Stay cool and unflinching when you finally get the twin of Nescafe in your cup and afterwards the bill of Rs. 147.
I was fed up of spending my hard-earned money in fancy places even if it is a part of my field exploration. If you miss alternative cafes of Berlin or Barcelona make for Majnu ka Tilla, the Tibetan colony in north Delhi, where I was promised to find the worthiest café with the best freshly ground coffee ever. So, I turned my steps toward the North.
Like all the new places I found the International Coffee House surprisingly fast in spite of the fact that it is situated underground and the entrance is not flaring. If you take the main street of Majnu Ka Tilla, after 10 minutes (or 1 hour if you are a woman) of passing the shop windows with the countless wonderful stones and handicrafts, you have to be more attentive and find the stairs down. Here you are!
(c) by Darya Dmytruk
The first thing that inspires your heart is the coffee grinder just in front of you. In no more than 5 minutes smiling Tibetans served me their fantastic brew. After the exhausting way there through the streets of north Delhi I was going to examine the whole coffee list… After a cup of Latte, one more Cappuccino, and one espresso at the end I placed it firmly on the top of my “best-cafe-list” in Delhi.
Hunting a cup of good coffee in the city I found those secret spots that will allow me to be sure that the next two months the cherished smell of coffee will continue to fill my kitchen. (See the help-list below!)
Scrutinizing the roots of coffee culture in India thoroughly, you would probably find out that the best place to search for is the southern part of India: Karnataka and Kerala. There it will be planted and packed for export.
The competent people assured me, that the best coffee is served in Kolkata. If you are not so lazy and associate the word “Kolkata” not just with the dirt, but the intellectual capital of India, go ahead and visit the most popular Coffee House at College Street, which is situated (in line with Indian tradition of confusing place names) on Bankim Chatterjee Street. The Coffee House was established during the dark era of World War II and is the meeting place for the intelligentsia of Kolkata. On a par with the best coffee, you get the chance to test yourself in the famous addas sessions (intellectual discussions).
After a week of my purposeful exploration of Delhi I can affirm, that this city has well hidden its coffee treasures. I can just slightly open this curtain and let other coffee fans build upon this list.
Where to go if you need ground coffee:
- INA and Khan Markets
- “Barista” (Lavazza)
- “Le Marche” in Gurgaon (for Illi)
- “Devan´s” Coffee in Khanna Market, Lodhi Colony (for Indian coffee)
- “Mittal Teas” in Sunder Nagar Market
Thanks to all, that helped to find these places!
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a deep thought for coffee lovers.
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