Cafe Natrani, Ahmedabad

Cafe Natrani
Darpana Academy,
Near Usmanpura Cross Road,
Ashram Road
Ahmedabad

079 27551389, 079 27560971

Cafe Natarani for me is Ahmedabad's answer to Prithvi Cafe in Bombay.

I love the ambience, the positive creative energies that seem to just flow in this entire campus.

The cafe is a lovely spot to stop for a quick tea or coffee before or after a performance or screening at Darpana. Their coffee (40/-)is good South Indian style coffee and the pudina lemonade (60/-), cold coffee (80/-) and chocolate coffee (90/-) are excellent

They often have culinary fests here too over the weekend, by guest chefs. We once attended a crepe festival by a French national, which was lovely. There was an assortment of sweet and savoury crepes on offer and a long line of hungry people who were practically inhaling those crepes.

The cafe often is the site of mini bazaars of creative and homemade items. Its more than just a place to hang out fro coffee.

Rating : 3.5 / 5

Girish Coldrinks, Ahmedabad

Girish Coldrinks
Abhishek Complex,
C G Road,
Ahmedabad
079 26460328, +91 9374425833

After spending a couple of hours browsing the book exhibition at Smt Sushilaben Ratilal Hall on CG Road, I really needed something to quench my thirst,

Seeing Girish Cold Drinks was next door and had been highly recommended by foodie friends whose opinion I trust, I did not have to think any further. The place was small and practically on the road side, with a few tables spread outside.

I asked for a pineapple juice without sugar, the waiter honestly told me that it wouldn't be possible. the juices he could give me without sugar were narangi, musambi and watermelon, so I chose the watermelon (30/-).

It was so good and refreshing, that I also asked for a bhelpuri (and forgot to mention meetha kam - Chaat in Gujarat tends to be too sweet for my taste buds) Inspite of that I got a perfectly balanced bhelpuri (50/-), the mix of sweet, salt, spice and sour was perfect. The only thing that did not completely appeal to me were the pieces of beetroot on top. I understand the need to add color to a dish, but I don't like seeing healthy veggies atop a sinful dish of chaat.

I'm definitely going back to try their thandai and kaju anjir shake as recommended by my other friends.

Rating : 4 / 5

Zen Cafe, Ahmedabad

Zen Cafe,
CEPT Campus,
University Area,
Navrangpura,
Ahmedabad
079 65459298

Zen Cafe is a chain in Ahmedabad that serves teas, coffees and vegetarian snacks. The range of items available depends on the location of the cafe.

We have stopped at the CEPT location a couple of times, especially after viewing exhibitions at the Hutheesingh Visual Arts Gallery or Amdavad ni Gufa. Since it gets really stuffy inside these venues, Zen Cafe is in the perfect spot, for us to take a welcome break after a viewing. Its open air seating is lovely in the winters and pleasant on summer evenings.

Our standard order is normally Cafe Froid - Cold coffees (75/-) and nutella lattes (130/-) in the summer and Zen rooibos tea (90/-)in the winters. We have never really eaten here, but the teas and coffees have always been very good and hit the spot perfectly.

If you want to grab a bite, they offer nachos, rolls, paninis, pizza, quesadillas and sandwiches. They even have cookies, cakes and brownies for dessert. The pizzas and paninis at the neighbouring tables that I have glanced at seemed to be loaded with cheese, so its not our choice for a quick bite, but everyone who ordered these items, seemed quite appreciative of them.

Rating : 3.5 / 5

Cafe Soul Square, Ahmedabad

Cafe Soul Square,
56, Rajpat Row House,
Opposite AIS School,
Bodakdev,
Ahmedabad

7am - 11pm

A non-veg serving, all day cafe, not located in a 5 star in Ahmedabad? Definitely made my wishlist, which I finally ticked off today.

The restaurant is spread across 3 floors. I only visited the ground floor. The setting is beautiful, red brick walls and simple tables interspersed with a few reflexology stations.

If you plan to just sip on coffees then the sofas are good seating, but if you plan to eat properly then go for the regular tables and chairs, the sofas are spaced too far from the table to make eating comfortable, unless you really want to eat at the edge of your seat.

The iced lemon green tea (55/-), was a bit of a disaster. It seemed to be black tea not green. It suffered from all the problems that home made iced tea in India does. The liquid had turned cloudy, it was too strong and it had turned bitter. It was served with an option of sugar free or honey, but even that did not help and I had to leave it unfinished.

The paneer fusion dosa (100/-) was like a thin uthappam, a pretty decent snack and while it was supposed to be served with coconut hummus, it tasted like normal coconut chutney to me.

The mince chicken omlette (150/-) was quite tasty, but the accompanying panini bread was too dry and hard to enjoy.

The hot chocolate fudge slice (50/-) was actually some kind of chocolate flavoured mawa/paneer/milk cake. It was tasty, but definitely not what I was expecting.

Their USP is "Healthy" food with some fusion, but I wasn't really impressed. Nothing that I ate, inspired me to go back for more.

The reflexology sessions could be a draw though. They even have classes for those interested. There are books that you can borrow to read in the cafe and you may even find a photogrpahy or yoga class advertised on their notice board.


Food was average, ambiance lovely, idea good, but execution and final product was weak. I'd rather head to Sandwichworkz anyday.

Rating : 2.5 / 5

R.K. Egg Eatery, Ahmedabad

R.K. Egg Eatery,
119, Opposite Karnavati Club,
Near Shalby Hospital,
S G Highway, Satellite,
Ahmedabad
+91 9824493779

Stopped here for a quick early dinner. Given that RK started life as a laari (push cart - or so we have heard) at NID, we were pleasantly surprised by the air conditioned comfort at this location that had eleven 4 seater tables and the tables and chairs were much better quality than the standard plastic chairs that abound in Ahmedabad Eateries.

This was a our first "Egg specialist" eatery, so we were quite shocked at the 75+ varieties of Egg Preparations on the menu, broadly grouped under omelettes, bhurji (scrambled), curry, fried items and rice dishes.

Whatever we tried, we quite enjoyed - Surti Ghotala (150/-) & Boiled Tikka Kheema (120/-). All their dishes come with 2 slices of toast or rotis, and a side dish of chopped onions, chopped lettuce and green chutney, that you can use to create a wrap or in any other combination. So one plate is a decent sized meal for a person, since the egg dish has 2 eggs in it.

In our tikka kheema, both eggs were boiled and chopped in large pieces and fried up like a tawa fry (closest approximation that I can think of).

The Surti Ghotala had 1 boiled egg practically grated into the thick curry sauce and one half fried egg, that was again topped with some more masala covering the fried egg like a purdah.

We will definitely go back a couple of times, to do justice to this menu and also work up courage to try their "Special" egg curry (350/-) which supposedly has cheese, butter, dates, nuts and dry fruits.

Edited on 5 Apr 14 to add :

My husbands quest for the perfect French Toast is finally over!

My version of French Toast is sweet, batter of beaten egg with sugar, milk and a hint of cinnamon or nutmeg. He never understood how French Toast served in hotels was always sweet because French Toast served in hostel and at his home was basically bread dipped in masala omlette mix and fried.

RK Egg Eatery, makes their French toast exactly the way he likes it and to make it even more perfect, they roll the egg in sev after dipping it in egg and before frying. He normally adds sev on top of French toast (and most breakfast items), but here they fried it up with the toast itself, putting the husband in foodie heaven. They call it the Rizwan Fry Sev (120/-).

Don't be misled by the name, but the Egg Pakoda (50/-) is a boiled egg, stuffed into a pav bun which has masala butter smeared on it. At 50/- its a real steal. You can completely be happy with just one of these buns at snack time or 2 for a complete meal.

We had the Surti Special Kheema (140/-) which is a spicy preparation with cheese and butter. The Nargis Gotalo Special (200/-) had a boiled egg curry and a half fried egg on top which melted into the masala once broken, topped with a different green masala, yummy goodness. The Varsha Fry Curry (200/-) was similar in flavours, but still different.

So many different things yet to try, the added bonus is that they deliver home too.


Rating : 3.5 / 5

Book Review : Cutting Chai and Maska Pao

"Cutting Chai and Maska Pao" is a slim volume, a text-plus-photo cultural lexicon of  Mumbai, (covering 65 terms from aila to zunka bhakar) - the result of a college project of three young girls - Digantika Mitra, Priya Sheth and Mithila Mehta.

There's plenty of interest for a foodie, (which is why I'm cross posting it on this blog) even if he/she is just visiting Mumbai. Amul pav bhaji, Ayubs, baida (eggs), bhel puri, Bombay sandwich, cutting chai, Energee, Irani cafes, khau gallis, Leopold Cafe, masala, maska pao, Mewad kulfi, paan patti, ragda pattice, tapri, Udipi, vada pav and zunka bhakar.

Terms related to Travel & Sightseeing : Banganga, Best bus, Bollywood, chawls, chor bazaar, Dalal Street, Dhobhi Ghat, Fashion Street, Gateway, Joggers Park, Juhu Beach, Kala Ghoda, local, Nana-Nani parks, Oval Maidan, Queens Necklace, Sea link, talkies, Taj and Victoria.

Lingo : aila, bhai, dhinchak, dimaag ka dahi, Horn-OK-Please, jhakkas, oye!, Page 3, Pandu, rapchik, rokda, stick no bills, tapori, town and waat.

And a couple of others : Boot polishwala, check your weight, dabbawala, Dharavi, galli cricket, Italian barbers, kabootar khana, Kolis, Lovers rocks, nimbu mirchi, yacht,

As you can see from these terms, they are either unique to Mumbai (as in the lingo and travel/sightseeing) or an essential part of Mumbai (Irani Cafes and Udipi restaurants for example)

Any Mumbaikar will love it, for the collection of terms and the beautiful illustrations. It also makes a lovely souvenier for visitors to this maximum city.

Having lived in Mumbai in 2 stints spanning 2 years, the terms weren't new to me and Ayubs was the only food place in this list that I haven't visited. But I still loved this little booklet. It brings back lovely memories of the city and I often flip through it and randomly read a page from it, whenever I miss living in Bombay.

The pictures have been taken by girls themselves with a few taken by their friends and these pictures do convey more than the words used with them. They are extremely evocative, even the cartoons used to depict some of the lingo.

To compare it to a food analogy - "Cutting Chai and Maska Pao" isn't cordon bleu cooking, its ghar ka khaana made by mom and grandmom, that you yearn for when they aren't around and enjoy when available.

Rating : 3.5 / 5

The Chocolate Room, Ahmedabad

There are multiple outlets of Chocolate Room in Ahmedabad and I've reviewed some of them here. The thing to note is that while The Chocolate Room in other States serve non veg and alcohol laced coffees, the ones in Ahmedabad are pure vegetarian and non-alcoholic.

1.
The Chocolate Room,
3rd Floor, Alpha One Mall,
Vastrapur,
Ahmedabad
079 65216333

This particular outlet of Chocolate Room doesn't serve the full menu of snacks that the other outlets do. They serve most of the chocolates and coffees. (They have recently even started a sugar free chocolate drink)

Service is fast and efficient, even when they are crowded. It is self service like all the other stalls in the food court, but the quality of their chocolate drinks is as good as any of their other outlets.

Often times we just have one chocolate shake from here and skip lunch. They are loaded with calories, but they are also very filling.

The Ferrero Rocher shake, toroncino, black forest shake, dutch truffle shake and hazelnut granita are among my favourites.

Rating : 4 / 5

2.
The Chocolate Room,
18/19, Super Mall 2,
Infocity,
Gandhinagar
Ahmedabad
079 23213323, +91 9426079300

Whenever, we take visiting friends and family to either Indroda Nature Park or for a tour of the sights of Gandhinagar, we always end up at this outlet of the Chocolate Room for a refreshing break midway or at the end of the trip.

Sometimes the staff there seems a little unsure, but as long as you deal with them with patience, you always get service with a smile.

They have really comfortable seating and its a great place to relax and sip on excellent chocolate and coffee at the end of a hectic and tiring day

Rating : 4 / 5

3.
The Chocolate Room,
6, Camps Corner 2,
Opposite Prahlad Nagar Garden,
Prahlad Nagar
Ahmedabad
079 40064508

I love the Chocolate Room, but the service at this particular outlet is really really very slow compared to the Other Chocolate Rooms in Ahmedabad, and compared to Chocolate Rooms in Pune and Bangalore, the speed is worse than snails pace. They take over 20 minutes to serve 2 chocolate shakes even if the cafe is empty and there are 2 staff on duty.

So inspite of this outlet being the closest to our residence, it is the outlet we visit the least. The ones in Alpha Mall and next to Crossword in Navrangpura and Iscon Mega Mall offer much more efficient service.

The food quality is on par with its other outlets but the service is extremely slow (even if you tell them that you are in a hurry) and hence quite terrible.

Rating : 2.5 / 5