Bombay was hit by the coffee shop rage with the coming of Barista. You’ll find a Barista everywhere you turn, the pick of them being the ones at Bandra Bandstand and Charni Road. Both are sea-facing, and there’s nothing as enchanting as a cuppa coffee while staring out at the sea, specially in winter. The Charni Road one has an edge, being more spacious.
Barista has an amazing range of hot and cold coffees, hot chocolate, granitas and iced teas, not to mention their delectable pastries, tarts, muffins, brownies, puffs, croissants and sandwiches to nibble on.
I personally flip over their trademark cold coffee Brrista and their newly introduced Vanilla Frappe, a delicious cold coffee blended with vanilla ice cream. For those who like it hot nothing can beat their Mocha. If you’re not into counting calories, don’t leave without savouring their Chocolate Excess a sinfully rich pastry loaded with chocolate. For the more desi palate they have Chicken Tikka and Paneer Tikka sandwiches. Also check out their seasonal specials, like the plum cake and coffee laced with white chocolate.
The brains behind Barista are always introducing new ways to encourage people to keep coming and enjoying the place. They’ve recently launched an Absolutely Everyday coffee card in association with Star World, where you get one coffee free after four coffees. You also stand to win exciting prizes by answering the question of the week. Currently they’ve also tied up with Lacoste, and on a bill of 150 rupees or over, you get a calender and a coupon worth 500 rupees redeemable on Lacoste merchandise. Keep checking in to find out about more such promotions.
Barista can be a little pricey for the average college student who may only be able to indulge once in a while, but is perfect for yuppies. It is the kinda place everyone can enjoy, be it a group of friends, families, couples or even a lone person, who just wants to enjoy a cuppa over his or her own thoughts.
You don’t have to go to Barista just for the coffee or the bites, the ambience is always inviting. Every branch has a guitar for the musically inclined and board games like Scrabble and Battleship for people who wanna have some fun. Or you can just sit there and enjoy the music. You’ll always feel welcome at Barista, so get up and get going! So what if Joey, Rachel, Ross, Monica, Chandler and Phoebe have Central Perk, we have our very own Barista!