This will be a long review, for I hold this place very dear... so proceed only if u have time.
The first time I took my then boyfriend (who’s now spouse... lest u think I am a philandering woman) to Coffee Home, after heaping scores and scores of praise on it and after telling him about the uncountable times I have enjoyed coffee there, he was expecting to see a chic shop like Cafe Coffee Day, or the fashionable Costa Coffee, or the more hip Barista ... definitely not what he saw.
Coffee Home (NOT to be confused with United Coffee House, which is another loved restaurant, but not to be discussed here) is what you would may call a ’’poor man’s mcDonald’’ ... ofcourse that’s what initially pulled me and my small coterie of friends there.
Rubbing shoulders with the many state emporiums, Coffee home is situated bang opposite the Hanuman Mandir on Baba Kharak Singh marg, in Connaught Place. Started sometime in the 80s by Delhi Government, it was meant to be an affordable eatery where people could get sometime to munch quickly before rushing to the nearby offices ... mind u, that time ’’fast food’’ joints had not mushroomed, and lunch/snacks were an expensive and lengthy affair.
After almost twenty years, Coffee Home is dilapidated, rusty and has lost a lot of its glory.
Not, however, to people of my breed. Before I explain why, it’s vital to know some background.
Delhi is my city, and I love it and I am part and parcel of it - please consider this while u read my next few comments.
Most dilliwallahs have an inherent desire to be seen at the right place, at the right time, with the right people, wearing the right outfit and saying the right things. And this was never as heightened as it is today.
It stifles me to go to pubs/restaurants/any public place when I see it stuffed with walking talking barbie dolls, hanging on to the arms of their respective Kens. Saying every word with an emphasised accent, speaking Hindi (if at all, they commit that disaster) as if it’s an alien language, so obvious in their craving for appreciation ... makes me sick even to think of it
It is in this context that I love Coffee home.
Setting/Ambience : It is a simple structure, half of which is open air and half is covered. The covered area houses some simple tables and chairs, in a hap-hazard manner and sure to remind u of government offices. The open air area, which is my favourite, has some tables and chairs around a huge tree in the middle.. something like a chaupal. And tables are also lined all around the four sides, covered with a small canopy.
Please BEWARE before you think of visiting it - The place is old, rickety, very basic, only essentials, and unappealing.
Food : It’s a fast food joint, so u have some south indian dishes, to go with ur coffee, and also some chinese, or to be more accurate, chinjabi fare. You can also get some quickie north indian stuff like poori bhaji. Anyway, food is not the strong point of coffee home. I like the coffee though... but the coffee cups are chipped from sides and bottom ( I like them still though)
People : NOW we come to the best part. The people are as real as people get. Read on...
If you go in evenings at around six and especially in the open area, there will be around two dozen post - 50 aged men, gathered after their office has ended for the day, they are the 9 to 5 types, most likely clerks, munimjis, accountants etc ... shouting and ’’discussing’’ the hot topics of today. e.g. when I was a regular of the place six years ago back in college, the talks were only on election, election, election... now I bet if u go, u’d only hear about reservations... maybe also cricket.
Then in the late afternoons to early evenings, two to three tables atleast will be occupied by parents of prospective brides and grooms, the lower middle class ofcourse, bragging about their progeny’s virtues and pitching hard. The bride-to-be ofcourse looks ready to sink in like sita mata, while the groom-to-be properly smirks.
Littered all across are budding romances, again lower middle class, lost to everybody but their beloved’s eyes and their sweet nothings... the girl always sits with her back to the crowd, lest somebody recognises her... making the boy feel all the more manly and protective.
Aunty-jis are also ever-present, but they dissapear before six, to go home and cook garam khana for their kids and hubbies. Their talks range from kitties to shopping sprees to their kids...
And then there may be a few people there like me... who come there as helplessly attracted as moths to flame (Man, WHAT A CLICHE!!!).. but really... What attracts me there is just this - the place is so ALIVE!! The people are so different from each other, and so real. Unlike in ’’hep’’ and ’’trendy’’ delhi pubs, where women are mostly prototypes of each other and men look as if they have come from the same mould, these people come as a refreshing sight. They come from all walks of life, and they are oblivious to all that happens around them. The men may be in pyjamas which is torn on the lower left leg, and the girls may be with subzi-stained salwar kameez, but they are neither ashamed, nor bothered about it... they are oblivious. THEY ARE THEMSELVES.
Indeed, I have gone there several times ... sometimes just to sit, sometimes just to eat, sometimes to observe people, sometimes to observe my own thoughts, sometimes to solve a mock CAT paper (ofcourse, that’s how it started... the CAT classes were next to the place.. that we bunked it as often as we could is another thing), sometimes to cry and nurse a broken heart (sniff... u see I had been suffering from pangs of unrequited crush at that time), sometimes to wait for a friend, and sometimes just for timepass with friends before the place closed at they showed us out
it is refreshing and heartening to see that nobody notices what u are wearing, if u just sit there, or eat alone (in other places if I eat alone, people look at me as if I am either bonkers or depressed), or cry softly and unobtrusively, or make a ruckus, or if you sit cross legged, or if you only order one coffee and sit for three hours... nobody BOTHERS.
You can go there alone , or with your spouse/boyfriend/girlfriend, or in a large group of friends... ideal for everyone.
I go there very rarely now, having shifted far and office keeping me busy in these parts, still whenever I go to C.P. it’s a must visit. Or if old friends drop by in Delhi, Coffee Home is where we meet, for old times’ sake.
In a city now infested with trendy phonies, this place is naked and honest.
Go there, if you dare... to be you.