Thu. Mar 28th, 2024

Are you waiting for your late-lateef friends in Connaught Place? Are you tired of roaming in the scorching heat of Delhi? Then Cha Bar is the place for you.

People of Delhi are known for their lack of punctuality. Should you find yourself having to kill some time in Connaught Place, you might try to check out Cha Bar. Located in a nook of Outer Circle which is very easy to miss, Cha Bar is located right with the Oxford Bookstore, which you will find near the Adidas Originals showroom.

The bookstore itself is very sizable, with an immense collection of books of all categories, be it classics, modern, postmodern, and even in regional languages. There is a waiting lounge at the back of the bookstore, where you can comfortably sit on rows of sofas – alone or with company – and pick up any one of the assortments of books arranged there. Unfortunately you can only read them for fifteen minutes at a time, but it is still one of the better ways to spend time waiting.

A snapshot of the crowd of Cha Bar

Cha Bar itself is not very huge in size, so it gets filled up pretty quickly. The ideal time to come here in order to avoid waiting to be seated will be either early afternoon or after three o’clock.

However, what it lacks in size, it makes up for in its decor. It has rows of windows in the Colonial-era grid pattern, very common throughout Connaught Place. They are also placed above eye level while seated, so it allows plenty of natural light in, but never too distracting. They also offer a close view of the Statesman House, one of my personal favorite buildings in Delhi. Distinctive chandeliers hang from their ceiling to provide light at night, which is comforting without being overbearing. It also has air-conditioning, which is very much needed if you’ve been traveling for long.

The colour scheme here is predominated by black and white, The metallic chairs are white, the tables are white marble-tops, and three of its walls, along with the window frames and the ceiling, are also white. In contrast, the floor, and the partition wall between the cafe and the bookstore is black. To break the monochrome of the black and white, the passages through these walls are blue, and there are yellow chrysanthemums on each table.

The menu itself will offer you plenty of variety. Among teas there are various herbal teas, green teas, iced teas, brews from around the world, and even the good ol’ masala “cha”. It also has enough variety of coffee, and even snacks and food items, both veg and non-veg.

There are numerous pictures adorned right below the row of windows, which are also for sale should you be interested to hang some in your home.They include, among many others, a serene mountain scenery, schools of blue fishes in a hurry, fascinating Tibetan masks hanging on a yellow wall, and a Ladakhi kid.

In my recent visit I ordered a cha bar coffee blend, falafel and hummus in pita pockets, cutting chai, and finally some hibiscus tea to down it all. Their coffee is decent enough to sip on comfortably. Their food is alright. There are other places you can visit if you’re looking for food. However, their cutting chai was cutting edge, and hibiscus tea is refreshing if it is to be had in small quantities. It will rejuvenate you to bear the Delhi heat.

So should you need to find a place to sit down and refresh yourself, and want to take a break from spinning in the circles of Connaught Place, you can’t go wrong with Cha Bar.

By saurabh

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