Delhi’s famous Adda’ the Indian Coffee House better known as ICH is an ordinary coffee shop amidst the fancy restaurants of Connaught Place. Those who don’t know about this place might miss its presence. However, I was lucky enough to be introduced to this place by my mother.
Since 1957, this place has been popular amongst the intellectuals, politicians, scholars and students. This happened to be my mom’s favourite hangout place as well. She used to travel all the way from Delhi University’s North campus to have their amazing coffee and toast along with her friends.
35 years later on a Sunday evening, we decided to take a walk down the memory lane and visited the legendary Indian Coffee House.
The coffee shop is located on the second floor of the Mohan Singh Place next to Rivoli Cinemas. This place might not impress you on first glance. The utterly ordinary interiors, faded walls, exposed roof and station chairs might give you second thoughts. However, once you spend some time this place would start growing on you.
We reached the restaurant at 4 in the evening and to our surprise, the place was packed with college students and elderly men with coffee in one hand and newspaper in the other. We found a seat by the window side from where we could get a partial view of the emporium lane. After taking a quick glance at the menu, we ordered coffee, paneer pakoras (cottage cheese fritters) and Mutton Dosa.
We tried the Mutton Dosa for the first time and it tasted better than the usual Masala Dosa. The fritters were crisp and the coffee tasted nice and sweet. We had a great time chatting and dining here. After finishing our meal we stood by the terrace for some fresh air before heading home.
The place was not fancy but its old-time charms made our visit extraordinary.
2 Comments
I have always wanted to come here but somehow have always lacked the time. It reminds me of the Coffee House on College Street in Calcutta… and btw, lovely pictures…
It was the same with me until that day 🙂 Thanks a ton! 😀